Most often, we remember the BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) only when we need to reinstall the operating system and need to somehow set it to boot from a disk or flash drive. I often wrote about this in articles such as:, and others. Now I want to gather together and refer only to this article when necessary. This article will be useful for all BIOS versions and for different companies. A sort of single guide
The first thing you need to know is that the BIOS is divided by manufacturer and version.
To change boot method in BIOS- you need to enter it first.
You can, of course, find out what version and manufacturer of your BIOS is from the manual that comes with your computer.
You can also find out by looking at the line at the top on the black screen during boot (the manufacturer will be indicated there).
Well, then enter the BIOS, knowing what it is for you.
In some BIOS versions there is no such screen showing lines. There is just a logo there and something like "Press F2 to enter SETUP" is written below, which means we press F2. If there is just a logo and there are no inscriptions - press ESC, and then del or f2
Here is a small list of manufacturers and keyboard shortcuts for entering BIOS:
Also, at the bottom of the black screen, keys are written to enter the BIOS and to display a list that contains available devices for booting and so that you can boot from it. But about him at the end of the article.
As you can see - most often you need to press the key F2 or Del.
Now you need to put a USB flash drive or disk into the boot.
Let's look at several examples that differ from the BIOS manufacturer.
Configuring Award Bios to boot from a USB flash drive or disk:
The main window is like this, in which we need the second item:
Further depends on the firmware version. In one case, you will need to go to an item similar to "Boot Seq & Floppy Setup"
in another case, you don’t need to go anywhere - everything will be in front of your eyes anyway
clicks on First boot device(First boot device), click Enter and this window will appear
in which you need to select a disk or flash drive that will be launched first. You can specify the Second boot device, for example, but usually the BIOS itself fills in this data.
On a note:
If you choose a flash drive, then, among other things, you also need to go to the “Hard Disk Boot Priority” item and move our flash drive to the very top using the “+” and “-” or “PageUp” and “PageDown” buttons:
It is also worth remembering that in order for the BIOS to see the USB flash drive, you need to connect it before turning it on or before rebooting
Then press "F10" (see the exact key in the prompt at the bottom of the screen with the name "Save", "Exit") or go to the main BIOS menu and select the "Save and Exit Setup" item. In the red box, select "Yes" with the "Y" button on the keyboard and press "Enter"
The computer will restart and when booting from the Windows installation disk, such a request may appear for a few seconds “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD…”
Which translates to "Press any button to boot from CD or DVD."
This means that if at this moment you do not press any button on the keyboard, the computer will continue to boot from the next device in the list.
Another variation of this bios:
I only met this on old computers ten years ago until 2003. The main menu looks like this:
To set the boot order, you need to go to the menu BIOS FEATURES SETUP:
At this point, we just select with the PageUp and PageDown buttons (or Enter and arrows) what to set first - a CDROM or a USB flash drive. DO NOT forget about the second and third device
And further:
How to choose what to boot from in AMI BIOS
If, upon entering BIOS, you see such a screen, then you have AMI BIOS:
Using the right arrow key on the keyboard, move to the Boot tab:
We go to "Hard Disk Drives" and in the line "1st Drive" (may be called "First Drive") select a disk or flash drive:
Next, go to "Boot Device Priority", go to "1st Boot Device" and select from the list what you chose in the previous tab (i.e. if you chose a USB flash drive in Hard Disk Drives, then you need to specify it here. This is important! )
To boot from a CD/DVD disc, you need to select "ATAPI CD-ROM" (or simply "CDROM") in this menu, and there is no need to go to the previous menu "Hard Disk Drives".
Now we save the results with the "F10" button or go to the "Exit" BIOS section and select "Exit Saving Changes".
Another AMI BIOS, but here everything is clear:
Setting up Phoenix-Award Bios to boot from a USB flash drive
If, upon entering BIOS, you see such a screen, then you have a Phoenix- Award BIOS:
Go to the “Advanced” tab and opposite “First Boot Device” set what you need (flash drive or disk):
Save with F10
Configuring EFI (UEFI) Bios with GUI to boot from flash drive
Now this is no surprise to anyone. Almost all new computers are supplied with a similar shell. You can read more about it in the article.
When loading, at the bottom of the screen there is a "Boot Priority" section, where you can use the mouse (drag and drop) to set the desired boot order.
You can also click on the right upper corner Exit/Advanced mode button and select Advanced mode in the appeared window.
Next, go to the "Boot" tab and in the section Boot Option Priorities in the "Boot Option # 1" field, set the USB flash drive, DVD-ROM, hard drive, or other available device as the default boot device.
How to boot from a USB flash drive or from a disk without entering BIOS
This is what I wrote about almost at the very beginning of the article.
This is when you need to press the key once and a window will appear with a choice of download. This method does not change the BIOS settings.
Usually Award BIOS prompts you to press "F9" to call boot menu, and AMI asks to press "F8" . On laptops, this may be the "F12" key.
In general - look at the bottom line and look for items like "Press F8 for BBS POPUP" or "Press F9 to Select Booting Device after POST".
Why can't I boot from a USB flash drive into the BIOS?
Possible reasons: 
On ancient computers, there is generally no way to boot from USB flash drives. If there is no newer BIOS, then the project can help.
1) Download from the link above latest version"Plop Boot Manager" and unpack.
2) The archive contains files: plpbt.img is an image for a floppy disk, and plpbt.iso is an image for a CD.
3) Write the image to disk and boot from it (or from a floppy disk).
4) A menu will appear in which we select our USB flash drive and boot from it.
A small decoding of disk designations when choosing:
Do not forget after you have done what you wanted (namely, why did you change the boot in the BIOS) - return the boot settings back so that the computer boots from hard drive.
Very often there is a situation when you need to boot from CD-DVD drive, for example, when installing windows, or loading other applications directly when the computer starts.
To make such a download, you need to make small manipulations with the BIOS settings, there are no difficulties here. All you need to do is to press the keys on the keyboard a couple of times.
Depending on your BIOS (Ami or Award), you can configure it to boot from a CD-DVD disc. You can understand which BIOS you have from the pictures in the instructions.
Set boot from CD-DVD in Award BIOS.
2. Using the arrows on the keyboard, select the Advanced BIOS features tab and press Enter
3. Select the First Boot device tab, press the Enter key, in the window that appears, also use the arrows on the keyboard to put the pointer in front of the CDROM inscription and press Enter.
4. Exit the BIOS while maintaining the settings, to do this, press the F10 key on the keyboard, After the red window appears, press the Enter key. The computer will restart and if you have a CD-DVD drive with a boot sector installed in your drive, it will try to run its contents, such as installing windows.
Set boot from CD-DVD in Ami BIOS.
1. We launch the BIOS settings by pressing the Delete key at the time the computer starts.
2. Using the arrows on the keyboard, select the Boot tab, then select the Boot Device Priority item, use the Enter key to enter this item.
3. Select the item 1st Boot Device, in the window that appears, select your CD-DVD drive and press the Enter key.
4. Exit the BIOS while maintaining the settings, to do this, press the F10 key on the keyboard, select OK in the window that appears and press the Enter key. The computer will restart and if you have a CD-DVD drive with a boot sector installed in your drive, it will try to run its contents, such as installing windows.
What BIOS versions exist and how to enter their settings
There are several BIOS versions embedded in various motherboards - AWARD, AMI, UEFI. These are the three main varieties, but the AWARD system has received the most distribution on desktop PCs. However, these three systems do not differ in anything cardinal, with the exception of the external design and hot keys, they all perform the same functional tasks. Entering the settings of the base system is not difficult, you just need to do the following:
- turn off the power of the computer;
- turn on the power, after the first image appears on the monitor, and this is a black screen, you should press the hot key. Usually, developers indicate the key that should be pressed to enter the settings.
Such a key can be DEL, F2, F10. Again, it all depends on the BIOS version. The F10 key is much less common, but if your BIOS version requires pressing this button, then instead of DEL, F2, the system will write F10 at the system boot start screen.
Advice. Modern laptops based on Windows 7, 8 may not display the start screen. This happens for the reason that the latest models are equipped with a download accelerator. operating system. To resolve this issue, you should read the computer's instructions and disable the Fast Boot function.
If you don’t see the boot screen, and you can’t find the instructions, then the following method almost always helps: turn off the laptop, hold down the F2 key, turn on the power without releasing the F2 button. After these actions BIOS settings usually starts.
Set the BIOS settings to boot from disk to Windows 7.8
After successfully completing the steps described above, the base system will open in front of you. If the monitor blue screen settings, then, most likely, this is the version of the AWARD database. It is the most common and occurs much more often than its counterparts.
How to work with AWARD?
- In the BIOS main menu, select the Advanced BIOS Features section.
- Then go to First Boot Device, press the Enter key and select the name of the optical drive.
- Press Esc to return to the start menu, select the Save & Exit Setup option, confirm the action, after which the computer will reboot with the changed boot device parameters.
Attention! If you cannot find the Advanced BIOS Features option, then in any case, at the top of the settings screen there will be a Boot option, in which CDROM should be selected opposite 1st Boot Device.
With the UEFI version, there should be no difficulties. Here, in the same way, you should select the boot device. The UEFI BIOS interface is simple and straightforward, although it differs from AWARD and AMI. The last two are the same, the only difference between them is that AMI has found its way into laptops.
In the UEFI BIOS system, the first step is to go to the Boot tab, select your device as a read drive in the First Boot Option settings. Then save the settings and wait until the system reboots.
The principle of operation of all systems is the same everywhere and always. Different versions differ only in appearance, if you carefully look through all the settings options, then you can surely find the section you need.
At this stage, the main thing is to understand the principle itself BIOS operation, after which there will be no more difficulties. But if you manage to go into the settings, and after the steps taken, the computer refuses to boot from the disk, then you need to pay attention to the CD itself.
BIOS setup to boot Windows from external media
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Let's say you have a boot disk with Windows in your hands. Or the anti-virus disk Dr.Web LiveCD. Or maybe you want to install Linux. You insert the disc into the computer, but suddenly the question arises: “What to do next?” If you are an inexperienced (yet) computer user, then this question will be one of the first. Advanced users also sometimes need to know the boot order in various versions BIOS. So my guide is for everyone.
So, we are faced with the task: we need to tell the computer which disk to boot from first. To do this, you need to get into the BIOS settings. How to do this - read on.
Which button to press?
The very first question that arises from an unprepared user. How to boot from a boot disk or flash drive?
Two solutions:
- Open the boot menu with a list of connected boot devices and select the one you need from the list.
- Configure the BIOS of the motherboard so that the operating system boots first of all with desired device and not from the hard drive.
Option 1 is simple, but not all BIOSes support such a menu. In any case, it's worth trying. Typically, the boot menu appears when you press F11 or F12 right after turning on the computer. Less often - Esc, F8 or other buttons. Sometimes it is supported but disabled. In this case, read the instructions for the motherboard of your computer.
Option 2 always works - there are boot settings in almost every BIOS. About the setting and will be told by me.
We need to get into the BIOS settings. BIOS (or its improved analogue UEFI) is a special system that boots immediately after turning on the computer. The BIOS is independent of Windows or anything else because it resides on a memory chip soldered into the motherboard. You can read more about terminology.
Usually, to enter the BIOS settings, you need to press the Delete, F2 or Esc button 1-3 seconds after turning on the computer. How to find out which button to press: after turning on the PC, look for the line Press Del to enter Setup on the screen (where instead of Del there may be F2 or another key). This will be the inscription about which button to press. Example:
Instead of a black screen with diagnostic text, the logo of the laptop or motherboard manufacturer may be displayed, then the prompt will look like this:
By the way, in the last two screenshots there are hints for the boot menu button (which easier) - on the first one it's Esc, on the second it's F12. Let me remind you that this option is preferable, but not always present.
On the boot screens of some laptops there is no inscription, then look at the keymap
We press the desired button and get into the BIOS. If you pressed the wrong button, nothing bad will happen, because. the computer will simply ignore your actions or show some other BIOS add-on, where it will not be what you need. Then you need to press Reset (the reset button on system block) or Ctrl Alt Del to restart your computer.
After pressing the desired button and the BIOS screen appears, an ambush awaits us - there are many BIOS versions, their settings look different. There is also good news - they all most often have the same points, so you can figure out what's what. There are two BIOS versions that are very different from each other, we will consider them below.
Please note that there are similar hints in the instructions for the laptop or motherboard. desktop computer. If you do not have instructions in paper form, you can always download it from the model page on the official website of the manufacturer.
After reading this article, looking at the explanatory illustrations, you can set up booting from the Windows installation disk on any computer.
Popular BIOS version. It is, in particular, on many Acer laptops:
We need to get into the Boot section. Press the right arrow three times:
Before us is a list of devices from which you can boot. On each computer, the names of the lines are different, but the first two words always say what kind of device it is:
- IDE CD - CD/DVD drive
- IDE HDD HDD
- USB HDD - portable hard drive
- USB KEY - flash drive.
To set the first drive (line starting with IDE CD), i.e. change the boot priority, use the up/down arrows to highlight this item, then press F5/F6(on some versions of this BIOS you need to press - or), put it first in the list. It will be something like this:
To save settings, click right arrow to get to the menu exit(Exit), select menu item Exit Saving Changes(Exit and save changes) and press Enter twice in a row.
Note: The Exit Discarding Changes menu item allows you to exit the BIOS without saving your settings.
The computer will restart and instead Windows boot the download should start from the selected drive. That is, for example, the installation of Windows will begin. Mission Complete!
The main menu of this BIOS looks like this:
Press Enter, return to the previous settings page, go to Second boot device(Second boot device) and there we set hard drive- this will allow your computer to boot normally with the DVD disc or flash drive.
Press Y on the keyboard, then Enter - the settings will be saved, the computer will restart.
Ready! Now, when a boot disk is inserted, the computer will boot first of all from it, and not from the hard disk. If the disc is not inserted, it will boot from the next device in the list.
Old version of AWARD BIOS
I have seen this only on older computers before 2003. The main menu looks like this:
To configure the boot order, you need to go to the BIOS FEATURES SETUP menu: 
Paragraph Boot Sequence responsible for the load order. buttons PageUp And PageDown(or Enter and arrows - unfortunately, I don’t have the opportunity to check) you need to set the first CDROM, the second C (this is a hard drive), the third is not important - set any.
Similar to the aforementioned AWARD BIOS. It most often contains the inscription BIOS Setup Utility without any explanatory names.
Use the right arrow key on your keyboard to move to the tab Boot:
On the Boot page, go to Boot Device Priority:
There are points here 1st Drive, 2nd Drive- "First boot device", "Second boot device". You need to open 1st Drive and specify CDROM (for a disk drive) or USB (for booting from a USB flash drive), specify SATA or IDE in 2nd Drive, depending on what hard drive you have and what item will be available in the menu.
Another AMI BIOS
Everything is clear here, look at the picture:
buttons and – you can cycle through the menu items by pressing the button F10 will call the save settings item.
Questions and answers
IN: I can't get into BIOS settings. What to do?
ABOUT: Make sure you're doing everything right. 99% of problems are due to inattentive reading of the instructions. Everything is solved if you correctly ask the question to the almighty Google: "motherboard / laptop model boot setup."
IN: I configured it as it should, but the error “NTLDR is missing” occurs or the cursor blinks at the top left of the screen.
ABOUT: You have burned your boot disk or flash drive incorrectly.
IN: How to boot from a flash drive (or portable hard drive) and not from a DVD?
O1: You must specify USB-HDD, USB-ZIP or Removable in the boot setting. Item name may vary. In case of problems, read the instructions for the motherboard.
O2: If the BIOS does not support booting from USB devices, you can make a bootable DVD with Plop Boot Manager and, when booting from it, select the “USB” item in the menu that appears. The advantage of this method is that even on older computers, where USB works in slow USB 1.1 mode when booting, the speed will be fast - USB 2.0 mode will turn on. Minus - again, it is not always supported by some motherboards. More about Plop written
IN:How to do bootable flash drive?
ABOUT: If you need a flash drive with the installation of Windows 7 or 8, then you are in the section
IN:The article does not contain instructions for setting up my BIOS. Please write!!111
ABOUT: With the advent motherboards, where UEFI is used instead of BIOS, a large number of different externally, but essentially the same screens with settings have arisen. Since the settings need to be done the same everywhere, either read the article above carefully and find similar items in your BIOS, or read the instructions for your motherboard / laptop.
IN: I set up the BIOS, now nothing is loaded at all. Help!
ABOUT: In 10 cases out of 10, the problem is inattention or an incorrectly made bootable flash drive / disk. Reset the BIOS settings either by removing the battery for half an hour from turned off computer, or the menu item Load Default Settings. Then do it all again, carefully reading all the instructions.
IN: When booting from a flash drive, a blue screen appears.
ABOUT: You made a mistake somewhere when creating a bootable USB flash drive. Read the instructions more carefully or look for another one - there are many ways to create bootable flash drives.
IN: I made a boot disk / USB flash drive, configured the BIOS, but it still boots from the hard disk.
ABOUT: Either the boot disk / USB flash drive was not prepared correctly, or the boot was configured incorrectly. If you can't read the instructions carefully, consider: are you doing everything else right? Maybe it's better to turn to experienced people (to the service center)?
Conclusion
With the information in this article, you will be able to run boot disks on any computer or laptop - any LiveCD, installation disk with Windows or Linux, any bootable flash drive (if the BIOS supports booting from USB devices).
On modern computers there are BIOS (or UEFI) versions with mouse support, nice menus, and more. Despite the other appearance, everything is configured according to the same principle that I gave above.
Do not forget after installation (or why else do you configure the BIOS) to return the boot settings back so that the computer boots normally from the hard drive!
In some cases it may be necessary start or boot your computer using the Windows 7 installation disc or USB flash drive if you want to do the following.
- Install or reinstall Windows 7. additional information To install Windows 7, see Installing and reinstalling Windows 7 .
- Windows recovery 7 after a serious mistake. If Windows does not start at all on your computer, you can use the recovery tool and other tools in the System Recovery Options menu on your Windows 7 installation disc or USB flash drive. These tools can help restore Windows work 7. For more information, see Recovery FAQ and What is recovery Windows computer operating system?
Note: If you are using a tablet or other computer with touch screen, you may need to connect a keyboard and mouse to run the recovery tool and other tools in the System Recovery Options menu.
Starting Windows 7 from an installation disc
- Turn on the computer, insert the installation Windows disk 7 or USB flash drive, and then turn off the computer.
- Start your computer.
- Press any key when prompted and follow the displayed instructions.
- On the page Windows installation that appears on the screen, click Install now to start the installation process, or Repair your computer to open a list of system recovery options.
- Follow the instructions.
If the Windows setup page does not appear
If the page Windows installation does not appear or prompt to press any key, the DVD drive or USB flash drive may need to be set as the first boot device. To do this, you must change the basic input/output system (BIOS) settings of your computer.
Note A: Most new computers can start from a USB device, but older computers may not. For more information, see the documentation that accompanied your computer or visit the computer manufacturer's website.
Changing Boot Options in the BIOS
Before making any changes to BIOS settings, check your computer's documentation or the manufacturer's website to see if this option is available.
Login procedure BIOS system and making changes to its settings may differ depending on the computer manufacturer, or you may be able to select a boot device without changing the BIOS settings.
Attention! Changing BIOS settings should be done carefully. The BIOS interface is intended for advanced users and changing settings may prevent the computer from starting properly.
- Turn on the computer, insert the Windows 7 installation disc or USB flash drive and restart the computer.
- Modern computers usually display a boot menu. From the boot menu select BIOS setup, BIOS settings, or an item with a similar name.
Procedures may vary depending on the BIOS manufacturer. Usually you need to press a certain key (for example, F2 , F12 , Delete , Esc ) or key combination immediately after turning on the computer, but before launch Windows. If the Windows logo appears on the screen, you should try again by waiting for the prompt to enter Windows and restarting the computer again.
