My laptop doesn't detect the USB flashdrive

[TuanDungNguyen0]

I accidentally formatted the hard drive on my HP ProBook 430 G2. When I tried to reinstall the OS from a USB flash drive, the BIOS just didn't detect it. I have "USB drive boot" and "USB legacy support" options enabled, but still doesn't work. Also, the laptop is on the latest supported version of BIOS software.

[WAWood]

What version of Windows is this running, Win10 or Win11?

How did you make the reinstall Windows USB stick?

[TuanDungNguyen0]

I installed Windows 11 a moment before I accidentally formatted the hard drive. When I try to reinstall the OS, I use another computer (it runs Windows 10) and different tools like Rufus and BalenaEtcher, but none of them works.

[WAWood]

OK, let me try again -- You said you used another computer running Win10 to create the stick? But what is on the stick -- Win10 or Win11?

And, from WHERE did you get the files to create the Windows boot stick?

[TuanDungNguyen0]

I have tried to put both Windows 10 and 11 onto the drive, but none of them work. I get the ISO of Windows from official Microsoft website. By the way, I also tried some Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Fedora, but they doesn't seem to work.

[WAWood]

Does the BIOS see the USB stick?

You said none of these work, but it would be helpful to know HOW each of these fails. 

With Ubuntu, you only read the USB stick, you don't install Linux unless you choose that option after the desktop is open.  So how is booting from Ubuntu failing?

With Windows, you would get the initial Windows screen and then start making selections to do the install.  How far is it getting into the install process?

[TuanDungNguyen0]

The BIOS doesn't detect the USB stick. I can't even find the option to select the USB. The only option I have are "Boot from notebook hard drive" and "Boot from notebook Ethernet". I can claim that the USB ports are working because when I plug the USB mouse in, I still able to control the BIOS setup interface using the mouse. But I don't know how the USB can't be detected?

[WAWood]

OK ... with modern laptops, there is a UEFI setting know as Secure Boot that is enabled by default.  When that is enabled, your laptop will not "see" any USB sticks to boot from.  It will read them and write to them, but it will not boot from them.

You have to go into UEFI Settings and disable Secure Boot.

[TuanDungNguyen0]

Yeah, I know about the effect of Secure Boot on USB flash drive, so I tried to disable it at first, but it didn't work. So I tried to change entirely from UEFI to BIOS (also disabled Fast Boot) and the result won't change.

[tk_srq]

@TuanDungNguyen0,

I owned a ProBook 450 G1 years ago and remember it was a bit tricky to install Win10 on it. ProBook G1 and G2 have very similar, if not identical, BIOS configurations. 

I suggest you try these things to see if they work for you:

1) Use a Windows10 installation usb drive created with MS Media Creation Tool instead of one with Rufus.

2) Enter BIOS -> Advanced -> Boot Options -> Boot Mode then select UEFI without CSM.

3) I don't remember the "USB legacy support" option but if it is enabled, it has to be disabled, as it's not compatible with UEFI (without CSM) mode.

3) Leave secure boot disabled.

4) Save the changes and exit out of BIOS and enter F9. Hopefully, you'll see usb drive listed. 

5) If you still don't see usb drive, click "Boot from EFI File." Do you see a string of characters and numbers? If you see it, click it. What comes up?