F5F Stay Refreshed Hardware Notebooks My laptop won't start when I try to run it on a live USB after installing Proxmox.

My laptop won't start when I try to run it on a live USB after installing Proxmox.

My laptop won't start when I try to run it on a live USB after installing Proxmox.

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Mael309
Member
145
08-18-2026, 05:27 PM
#1
I have an old HP laptop that is 4 or 5 years old, and I put Proxmox server software on it. Now I want to change the operating system again, but I cannot boot from a live USB stick. My BIOS comes from Insyde with version F02. To start up, I had to turn off "secure boot" so the Proxmox installer would work. When I turned it back on and tried other options, nothing worked. Some people say that CSM settings can cause trouble, but this laptop's BIOS doesn't have a setting for CSM. After selecting the live USB from my boot menu, it won't start up, and when I plug that same USB into a different Windows computer, it disappears completely. The USB is only recognized on a MacBook if I format it right now. Basically, the laptop is broken at this point. What can I do to fix it? Please help me out of this mess. I am not sure where else I should post this question.
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Mael309
08-18-2026, 05:27 PM #1

I have an old HP laptop that is 4 or 5 years old, and I put Proxmox server software on it. Now I want to change the operating system again, but I cannot boot from a live USB stick. My BIOS comes from Insyde with version F02. To start up, I had to turn off "secure boot" so the Proxmox installer would work. When I turned it back on and tried other options, nothing worked. Some people say that CSM settings can cause trouble, but this laptop's BIOS doesn't have a setting for CSM. After selecting the live USB from my boot menu, it won't start up, and when I plug that same USB into a different Windows computer, it disappears completely. The USB is only recognized on a MacBook if I format it right now. Basically, the laptop is broken at this point. What can I do to fix it? Please help me out of this mess. I am not sure where else I should post this question.

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FlorProPvP
Member
115
08-20-2026, 11:10 AM
#2
It seems your USB drive was broken or had too many bad sectors, and it kept crashing when trying to start up the laptop. This messed up the data and turned that drive into something useless. If this drives still works on Macs though, it might have been locked to APFS format, which means it will never work again in a different computer. Your best move is to buy a brand new USB drive from a reliable place and use a normal PC to set up any operating system you want, then boot your laptop using that new drive instead.
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FlorProPvP
08-20-2026, 11:10 AM #2

It seems your USB drive was broken or had too many bad sectors, and it kept crashing when trying to start up the laptop. This messed up the data and turned that drive into something useless. If this drives still works on Macs though, it might have been locked to APFS format, which means it will never work again in a different computer. Your best move is to buy a brand new USB drive from a reliable place and use a normal PC to set up any operating system you want, then boot your laptop using that new drive instead.

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Demoralize
Member
52
08-25-2026, 12:04 AM
#3
I've tried using several USB flash drives, but they all failed in the same way. I tried formatting them for FAT on my Mac, then mounting a live ISO onto another one on my PC. It looked like the drives were fine after all.
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Demoralize
08-25-2026, 12:04 AM #3

I've tried using several USB flash drives, but they all failed in the same way. I tried formatting them for FAT on my Mac, then mounting a live ISO onto another one on my PC. It looked like the drives were fine after all.

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JacobLouis30
Posting Freak
856
08-25-2026, 05:53 AM
#4
What do you want to put in? I am confused because you said you were already running something and now try to swap it out. But what exactly are you changing it for?
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JacobLouis30
08-25-2026, 05:53 AM #4

What do you want to put in? I am confused because you said you were already running something and now try to swap it out. But what exactly are you changing it for?

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Roey09
Junior Member
14
08-25-2026, 06:34 AM
#5
I installed Proxmox software, not operating system like Windows or Linux. (I also asked on their forum but no one responded). When it starts up, you only see a command line where you can log in. My laptop had Windows before I put this server stuff on top of it. Now I want to install a Linux distro here. I used an ISO for G-Parted and one for Debian, created the bootable USB with Rufus, checked the delete option when making the drive.
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Roey09
08-25-2026, 06:34 AM #5

I installed Proxmox software, not operating system like Windows or Linux. (I also asked on their forum but no one responded). When it starts up, you only see a command line where you can log in. My laptop had Windows before I put this server stuff on top of it. Now I want to install a Linux distro here. I used an ISO for G-Parted and one for Debian, created the bootable USB with Rufus, checked the delete option when making the drive.