Why does this Acer BIOS show a bootable Sandisk thumb drive as a Hard Disk, not as Removable Device?

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/4p/ywc62vch7700.png

The "Removable Device Priority" field in BIOS setup is empty.

Instead, my Sandisk thumbdrive prepared by Windows Media Creation Tool shows up under "Hard Disk Drive Priority".
For comparison, Diskpart commandline utility shows the Sandisk usb thumbdrive is Removable.

Even simple common sense says a Sandisk thumbdrive is a Removable Device, doesn't it?
So, what's with this?

This also begs the question, then just what qualifies as Removable media?
Is there anything in the world that qualifies as Removable?
If not, then why does that Removable Device field even exist in BIOS.
Just to confuse us?

Maybe Acer BIOS supports UEFI-booting from a 5¼ inch 1.2MB floppy.
Yeah. That must be it.

Nevermind. Silly me.

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JackE

>>>Maybe Acer BIOS supports UEFI-booting from a 5¼ inch 1.2MB floppy. Yeah. That must be it.Nevermind. Silly me.>>>

Yep. USB-connected floppies & cd discs will often still boot in UEFI mode just like in the olden days. Even 50-yo 8" floppies if you can find an adapter drive

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/za/2iqh1f1m0929.jpg

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JackE

For the same reason a removable USB flash drive (also known as USB thumb drive) shows up as an HDD in DiskPart and BIOS menu on a UEFI bootstrapped PC. USB Flash Drive = USB Thumb Drive.

External removable SD cards and removable USB thumb drives can also be described as HDDs or SSDs in diskpart and many BIOS, whether Phoenix, AMI, AmericanMegatrends, Insyde, etc. Both UEFI bootstrap and legacy BIOS. That's what I was trying to communicate.

This is normal behavior for many PCs with removable thumb drives and sd cards. I don't understand what issue you have with this?

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/2l/m1kbio0zlbh0.jpg

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billsey

@prunemaster since you didn't say what computer you had in this thread, Jack could only show you generic BIOS images. Most of the newer Acer systems use the Insyde BIOSes, so that is what he showed you. I believe you have an Aspire XC-1660G right? The BIOS on an XC-1660G does look like your pictures anyway. It should list all UEFI boot environments, including removable drives in the boot menu. Otherwise there would be no way to boot from USB.

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JackE

You seem to have a problem with a removable thumbdrive being listed as an HDD in diskpart prompt or the bios menu. This is how the firmware and operating system has always worked. However, the removable device or even an internal HDD will NOT show up in the BOOT tab if it is NOT BOOTABLE. The is also how the firmware has always worked. Why do you have a problem with this explanation? It is puzzling to me?

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billsey

@prunemaster, as I said, you started this thread without giving us the model of your computer. I have interacted with you on other threads, so I had an idea what computer type you have. Jack showed you example screen shots from the most common BIOS type used on recent Acer computers and gave you correct information. You really shouldn't get so worked up if you want to continue to receive help.

Q1) If you choose Windows Boot Manager, it will boot from the default UEFI device.

Q2) You are making an incorrect assumption. You have a UEFI boot environment, so all bootable devices are UEFI. Windows Boot Manager is the just the aggregator that track all devices that are bootable.

Q3) Your USB thumb drive is listed in the menu as USB, Partition 1. It doesn't say Sandisk, but it might not provide the manufacturer name as part of it's USB ID string.

Q4) The Toshiba if the drive listed as a Toshiba.

Q5) The Samsung is listed as the Samsung.

Q6) Likely when you cloned the disk the IDs were cloned as well, so both SSDs are being seen as the same drive. This is why they recommend removing the old drive before booting to the new drive.

billsey

Sorry you feel that way. I'm not going to bother trying to answer you any longer.

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Ingrid-Inactive

Hello all,

I would like to let a friendly reminder that the Acer community is intended to be a peer to peer community. The members here are volunteering their free time, sharing their knowledge, ideas and opinions, which makes our community a unique environment.