Windows cannot be installed to this disk. WIndows 10 Error (Dell optiplex 790)

braxton30456

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Jun 15, 2015
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I recently bought a Dell Optiplex 790 for about 15 bucks which I was going to use as a second PC. It came with windows 7 and booted fine, nothing wrong with it.

I hate using HDD for boots drives since they are really slow now that I am so used to having windows on an SSD. So a couple of days ago I bought an SSD, (CS900 PNY 120gb SSD), brand new. I made a windows installer on my flash drive deleted all partitions and tried to install windows 10 onto the new SSD. Which came up with this error, "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS menu". I have tried everything I can think of to fix it but it still won't let me install windows 10 onto the SSD.
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Things that I have tried:

  • Swapping the SATA port that the SSD is connected to
    Making sure that it is set to AHCI, which it is
    Reformatting it
    Running a Clean/ clean all on the SSD
    Trying the SATA mode
    Booting via UEFI (Doesn't even load into the windows 10 installation)
    Updating the BIOS
    Unplugging all other storage besides SSD

None of those fixes worked for me and I still get the issue.

Notes: It is on the latest BIOS; A22 & Windows 10 does install and work on the HDDs

PC Specs:
Dell Optiplex 790 Mini Tower (Motherboard, case, and PSU)
CS900 PNY 120gb SSD
WD Blue 500gb HDD
Seagate Barracuda 500gb HDD
Intel I5-2400 @ 3.1Ghz
10Gbs of DDR3 ram (1x4gb & 3x2gb)


I have tried basically everything I can think of and basically everything I could find online to fix it but it is still not working. Does anyone know how to fix this?

[strike]I might have fixed it, what I did is just change a BIOS option.[/strike]
I went to the BIOS and changed it from Legacy boot to UEFI boot, the USB option in the boot order was disabled I enabled it, then saved & restarted.

I did not hit F12 and select UEFI boot rather just let it boot. It did not freeze as it did before when I tried to boot VIA UEFI, rather this time it went into the Windows Installer. It let me select the SSD to install windows onto and is now installing.

When I tried this before I did hit F12 and selected UEFI boot, which resulted in a freeze/lock-up and it never loaded into the windows installer. And this happened multiple times.

Something that might affect this is, I did try to boot UEFI before but it froze every time I tried to get into the windows installer, but this time it did not freeze. The first time I tried was before I updated the BIOS, so it is possible that updating the BIOS fixed UEFI boot and now UEFI boot fixed not being able to install onto the SSD.
[strike]
I'll confirm that this fixed it after it is completely installed.[/strike]

What I said above ALMOST works.

Now I am faced with another slightly different problem after it is done installing the files onto my SSD it needs to restart to finish the installation. Once it restarts and I take out the Install device (This case a flash drive) it posts but it says there are "No bootable devices--strike F1 to retry boot, f2 for setup utility press f5 to run onboard diagnostics."

I cannot complete the installation of windows 10.

I go to the BIOS and there is now "Windows Boot Manager" now in the UEFI Boot Order. If I hit F12 and select that to boot it freezes/locks-up.

Any ideas?
 

braxton30456

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Jun 15, 2015
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With the newest BIOS for an Optiplex 790; Version A22, it does not have any of those options in the BIOS.
 

braxton30456

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I might have fixed it, what I did is just change a BIOS option.
I went to the BIOS and changed it from Legacy boot to UEFI boot, the USB option in the boot order was disabled I enabled it, then saved & restarted.

I did not hit F12 and select UEFI boot rather just let it boot. It did not freeze as it did before when I tried to boot VIA UEFI, rather this time it went into the Windows Installer. It let me select the SSD to install windows onto and is now installing.

When I tried this before I did hit F12 and selected UEFI boot, which resulted in a freeze/lock-up and it never loaded into the windows installer. And this happened multiple times.

Something that might affect this is, I did try to boot UEFI before but it froze every time I tried to get into the windows installer, but this time it did not freeze. The first time I tried was before I updated the BIOS, so it is possible that updating the BIOS fixed UEFI boot and now UEFI boot fixed not being able to install onto the SSD.

I'll confirm that this fixed it after it is completely installed.
 

braxton30456

Reputable
Jun 15, 2015
53
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4,630
What I said above ALMOST works.

Now I am faced with another slightly different problem after it is done installing the files onto my SSD it needs to restart to finish the installation. Once it restarts and I take out the Install device (This case a flash drive) it posts but it says there are "No bootable devices--strike F1 to retry boot, f2 for setup utility press f5 to run onboard diagnostics."

I cannot complete the installation of windows 10.

I go to the BIOS and there is now "Windows Boot Manager" now in the UEFI Boot Order. If I hit F12 and select that to boot it freezes/locks-up.

Any ideas?
 

ctornado

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Oct 29, 2018
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If I had to guess, you probably interrupted the install when you took out the USB. Try wiping the SSD again, leave the USB plugged in, and reinstall windows. When the computer restarts, don't take out the USB. Let it boot from the USB as before and wait until its finished.