Laptop unable to install windows 8.1

Ok so I recently bought the dell I7559 . The laptop ships with windows 10, but I need to install windows 8.1 for school purposes. My college doesn't recommend windows 10 because of potential incompatibility issues.

I purchased a samsung 850 evo m.2 drive with the intention of installing win 8.1 onto it, and using the 1tb sshd as storage. I have created a usb installation media, have set the usb to boot first in the bios, disable secure boot, and enabled the legacy options. When I boot the computer however, it sits at a screen with the windows logo and a circle of spinning dots for hours, I left the computer on overnight to no avail. I have been poring over older forum posts on other sites, but none of the supposed "solutions" work for me. I have found users with similar experiences, but because the laptop is new, I have had a hard time finding a user with the same laptop and the same issue. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

If I need to post pictures of the screen, bios settings etc. just let me know,I will be happy to do that. I am at a loss for what the issue could be.

Chuck

Does your device show up in the boot menu ? Should be f12 for Dell laptops.

If not try disabling "Wake on USB" or something similar in BIOS. Sometimes it prevents external usb devices from being recognized at boot. Also try connecting your usb device to a usb 2 port if you haven't.

it only appears after I disable secure boot, and enable legacy options for booting. I will try the wake on usb option

the usb wake option was already disabled. I do not have a usb 2.0 port to try. Would an external cd drive be worth a try?

So after you turn off secure boot and switch from uefi to legacy your device shows up on the boot select menu ? What happens when you manually select your boot usb ?

You could also check if external usb devices are disabled in BIOS but that shouldn't be the case if it is showing up in the menu.

Correct, the only way I am able to select the usb as a boot device is to enable the legacy settings. There is an option for usb emulation, the help window says that if it is disabled, booting will not be allowed from any type of usb device, this option is enabled, so booting should be possible.

I will add pictures in a moment

Ok everything seems to be in order but you didn't answer the critical question :) What happens when you restart -> go into select boot device menu (not the settings in bios) -> select your bootable usb ?

The same thing, black screen with a windows logo, and some spinning dots

Either your 8.1 iso is corrupted or there is a problem with your usb drive. Do you have another usb stick or an external dvd ?

I have tried 2 different downloads of windows. Right now I am trying an external usb dvd reader. I heard it spin up, so at least I know it is trying to boot. Is it possible that the computer is downloading updates, or drivers of some sort that take a long time? I know that this is something that happens with a few linux distros, but at least while installing those, there is both an option to install those updates, and a progress bar so you know the system is working.

This is so frustrating, I just want to use my shiny new computer!

Have you tried removing the sshd from the laptop and trying to install with only the m.2 drive in it ?

I have not, could that be causing an issue?

Well i have seen hdds prevent boot media from loading files a few times on the job. They were faulty though. Could be worth a try.

You can also try removing your bios battery to clear cmos and then resetting bios to default settings. After that do your configuration and try again.

update

I tried making bootable media using Rufus onto my usb drive. I got this message on the machine when I booted it up

That mean it didn't recognize your usb and went on with the boot order till the last option which is booting over lan (pxe boot)

Create your usb with this instead https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool
Is your iso genuine ?

Yes. I downloaded directly from the Microsoft website. I have the windows key in an email from my future school, where I got it for free through the dreamspark program

I have already followed that procedure listed

I finally got it to install!!! typing this reply on the new computer. This is probably the fastest computer I have ever owned, thought that's not saying much.
@ThisHertz

1 Like

Gratz.

Do I sense sarcasm