Samsung laptop came w/w8, installed w7, won't default to hdd to boot

I am working on a friend's Samsung np355v5c laptop which came with
Windows 8, and had a lot of issues, e.g it couldn't install most
security updates. He didn't have the install CD and I suspected virus
damage, so I formatted and installed an unused Win 7 Home Premium. In
order to boot from the install CD I had to turn off Secure Boot, and
select UEFI_and_Legacy Support, in the BIOS. That allowed me to click
F10 and select the CD as the boot device. I installed w7, activated it,
installed a bunch of updates. But...

Each time I boot/reboot I have to click F10 and select the HDD as the
boot device, if I don't the machine won't default to the HDD, it just
hangs, so I'm missing some settings.

How do I get the computer to boot from the HDD automatically? Do I have
to do something to the boot sector so setting UEFI_only in the BIOS
would allow it to be managed correctly?

TIA,
Mike

On 12/26/2016 5:30 PM, Mike S wrote:
I am working on a friend's Samsung np355v5c laptop which came with
Windows 8, and had a lot of issues, e.g it couldn't install most
security updates. He didn't have the install CD and I suspected virus
damage, so I formatted and installed an unused Win 7 Home Premium. In
order to boot from the install CD I had to turn off Secure Boot, and
select UEFI_and_Legacy Support, in the BIOS. That allowed me to click
F10 and select the CD as the boot device. I installed w7, activated it,
installed a bunch of updates. But...

Each time I boot/reboot I have to click F10 and select the HDD as the
boot device, if I don't the machine won't default to the HDD, it just
hangs, so I'm missing some settings.

How do I get the computer to boot from the HDD automatically? Do I have
to do something to the boot sector so setting UEFI_only in the BIOS
would allow it to be managed correctly?

TIA,
Mike

Will this allow the machine to boot from the HDD by default?

2. Convert MBR to GPT without data loss using Gptgen
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/convert-mbr-to-gpt-disk

Mike S wrote:
I am working on a friend's Samsung np355v5c laptop which came with
Windows 8, and had a lot of issues, e.g it couldn't install most
security updates. He didn't have the install CD and I suspected virus
damage, so I formatted and installed an unused Win 7 Home Premium. In
order to boot from the install CD I had to turn off Secure Boot, and
select UEFI_and_Legacy Support, in the BIOS. That allowed me to click
F10 and select the CD as the boot device. I installed w7, activated it,
installed a bunch of updates. But...

Each time I boot/reboot I have to click F10 and select the HDD as the
boot device, if I don't the machine won't default to the HDD, it just
hangs, so I'm missing some settings.

How do I get the computer to boot from the HDD automatically? Do I have
to do something to the boot sector so setting UEFI_only in the BIOS
would allow it to be managed correctly?

TIA,
Mike

I've set up one GPT disk here, which boots in
UEFI mode and has three OSes on it.

The trick for me, was *always* using popup boot
on every step of the way, and on my UEFI+CSM setup,
remembering to select the UEFI identifier in the boot list.
By booting my install DVD in UEFI mode, that offered
an opportunity for GPT partitioning and so on.

The UEFI+CSM BIOS will continue to offer options for
"backsliding", and it seems to be able to figure out
that I want to boot Windows, even when I haven't selected
an OS. And even though *GRUB* is (nominally) in control
of boot management. So somehow, the EFI partition and
items in there seem to be "more acceptable" to the BIOS.

But if I press my F8 popup boot in time, I can select an
identifier in the boot list which is UEFI and things
work as expected.

If I were to cut off its fun, by switching back to UEFI only
(no CSM), maybe it would be forced to boot the actual OS
which has the boot manager. But I cannot be sure. And there
are certain experiments I don't carry out on the Test Machine.
There have been incidents on the Internet, where a UEFI machine
gets bricked. And the owner is unable to untangle the mess. I've
not run into a "miracle recovery" in one of those stories yet.
Once I see some "Houdini material", magic ways to escape, then
I'd be game to turn Secure boot on, UEFI only, or whatever.

I started out, wanting to share a picture of the disk setup,
but now I'm finding that no two tools draw the same partition
map :-( This is... not good. How can there be a learning moment,
if you're standing on "thin ice" ? One environment had shown
me two EFI partitions (contains .efi bootstrap materials),
the other claims there is only one EFI partition. And yet
the BIOS boot menu seems to agree there are two partitions
present that might be of interest. UEFI is full of puzzles.
This is why I only have one GPT test install here,
one puzzle is enough.

Maybe your setup isn't GPT after all, and is MBR ?

Paul

On 12/26/2016 6:24 PM, Paul wrote:
Mike S wrote:
I am working on a friend's Samsung np355v5c laptop which came with
Windows 8, and had a lot of issues, e.g it couldn't install most
security updates. He didn't have the install CD and I suspected virus
damage, so I formatted and installed an unused Win 7 Home Premium. In
order to boot from the install CD I had to turn off Secure Boot, and
select UEFI_and_Legacy Support, in the BIOS. That allowed me to click
F10 and select the CD as the boot device. I installed w7, activated
it, installed a bunch of updates. But...

Each time I boot/reboot I have to click F10 and select the HDD as the
boot device, if I don't the machine won't default to the HDD, it just
hangs, so I'm missing some settings.

How do I get the computer to boot from the HDD automatically? Do I
have to do something to the boot sector so setting UEFI_only in the
BIOS would allow it to be managed correctly?

TIA,
Mike

I've set up one GPT disk here, which boots in
UEFI mode and has three OSes on it.

The trick for me, was *always* using popup boot
on every step of the way, and on my UEFI+CSM setup,
remembering to select the UEFI identifier in the boot list.
By booting my install DVD in UEFI mode, that offered
an opportunity for GPT partitioning and so on.

The UEFI+CSM BIOS will continue to offer options for
"backsliding", and it seems to be able to figure out
that I want to boot Windows, even when I haven't selected
an OS. And even though *GRUB* is (nominally) in control
of boot management. So somehow, the EFI partition and
items in there seem to be "more acceptable" to the BIOS.

But if I press my F8 popup boot in time, I can select an
identifier in the boot list which is UEFI and things
work as expected.

If I were to cut off its fun, by switching back to UEFI only
(no CSM), maybe it would be forced to boot the actual OS
which has the boot manager. But I cannot be sure. And there
are certain experiments I don't carry out on the Test Machine.
There have been incidents on the Internet, where a UEFI machine
gets bricked. And the owner is unable to untangle the mess. I've
not run into a "miracle recovery" in one of those stories yet.
Once I see some "Houdini material", magic ways to escape, then
I'd be game to turn Secure boot on, UEFI only, or whatever.

I started out, wanting to share a picture of the disk setup,
but now I'm finding that no two tools draw the same partition
map :-( This is... not good. How can there be a learning moment,
if you're standing on "thin ice" ? One environment had shown
me two EFI partitions (contains .efi bootstrap materials),
the other claims there is only one EFI partition. And yet
the BIOS boot menu seems to agree there are two partitions
present that might be of interest. UEFI is full of puzzles.
This is why I only have one GPT test install here,
one puzzle is enough.

Maybe your setup isn't GPT after all, and is MBR ?

Paul

Thanks for your detailed (and somewhat scary) reply Paul.

It was GPT when it had win8 on it, I could see the GPT partition when I
had booted from the w7 install disk and was deleting all of the
partitions so I could format for a clean install. W7 32 bit is MBR now,
but the BIOS was set up for a Secure Boot UEFI W8 machine, so I think
there may be a CFM setting I didn't get right. Unfortunately this is one
of the Samsung laptops that has the white screen, I have to work on it
using an external monitor (the owner doesn't want to pay for a repair),
so waiting until it's cool enough (or whatever the issue is) to allow me
to see the laptop screen so I can hunt around the BIOS may take a while.
For some reason this model Samasung won't display the BIOS on the
external monitor (at least none of the tips I found on how to do this
work with this machine), it takes Windows to do that. So I'll have to
let it sit for a while then look at the CSM settings again. You
definitely gave me something to think about, thanks.

On 12/26/2016 6:24 PM, Paul wrote:
Mike S wrote:
I am working on a friend's Samsung np355v5c laptop which came with
Windows 8, and had a lot of issues, e.g it couldn't install most
security updates. He didn't have the install CD and I suspected virus
damage, so I formatted and installed an unused Win 7 Home Premium. In
order to boot from the install CD I had to turn off Secure Boot, and
select UEFI_and_Legacy Support, in the BIOS. That allowed me to click
F10 and select the CD as the boot device. I installed w7, activated
it, installed a bunch of updates. But...

Each time I boot/reboot I have to click F10 and select the HDD as the
boot device, if I don't the machine won't default to the HDD, it just
hangs, so I'm missing some settings.

How do I get the computer to boot from the HDD automatically? Do I
have to do something to the boot sector so setting UEFI_only in the
BIOS would allow it to be managed correctly?

TIA,
Mike

I've set up one GPT disk here, which boots in
UEFI mode and has three OSes on it.

The trick for me, was *always* using popup boot
on every step of the way, and on my UEFI+CSM setup,
remembering to select the UEFI identifier in the boot list.
By booting my install DVD in UEFI mode, that offered
an opportunity for GPT partitioning and so on.

The UEFI+CSM BIOS will continue to offer options for
"backsliding", and it seems to be able to figure out
that I want to boot Windows, even when I haven't selected
an OS. And even though *GRUB* is (nominally) in control
of boot management. So somehow, the EFI partition and
items in there seem to be "more acceptable" to the BIOS.

But if I press my F8 popup boot in time, I can select an
identifier in the boot list which is UEFI and things
work as expected.

If I were to cut off its fun, by switching back to UEFI only
(no CSM), maybe it would be forced to boot the actual OS
which has the boot manager. But I cannot be sure. And there
are certain experiments I don't carry out on the Test Machine.
There have been incidents on the Internet, where a UEFI machine
gets bricked. And the owner is unable to untangle the mess. I've
not run into a "miracle recovery" in one of those stories yet.
Once I see some "Houdini material", magic ways to escape, then
I'd be game to turn Secure boot on, UEFI only, or whatever.

I started out, wanting to share a picture of the disk setup,
but now I'm finding that no two tools draw the same partition
map :-( This is... not good. How can there be a learning moment,
if you're standing on "thin ice" ? One environment had shown
me two EFI partitions (contains .efi bootstrap materials),
the other claims there is only one EFI partition. And yet
the BIOS boot menu seems to agree there are two partitions
present that might be of interest. UEFI is full of puzzles.
This is why I only have one GPT test install here,
one puzzle is enough.

Maybe your setup isn't GPT after all, and is MBR ?

Paul

I found a CSM OS setting in the BIOS, it wouldn't boot from that. So I'm
installing a 64 bit version of 8.1, and will convert the disk to GPT
with this approach, if it isn't already, then see if it boots, lol.

2. Convert MBR to GPT without data loss using Gptgen
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/convert-mbr-to-gpt-disk

On 12/26/2016 6:24 PM, Paul wrote:
Mike S wrote:
I am working on a friend's Samsung np355v5c laptop which came with
Windows 8, and had a lot of issues, e.g it couldn't install most
security updates. He didn't have the install CD and I suspected virus
damage, so I formatted and installed an unused Win 7 Home Premium. In
order to boot from the install CD I had to turn off Secure Boot, and
select UEFI_and_Legacy Support, in the BIOS. That allowed me to click
F10 and select the CD as the boot device. I installed w7, activated
it, installed a bunch of updates. But...

Each time I boot/reboot I have to click F10 and select the HDD as the
boot device, if I don't the machine won't default to the HDD, it just
hangs, so I'm missing some settings.

How do I get the computer to boot from the HDD automatically? Do I
have to do something to the boot sector so setting UEFI_only in the
BIOS would allow it to be managed correctly?

TIA,
Mike

I've set up one GPT disk here, which boots in
UEFI mode and has three OSes on it.

The trick for me, was *always* using popup boot
on every step of the way, and on my UEFI+CSM setup,
remembering to select the UEFI identifier in the boot list.
By booting my install DVD in UEFI mode, that offered
an opportunity for GPT partitioning and so on.

The UEFI+CSM BIOS will continue to offer options for
"backsliding", and it seems to be able to figure out
that I want to boot Windows, even when I haven't selected
an OS. And even though *GRUB* is (nominally) in control
of boot management. So somehow, the EFI partition and
items in there seem to be "more acceptable" to the BIOS.

But if I press my F8 popup boot in time, I can select an
identifier in the boot list which is UEFI and things
work as expected.

If I were to cut off its fun, by switching back to UEFI only
(no CSM), maybe it would be forced to boot the actual OS
which has the boot manager. But I cannot be sure. And there
are certain experiments I don't carry out on the Test Machine.
There have been incidents on the Internet, where a UEFI machine
gets bricked. And the owner is unable to untangle the mess. I've
not run into a "miracle recovery" in one of those stories yet.
Once I see some "Houdini material", magic ways to escape, then
I'd be game to turn Secure boot on, UEFI only, or whatever.

I started out, wanting to share a picture of the disk setup,
but now I'm finding that no two tools draw the same partition
map :-( This is... not good. How can there be a learning moment,
if you're standing on "thin ice" ? One environment had shown
me two EFI partitions (contains .efi bootstrap materials),
the other claims there is only one EFI partition. And yet
the BIOS boot menu seems to agree there are two partitions
present that might be of interest. UEFI is full of puzzles.
This is why I only have one GPT test install here,
one puzzle is enough.

Maybe your setup isn't GPT after all, and is MBR ?

Paul

Well I installed w8, activated, updates, the computer still won't
default to the hdd to boot, but when w8 installed it didn't create a GPT
partition and I didn't see any way to do that. Did I miss that feature?
Now I'm searching for freeware that will convert MBR to GPT without
losing data. If you know of any I'd be happy to hear about it.

On Tue, 27 Dec 2016 00:56:22 -0800, Mike S wrote:

Well I installed w8, activated, updates, the computer still won't
default to the hdd to boot, but when w8 installed it didn't create a GPT
partition and I didn't see any way to do that. Did I miss that feature?

Now I'm searching for freeware that will convert MBR to GPT without
losing data. If you know of any I'd be happy to hear about it.

I use AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro Edition - which costs dollars.
There is a Standard Edition which is free and will do what you want.

You can view a list of features of all versions at:
http://www.disk-partition.com/compare-edition.html

If you wish to download, I would suggest going to MajorGeeks:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/deta...assistant.html

"Mike S" wrote in message news

Well I installed w8, activated, updates, the computer still won't default to the hdd to boot, but when w8 installed it didn't
create a GPT partition and I didn't see any way to do that.

Did I miss that feature?

The usual route to clean install Windows 8.1 with GPT is to just let Windows 8.1 install media do it.

1. Boot the 8.1 media (USB or DVD) in the UEFI mode
- F10(normally) to see the bootable devices, ensure you select the option that shows 'USB UEFI' or 'DVD UEFI'
Note UEFI might not work on a DVD thus for best results the 8.1 media should be USB.
You can create 8.1 USB media using the 8.1 Media Creation Tool
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...nload/windows8
2. Choose Custom when the installer prompts for the type of installation
3. When you see the screen 'Where do you wish to install Windows'
**Select each partition and delete it**
Once all the partitions are deleted and the total drive shows up as one single unallocated space
4. Select the Unallocated space
5. Click Next
- The Windows 8.1 installer should detect the device was booted in UEFI mode and automatically format the drive using the GPT
format, once complete Windows 8.1 will install.

Just curious..since the device was 8.1 initially, and 8.1 is the current route, why not just use the manufacturer's recommended
method(if restore media is available) to restore the pc to the as-shipped factory condition.

Good luck.


--
....winston
msft mvp windows experience

On 12/27/2016 2:22 AM, Monty wrote:
On Tue, 27 Dec 2016 00:56:22 -0800, Mike S wrote:

Well I installed w8, activated, updates, the computer still won't
default to the hdd to boot, but when w8 installed it didn't create a GPT
partition and I didn't see any way to do that. Did I miss that feature?

Now I'm searching for freeware that will convert MBR to GPT without
losing data. If you know of any I'd be happy to hear about it.

I use AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro Edition - which costs dollars.
There is a Standard Edition which is free and will do what you want.

You can view a list of features of all versions at:
http://www.disk-partition.com/compare-edition.html

If you wish to download, I would suggest going to MajorGeeks:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/deta...assistant.html

AOMEI said it wouldn't do the conversion because it's a boot disk. If I
connect the hdd to a different computer so it's not the boot disk and
format the drive (it has the two typical "C" and "System Reserved"
partitions) then set the BIOS to UEFI do you have any idea if the the
drive will work normally?

On 12/27/2016 2:23 AM, ...winston wrote:
"Mike S" wrote in message news

Well I installed w8, activated, updates, the computer still won't
default to the hdd to boot, but when w8 installed it didn't create a
GPT partition and I didn't see any way to do that.

Did I miss that feature?

The usual route to clean install Windows 8.1 with GPT is to just let
Windows 8.1 install media do it.

1. Boot the 8.1 media (USB or DVD) in the UEFI mode
- F10(normally) to see the bootable devices, ensure you select the
option that shows 'USB UEFI' or 'DVD UEFI'
Note UEFI might not work on a DVD thus for best results the 8.1 media
should be USB.
You can create 8.1 USB media using the 8.1 Media Creation Tool
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...nload/windows8
2. Choose Custom when the installer prompts for the type of installation
3. When you see the screen 'Where do you wish to install Windows'
**Select each partition and delete it**
Once all the partitions are deleted and the total drive shows up as one
single unallocated space
4. Select the Unallocated space
5. Click Next
- The Windows 8.1 installer should detect the device was booted in UEFI
mode and automatically format the drive using the GPT format, once
complete Windows 8.1 will install.

Just curious..since the device was 8.1 initially, and 8.1 is the current
route, why not just use the manufacturer's recommended method(if restore
media is available) to restore the pc to the as-shipped factory condition.

Good luck.

I changed from UEFI to legacy so I could boot from the install DVD, I
think that's why the standard w8.1 install used MBR and not GPT when it
set up the drive. If I install again I will look at your procedure, thanks.

I wiped the factory partition because the owner had lots of problems, he
said "viruses" multiple times, and did a factory restore, but it was
really hosed up, most of the updates wouldn't install, so I deleted all
of the partitions and installed w7 32 bit, but even with the legacy (not
UEFI) boot option (and no Secure Boot) it wouldn't default to the hdd,
you would have to hold F10 then click ENTER every boot. So I decided to
try installing w8.1, my mistake that I didn't research the issue more
before installing.

If I connect the hdd to a different computer so it's not the boot disk
and convert the drive from MBR to GPT (it has the two typical "C" and
"System Reserved" partitions) then set the BIOS to UEFI do you have any
idea if the the drive will work normally? I mean is that a reasonable
next step?

On 12/27/2016 2:22 AM, Monty wrote:
On Tue, 27 Dec 2016 00:56:22 -0800, Mike S wrote:

Well I installed w8, activated, updates, the computer still won't
default to the hdd to boot, but when w8 installed it didn't create a GPT
partition and I didn't see any way to do that. Did I miss that feature?

Now I'm searching for freeware that will convert MBR to GPT without
losing data. If you know of any I'd be happy to hear about it.

I use AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro Edition - which costs dollars.
There is a Standard Edition which is free and will do what you want.

You can view a list of features of all versions at:
http://www.disk-partition.com/compare-edition.html

If you wish to download, I would suggest going to MajorGeeks:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/deta...assistant.html

AOMEI wouldn't do the conversion on the boot drive.

Is it a reasonable next step to connect the drive w/usb to a different
machine and do the conversion with AOMEI or Easeus Partition Master,
then set the BIOS to UEFI and see if it boots? It has the typical two
"C" and "System Reserved" partitions and is 1TB.

Mike S wrote:
On 12/26/2016 6:24 PM, Paul wrote:
Mike S wrote:
I am working on a friend's Samsung np355v5c laptop which came with
Windows 8, and had a lot of issues, e.g it couldn't install most
security updates. He didn't have the install CD and I suspected virus
damage, so I formatted and installed an unused Win 7 Home Premium. In
order to boot from the install CD I had to turn off Secure Boot, and
select UEFI_and_Legacy Support, in the BIOS. That allowed me to click
F10 and select the CD as the boot device. I installed w7, activated
it, installed a bunch of updates. But...

Each time I boot/reboot I have to click F10 and select the HDD as the
boot device, if I don't the machine won't default to the HDD, it just
hangs, so I'm missing some settings.

How do I get the computer to boot from the HDD automatically? Do I
have to do something to the boot sector so setting UEFI_only in the
BIOS would allow it to be managed correctly?

TIA,
Mike

I've set up one GPT disk here, which boots in
UEFI mode and has three OSes on it.

The trick for me, was *always* using popup boot
on every step of the way, and on my UEFI+CSM setup,
remembering to select the UEFI identifier in the boot list.
By booting my install DVD in UEFI mode, that offered
an opportunity for GPT partitioning and so on.

The UEFI+CSM BIOS will continue to offer options for
"backsliding", and it seems to be able to figure out
that I want to boot Windows, even when I haven't selected
an OS. And even though *GRUB* is (nominally) in control
of boot management. So somehow, the EFI partition and
items in there seem to be "more acceptable" to the BIOS.

But if I press my F8 popup boot in time, I can select an
identifier in the boot list which is UEFI and things
work as expected.

If I were to cut off its fun, by switching back to UEFI only
(no CSM), maybe it would be forced to boot the actual OS
which has the boot manager. But I cannot be sure. And there
are certain experiments I don't carry out on the Test Machine.
There have been incidents on the Internet, where a UEFI machine
gets bricked. And the owner is unable to untangle the mess. I've
not run into a "miracle recovery" in one of those stories yet.
Once I see some "Houdini material", magic ways to escape, then
I'd be game to turn Secure boot on, UEFI only, or whatever.

I started out, wanting to share a picture of the disk setup,
but now I'm finding that no two tools draw the same partition
map :-( This is... not good. How can there be a learning moment,
if you're standing on "thin ice" ? One environment had shown
me two EFI partitions (contains .efi bootstrap materials),
the other claims there is only one EFI partition. And yet
the BIOS boot menu seems to agree there are two partitions
present that might be of interest. UEFI is full of puzzles.
This is why I only have one GPT test install here,
one puzzle is enough.

Maybe your setup isn't GPT after all, and is MBR ?

Paul

Well I installed w8, activated, updates, the computer still won't
default to the hdd to boot, but when w8 installed it didn't create a GPT
partition and I didn't see any way to do that. Did I miss that feature?
Now I'm searching for freeware that will convert MBR to GPT without
losing data. If you know of any I'd be happy to hear about it.

If you have UEFI+CSM turned on, use the popup boot (BIOS F8
on mine, YMMV), there should be *two* entries for the
optical drive in the popup boot. One is the UEFI entry.
Boot the optical drive using the UEFI entry, which coaxes
the OS installer to allow GPT. When I did my first GPT
just recently, it took me two tries to get this
right :-( And there are only two choices.

Paul

On 12/27/2016 8:10 AM, Paul wrote:
Mike S wrote:
On 12/26/2016 6:24 PM, Paul wrote:
Mike S wrote:
I am working on a friend's Samsung np355v5c laptop which came with
Windows 8, and had a lot of issues, e.g it couldn't install most
security updates. He didn't have the install CD and I suspected virus
damage, so I formatted and installed an unused Win 7 Home Premium. In
order to boot from the install CD I had to turn off Secure Boot, and
select UEFI_and_Legacy Support, in the BIOS. That allowed me to click
F10 and select the CD as the boot device. I installed w7, activated
it, installed a bunch of updates. But...

Each time I boot/reboot I have to click F10 and select the HDD as the
boot device, if I don't the machine won't default to the HDD, it just
hangs, so I'm missing some settings.

How do I get the computer to boot from the HDD automatically? Do I
have to do something to the boot sector so setting UEFI_only in the
BIOS would allow it to be managed correctly?

TIA,
Mike

I've set up one GPT disk here, which boots in
UEFI mode and has three OSes on it.

The trick for me, was *always* using popup boot
on every step of the way, and on my UEFI+CSM setup,
remembering to select the UEFI identifier in the boot list.
By booting my install DVD in UEFI mode, that offered
an opportunity for GPT partitioning and so on.

The UEFI+CSM BIOS will continue to offer options for
"backsliding", and it seems to be able to figure out
that I want to boot Windows, even when I haven't selected
an OS. And even though *GRUB* is (nominally) in control
of boot management. So somehow, the EFI partition and
items in there seem to be "more acceptable" to the BIOS.

But if I press my F8 popup boot in time, I can select an
identifier in the boot list which is UEFI and things
work as expected.

If I were to cut off its fun, by switching back to UEFI only
(no CSM), maybe it would be forced to boot the actual OS
which has the boot manager. But I cannot be sure. And there
are certain experiments I don't carry out on the Test Machine.
There have been incidents on the Internet, where a UEFI machine
gets bricked. And the owner is unable to untangle the mess. I've
not run into a "miracle recovery" in one of those stories yet.
Once I see some "Houdini material", magic ways to escape, then
I'd be game to turn Secure boot on, UEFI only, or whatever.

I started out, wanting to share a picture of the disk setup,
but now I'm finding that no two tools draw the same partition
map :-( This is... not good. How can there be a learning moment,
if you're standing on "thin ice" ? One environment had shown
me two EFI partitions (contains .efi bootstrap materials),
the other claims there is only one EFI partition. And yet
the BIOS boot menu seems to agree there are two partitions
present that might be of interest. UEFI is full of puzzles.
This is why I only have one GPT test install here,
one puzzle is enough.

Maybe your setup isn't GPT after all, and is MBR ?

Paul

Well I installed w8, activated, updates, the computer still won't
default to the hdd to boot, but when w8 installed it didn't create a
GPT partition and I didn't see any way to do that. Did I miss that
feature? Now I'm searching for freeware that will convert MBR to GPT
without losing data. If you know of any I'd be happy to hear about it.

If you have UEFI+CSM turned on, use the popup boot (BIOS F8
on mine, YMMV), there should be *two* entries for the
optical drive in the popup boot. One is the UEFI entry.
Boot the optical drive using the UEFI entry, which coaxes
the OS installer to allow GPT. When I did my first GPT
just recently, it took me two tries to get this
right :-( And there are only two choices.

Paul

Paul, yes that's exactly right, but I would like to get it to boot
without user interaction because this is one of the Samsung laptops with
a screen that is often white, so the owner is going to rely upon using
an external monitor until he saves enough to repair it. (Father of 3,
just got cut from full time to part time, not exactly rolling in money).
So I'm trying to get it to boot without him or his kids pushing any
keys, so far I can't get the Samsung to show the boot/cmos screens on
the external monitor, that only works when Windows manages the extra
video port.

On 12/27/2016 8:10 AM, Paul wrote:
Mike S wrote:
On 12/26/2016 6:24 PM, Paul wrote:
Mike S wrote:
I am working on a friend's Samsung np355v5c laptop which came with
Windows 8, and had a lot of issues, e.g it couldn't install most
security updates. He didn't have the install CD and I suspected virus
damage, so I formatted and installed an unused Win 7 Home Premium. In
order to boot from the install CD I had to turn off Secure Boot, and
select UEFI_and_Legacy Support, in the BIOS. That allowed me to click
F10 and select the CD as the boot device. I installed w7, activated
it, installed a bunch of updates. But...

Each time I boot/reboot I have to click F10 and select the HDD as the
boot device, if I don't the machine won't default to the HDD, it just
hangs, so I'm missing some settings.

How do I get the computer to boot from the HDD automatically? Do I
have to do something to the boot sector so setting UEFI_only in the
BIOS would allow it to be managed correctly?

TIA,
Mike

I've set up one GPT disk here, which boots in
UEFI mode and has three OSes on it.

The trick for me, was *always* using popup boot
on every step of the way, and on my UEFI+CSM setup,
remembering to select the UEFI identifier in the boot list.
By booting my install DVD in UEFI mode, that offered
an opportunity for GPT partitioning and so on.

The UEFI+CSM BIOS will continue to offer options for
"backsliding", and it seems to be able to figure out
that I want to boot Windows, even when I haven't selected
an OS. And even though *GRUB* is (nominally) in control
of boot management. So somehow, the EFI partition and
items in there seem to be "more acceptable" to the BIOS.

But if I press my F8 popup boot in time, I can select an
identifier in the boot list which is UEFI and things
work as expected.

If I were to cut off its fun, by switching back to UEFI only
(no CSM), maybe it would be forced to boot the actual OS
which has the boot manager. But I cannot be sure. And there
are certain experiments I don't carry out on the Test Machine.
There have been incidents on the Internet, where a UEFI machine
gets bricked. And the owner is unable to untangle the mess. I've
not run into a "miracle recovery" in one of those stories yet.
Once I see some "Houdini material", magic ways to escape, then
I'd be game to turn Secure boot on, UEFI only, or whatever.

I started out, wanting to share a picture of the disk setup,
but now I'm finding that no two tools draw the same partition
map :-( This is... not good. How can there be a learning moment,
if you're standing on "thin ice" ? One environment had shown
me two EFI partitions (contains .efi bootstrap materials),
the other claims there is only one EFI partition. And yet
the BIOS boot menu seems to agree there are two partitions
present that might be of interest. UEFI is full of puzzles.
This is why I only have one GPT test install here,
one puzzle is enough.

Maybe your setup isn't GPT after all, and is MBR ?

Paul

Well I installed w8, activated, updates, the computer still won't
default to the hdd to boot, but when w8 installed it didn't create a
GPT partition and I didn't see any way to do that. Did I miss that
feature? Now I'm searching for freeware that will convert MBR to GPT
without losing data. If you know of any I'd be happy to hear about it.

If you have UEFI+CSM turned on, use the popup boot (BIOS F8
on mine, YMMV), there should be *two* entries for the
optical drive in the popup boot. One is the UEFI entry.
Boot the optical drive using the UEFI entry, which coaxes
the OS installer to allow GPT. When I did my first GPT
just recently, it took me two tries to get this
right :-( And there are only two choices.

Paul

Paul, yes that's exactly right, there are 2 choices, but I would like to
get it to boot from the hdd without user interaction because this is one
of the Samsung laptops with a screen that is often white, so the owner
is going to rely upon using an external monitor until he saves enough to
repair it. (Father of 3, just got cut from full time to part time, not
exactly rolling in money). So I'm trying to get it to boot without him
or his kids having to push any keys and hope they did it right, so far I
can't get the Samsung to show the boot/cmos screens on the external
monitor, that only works when Windows manages the extra video port.

Mike S wrote:
On 12/27/2016 8:10 AM, Paul wrote:
Mike S wrote:
On 12/26/2016 6:24 PM, Paul wrote:
Mike S wrote:
I am working on a friend's Samsung np355v5c laptop which came with
Windows 8, and had a lot of issues, e.g it couldn't install most
security updates. He didn't have the install CD and I suspected virus
damage, so I formatted and installed an unused Win 7 Home Premium. In
order to boot from the install CD I had to turn off Secure Boot, and
select UEFI_and_Legacy Support, in the BIOS. That allowed me to click
F10 and select the CD as the boot device. I installed w7, activated
it, installed a bunch of updates. But...

Each time I boot/reboot I have to click F10 and select the HDD as the
boot device, if I don't the machine won't default to the HDD, it just
hangs, so I'm missing some settings.

How do I get the computer to boot from the HDD automatically? Do I
have to do something to the boot sector so setting UEFI_only in the
BIOS would allow it to be managed correctly?

TIA,
Mike

I've set up one GPT disk here, which boots in
UEFI mode and has three OSes on it.

The trick for me, was *always* using popup boot
on every step of the way, and on my UEFI+CSM setup,
remembering to select the UEFI identifier in the boot list.
By booting my install DVD in UEFI mode, that offered
an opportunity for GPT partitioning and so on.

The UEFI+CSM BIOS will continue to offer options for
"backsliding", and it seems to be able to figure out
that I want to boot Windows, even when I haven't selected
an OS. And even though *GRUB* is (nominally) in control
of boot management. So somehow, the EFI partition and
items in there seem to be "more acceptable" to the BIOS.

But if I press my F8 popup boot in time, I can select an
identifier in the boot list which is UEFI and things
work as expected.

If I were to cut off its fun, by switching back to UEFI only
(no CSM), maybe it would be forced to boot the actual OS
which has the boot manager. But I cannot be sure. And there
are certain experiments I don't carry out on the Test Machine.
There have been incidents on the Internet, where a UEFI machine
gets bricked. And the owner is unable to untangle the mess. I've
not run into a "miracle recovery" in one of those stories yet.
Once I see some "Houdini material", magic ways to escape, then
I'd be game to turn Secure boot on, UEFI only, or whatever.

I started out, wanting to share a picture of the disk setup,
but now I'm finding that no two tools draw the same partition
map :-( This is... not good. How can there be a learning moment,
if you're standing on "thin ice" ? One environment had shown
me two EFI partitions (contains .efi bootstrap materials),
the other claims there is only one EFI partition. And yet
the BIOS boot menu seems to agree there are two partitions
present that might be of interest. UEFI is full of puzzles.
This is why I only have one GPT test install here,
one puzzle is enough.

Maybe your setup isn't GPT after all, and is MBR ?

Paul

Well I installed w8, activated, updates, the computer still won't
default to the hdd to boot, but when w8 installed it didn't create a
GPT partition and I didn't see any way to do that. Did I miss that
feature? Now I'm searching for freeware that will convert MBR to GPT
without losing data. If you know of any I'd be happy to hear about it.

If you have UEFI+CSM turned on, use the popup boot (BIOS F8
on mine, YMMV), there should be *two* entries for the
optical drive in the popup boot. One is the UEFI entry.
Boot the optical drive using the UEFI entry, which coaxes
the OS installer to allow GPT. When I did my first GPT
just recently, it took me two tries to get this
right :-( And there are only two choices.

Paul

Paul, yes that's exactly right, there are 2 choices, but I would like to
get it to boot from the hdd without user interaction because this is one
of the Samsung laptops with a screen that is often white, so the owner
is going to rely upon using an external monitor until he saves enough to
repair it. (Father of 3, just got cut from full time to part time, not
exactly rolling in money). So I'm trying to get it to boot without him
or his kids having to push any keys and hope they did it right, so far I
can't get the Samsung to show the boot/cmos screens on the external
monitor, that only works when Windows manages the extra video port.

All I can suggest at this point, is on every reboot while
you're working on it, select the UEFI option while running
in UEFI+CSM mode. Then, when the basic install is finished,
flip it to UEFI only mode if you want. Then, retest and
see if it boots then.

That means, if you were installing Win8, you might have to
manually select the boot path up to four times during the
install. That's what I was doing, to emulate a UEFI-only
BIOS mode - babysitting it.

The reason I leave my test machine (the one with the GPT test
install on it) in UEFI+CSM mode, is I use CSM mode more than
I do UEFI, and UEFI is being used *only* for this test case.
Which is why I manually steer the boot in the desired direction.

Paul