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- Reconfiguring a network desktop pc for use as a standalone h...

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02-20-2021 06:18 AM
Recently bought from Amazon Renewed, it has this irritating "Intel Boot Agent" which goes through its routine before Windows boots up. Disk 0 has a "System Reserved" partition just over 1 GB in size, set Active, and the C Windows partition (set not active) contains the Windows 10 OEM OS and is around 229 GB, all loaded onto a 250GB SSD.
If I set the System Reserved partition not active, and the C windows partition active, the PC will not boot, no operating system found.
The BIOS has both UEFI Boot Order and Legacy Boot Order (which has a Network Boot feature) set on.
If I uncheck Legacy Boot Order, PC will not boot, no operating system found.
This setup leads me to believe the PC has been set up and used as part of a network system in its previous life.
All I am trying to achieve is it working as a straightforward standalone home PC, i.e. disk 0 set active and windows 10 OS loaded directly and booting from here.
My question is, in the BIOS main page, there is an option to "Apply Factory Defaults and Exit"
Will this option completely reset the BIOS settings so that I can load and run Windows on an active "C" partition
02-20-2021 10:55 AM
My guess is that the OS partition on the SSD does not have the boot loader files in it, so it will not boot even if you set it as Active.
But ... if you download and install EasyBCD, you can copy the boot loader files to the SSD and after that, you should be able to boot from it.
EasyBCD is a free boot utility you can get from here: https://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/
Download and install this on the PC where you need to migrate the boot files.
Launch EasyBCD.
Click the BCD Backup Repair button
Under BCD Management Options, click the Change Boot drive button
Click the Perform Action button
Select the New Boot Drive -- where you want to copy the boot files TO
Then click the OK button
NOW, the boot files are on the drive you selected as well as the current drive.
I am a volunteer and I do not work for, nor represent, HP
02-21-2021 10:43 AM
Thank you for your reply, I followed your instructions, however the solution did not remedy my problem, but the EasyBCD is one very useful utility which I have no doubt will come in useful in the future.
After many more restarts and bios tweaks, I found I could uncheck the Network (PXE) Boot in the Boot Options menu in BIOS, and then disable Network Boot under the Legacy Boot Order menu.
Saved these settings then went back into BIOS just to check, Network Boot option had gone from the Legacy Boot Order menu.
The PC now boots directly into Windows, saving around 24 seconds boot-up time.
Thank you once again for your help.