can't boot v4 from usb

[freerangehuman]

I followed the directions for creating the v4 bootable usb key and it seemed to go smoothly. Then I changed the boot order so the USB key was #1. However when I try to use it on the older machine I want to test, it does not try to boot from the usb key. It just boots windows from the hard drive even though that is a lower boot priority. What am I doing wrong?

[Richard (PassMark)]

What software are you referring to? We have quite a few programs.

If you are trying to use MemTest86 V4, V4 will run on systems that support the legacy BIOS platform. If you have a recent system, we recommend using the latest version of the software.

[freerangehuman]

I have an old computer running XP 64 bit and I downloaded the version "V4 Windows Downloads: Image for creating bootable USB drives" under the heading "Older Versions". I would just replace the computer but I have some programs I would lose so I really hope to fix it.

[freerangehuman]

And I should have mentioned, it is memtest86.

[David (PassMark)]

I would just replace the computer but I have some programs I would lose so I really hope to fix it.

Take a copy of the hard drive, turn it into a Virtual machine and then use VMware or Virtual Box to boot the old machine on modern hardware. Will also run faster.

Otherwise, it might be that the machine really is UEFI BIOS, despite it's age. Or the USB creation step wasn't correct. Or the BIOS boot settings are not correct.

Could also try disconnecting the cable to the hard drive, as an experiment, to attempt to force a USB boot.

[freerangehuman]

I tried v11.5 just to be sure but had the same result. Disconnecting hard drives yields 'operating system no found'. I reset the USB drive using DISKPART prior to creating the boot drive out of it to be sure it was clean each time. When I looked at the finished boot drive using DISKPART, neither of them showed it as a bootable drive; is this expected? I wonder if I am making some mistake creating the boot drive because v11.5 took 5-10 minutes to create whereas v4 only took a few seconds. I have attached a pix of the BIOS. Is there something else I can try?

[David (PassMark)]

You don't need to clean the USB drive before installing MemTest86, as the entire USB drive will be overwritten.
V4 was smaller than V11, so it is quicker to copy to the USB drive.

Some really old computers didn't have support for USB3 in BIOS. Meaning that USB3 drives / ports could not be used from BIOS. You had to use USB1 or USB2 ports to boot. USB3 ports are sometimes blue coloured.