[SOLVED] Can’t access BIOS and stuck in boot loop

[SamNausy]

Hello everyone, I have recently purchased a new pc so I am selling my previous one. I’ve factory reset the pc and left it on overnight. When I woke up the next morning I turned the pc on and it turns on, the keyboard and mouse lights flicker then come on after about 10 seconds. Then on my monitor is see the windows loading screen. It then instantly switches to the update in progress screen where it states that it’s at 64% installing and underneath that it says “this pc may restart a few times”. Then the pc turns off and starts this process all over again. When I try pressing any F? Buttons i can’t seem to open the bios. I’ve got a fresh install of windows 10 on a usb flash drive but I can’t go into the bios to boot from this drive. I’ve searched all over the internet and it’s starting to get on my nerves now as I just want to play my new pc but I promised my friend he could have my old PC. So I need to get it fixed.

My old pc is an ASUS ROG GR8 ii prebuilt minand these are the specs:
I7-7700
GTX 1060
16GB RAM
256gb m.2 SSD (Which windows was installed on)
1TB HDD

All help is massively appreciated. Thanks everyone

 

[Colif]

did you try the del key to get into bios? as that is one of the choices besides F2

resets tend to break windows, so its often faster to just clean install.

other choice, take drive out of old PC and put it in new one, and use diskpart to wipe it, then put it back in new PC and reinstall win 10 again

Spoiler

1. go to settings/update & security/recovery
2. under advanced startup, click restart now button
3. this restarts PC in a blue menu
4. choose troubleshoot
5. choose advanced
6. choose command prompt

Type diskpart and press enter

Type list disk and press enter

This will show the list of drives currently attached to PC, make note of the drive number of the drive you want to wipe

If Disk 1 is the drive you want to clear, type select 1) and press enter. A message will confirm it is selected

Warning: Diskpart Erase/Clean will permanently erase/destroy all data on the selected drive. Please be certain that you are erasing the correct disk.

Once you sure its right disk, type Clean and press enter

The Command Prompt window will display the message "DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk". Close out of the Command Prompt window by clicking the red X in the upper right hand corner.


note: if pc is win 11, step 1 is Settings/recovery - click restart now button next to advanced startup.

 

[SamNausy]

did you try the del key to get into bios? as that is one of the choices besides F2

resets tend to break windows, so its often faster to just clean install.

Hello, yes I tried the Del button as well and it doesn’t do anything. Do you think my best option is to take out the m.2 ssd with the windows on it, put it in my new pc and install a fresh copy of windows on it that way then place it back into my old pc

 

[Colif]

no, but removing it and wiping it in new PC might be a better idea. See my spoiler above.

 

[Colif]

you might be able to reset CMOS on the Asus and that should put you in bios at startup. As often 1st move after cmos reset is to set defaults in bios - https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/need-help-manually-resetting-cmos.3484617/
its likely that isn't your model.

 

[SamNausy]

no, but removing it and wiping it in new PC might be a better idea. See my spoiler above.

Okay so once I’ve wiped the drive on the new pc, can I just put the drive back in the old pc and it’ll boot windows or will I need to install windows on the drive before putting it back in the old pc? Sorry I’m just a little confused as if I wiped the drive I don’t get how it could boot windows from a drive that has nothing on it. Thanks for your help

 

[Colif]

other choice, take drive out of old PC and put it in new one, and use diskpart to wipe it, then put it back in new PC and reinstall win 10 again

You will need to install windows 10 on the nvme once its wiped and its best its installed on the machine it belongs in, don't want to mess with licences or anything.

If you can reset CMOS and get into bios without removing NVME, that would be easier I think. no chance of damaging any parts then.

 

[SamNausy]

you might be able to reset CMOS on the Asus and that should put you in bios at startup. As often 1st move after cmos reset is to set defaults in bios - https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/need-help-manually-resetting-cmos.3484617/
its likely that isn't your model.

You will need to install windows 10 on the nvme once its wiped and its best its installed on the machine it belongs in, don't want to mess with licences or anything.

ahhh okay so that isn’t an option then as my old pc isn’t functional right now. So the only other way is to reset the CMOS. I’m guessing I need to remove the little battery on the motherboard. Let’s hope it’s not in a hard place to get

 

[Colif]

make sure PC is unplugged from power when you do.
alas the pictures on the link I showed you are gone now.

how is old PC not functional? How do you expect to reset it if it doesn't work?

 

[SamNausy]

make sure PC is unplugged from power when you do.
alas the pictures on the link I showed you are gone now.

how is old PC not functional? How do you expect to reset it if it doesn't work?

This pc turns on and goes into windows boot loop. There’s no way of me accessing the BIOS or even getting past the 64% loading screen as it turns off and reboots in a split second. That’s what I meant as non functional.

 

[Colif]

This pc turns on and goes into windows boot loop. There’s no way of me accessing the BIOS or even getting past the 64% loading screen as it turns off and reboots in a split second. That’s what I meant as non functional.

if we can reset the cmos on the old PC, it should put you in the bios where you can change boot order to USB and install windows on the NVME.

 

[SamNausy]

if we can reset the cmos on the old PC, it should put you in the bios where you can change boot order to USB and install windows on the NVME.

Brilliant, when I get home from work today that’s what I’ll be doing. I’ll let you know how it goes. Thank you for your help

 

[SamNausy]

So right now I have the side panel off the old pc and I’m looking around for the battery I need to take off but I cant seem to find one. How do I upload a photo to this?

if we can reset the cmos on the old PC, it should put you in the bios where you can change boot order to USB and install windows on the NVME.

 

[SamNausy]

I’ve unplugged the cmos battery, waited a few mins and put it back in again. I then rebooted my pc and still the same thing.

 

[Colif]

seems the only way around it then would to be wipe the m.2 in your new pc and then put it in your old PC and see how it reacts to no boot drive when you start it up.