SOLVED Stuck in BIOS Setup, laptop will not boot into Windows

[Charliedog]

Sorry if this is not the appropriate form for this, but thought i would try it.

I got a Lenovo W540 several months ago, updated it to Version 1909, and it has been running great. I went into BIOS Setup to check the boot order and somehow changed something-not sure what, and now the laptop will not boot into Windows 10.

Every time I turn it on, it automatically goes into the BIOS Setup menu. I've tried the option to reset it to the default values and restarted, but no change. Not sure what else to try. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Trouble]

Depending on your BIOS settings....
IF UEFI then you need to make sure that your first boot device shows "Windows Boot Manager"
IF older standard Legacy BIOS then you need to make sure that your first boot device is the physical disk hosting your install, usually disk 1.

Changing from one to the other will often cause the symptoms you describe.
Assuming you haven't physically switched anything around and assuming your disk is problem free, then you just need to return it to the original settings that were present at the time of the install.

 

[Charliedog]

The boot is UEFI only, and I cannot change that-the highlight just skips over that. Nowhere do I see a 'Windows Boot Manager' in any options.

 

[Trouble]

The boot is UEFI only,

Normally, I would think that, that is a good thing and I was assuming that was the case.

I cannot change that-

That is likely linked to "Secure Boot" being enabled. You would probably need to disable that to make changes to the above.

Nowhere do I see a 'Windows Boot Manager

I'm surprised to see that you don't have Windows Boot Manager listed under boot device Order, although that would likely be the default in the case of "UEFI Only" and again would assume that all of that is what you would get if you set everything to "Defaults" or "Optimized Defaults".
AND
All that should be fine if at the time of the install, someone didn't change those settings to support Legacy behavior.

 

[Snuffy]

Sorry if this is not the appropriate form for this, but thought i would try it.

I got a Lenovo W540 several months ago, updated it to Version 1909, and it has been running great. I went into BIOS Setup to check the boot order and somehow changed something-not sure what, and now the laptop will not boot into Windows 10.

Every time I turn it on, it automatically goes into the BIOS Setup menu. I've tried the option to reset it to the default values and restarted, but no change. Not sure what else to try. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Recommend you use LOAD SETUP DEFAULTS.

 

[Charliedog]

I have done the restart with the Setup Defaults, and it still came back to the BIOS setup screen.

HOWEVER, I just disabled secure boot, then changed 'UEFI only' to 'both, Legacy first', restarted saving the changes & it booted right into Windows. Now my question is: should I stop here, or go back in and change any settings such as UEFI, Legacy, or leave it at Both, and should I enable Secure Boot or leave it disabled.

Thanks all for the help and ideas.

 

[Trouble]

Sounds to me like you have a legacy install.
So you are going to have to decide what you want to do going forward.
Your install almost certainly does not contain an EFI partition.
SO....
If you're happy with the way things have been working.... Do nothing further.
IF you want to transform the install into one that will boot with all the UEFI features enabled, you've got some research and work to do.
You might want to consider a clean install.

 

[Snuffy]

1. Secure Boot will not allow you to boot into USB. which most people use today for the speed.
2.You need to see which you boot into EFI or MBR

How to Boot into UEFI Directly from Windows 10 - Make Tech Easier

To access your boot screen and BIOS, you can boot into UEFI mode directly from Windows. Here is how you can do so, if your motherboard has a UEFI chip.

www.maketecheasier.com

If your boot is EFI then change to EFI Only.