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When your PC boots up, the first thing that loads up is the UEFI Firmware or the BIOS. It does a lot of things which also includes the option to which hardware to use to boot the Windows. If you want to boot from a USB drive or an external drive, you need to change the boot order on Windows 11/10. The usual default is set to the first hard drive connected to the PC.
Prior to Windows 11/10, it was possible only by rebooting your PC and then press a unique key like F2 or DEL on your keyboard to get into BIOS. In Windows 10, Microsoft has inbuilt a recovery system that allows you to do many things. One of the options is to boot into BIOS making it a lot easier in case you always miss pressing the key.
In this guide, we will show how you can boot into Windows 11/10 firmware settings (UEFI/BIOS), and change the boot order easily.
Windows 11/10 Recovery System allows you to get into your UEFI/BIOS settings from the OS and change your boot order. You can choose to boot from a USB drive or DVD Drive. This comes in handy during fresh installation or upgrading using an ISO.
Windows 11 users need to press Win+I to open Settings > System Recovery and click on Restart now button against Advanced Startup.
Windows 10 users, open Settings > Update & Security > Recovery Advanced Startup and click on Restart now.
This feature lets you:
- Boot Windows from a device or disk (such as a USB drive or DVD).
- Change your PC’s Firmware Settings.
- Configure Windows Startup Settings.
- Restore Windows from a System Image.
When you click on Restart Now, it will reboot your PC, and offer you all these Advanced Options. Click, and wait till you get these options. Select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options. This screen offers further options which include System Restore, Startup repair, Go back to the previous version, Command Prompt, System Image Recovery, and UEFI Firmware Settings.
Select UEFI Firmware Settings, and it will let you restart your PC. Once the computer boots up, it will take you to the Firmware settings.
- Switch to Boot Tab.
- Here you will see Boot Priority which will list connected hard drive, CD/DVD ROM and USB drive if any.
- You can use the arrow keys or + & – on your keyboard to change the order.
- Save and Exit.
Now when you boot it will follow the sequence which you have set in your BIOS or UEFI Firmware Settings.
See: How to change Boot Menu Timeout in Windows
This comes in very handy when you want to boot from a DVD drive that has Windows 11/10 Installation files or if you have another Windows installed on a secondary hard disk.
Read: How to change default operating system in Windows
Note: It seems if you have a Bluetooth keyboard, it will not work here. You will need a hard-wired keyboard to navigate and change the options. Also, the touch doesn’t work either.
Read: Change Time to display the list of operating systems & Recovery Options in Windows.
Anand Khanse is the Admin of TheWindowsClub.com, a 10-year Microsoft MVP (2006-16) & a Windows Insider MVP (2016-2022). Please read the entire post & the comments first, create a System Restore Point before making any changes to your system & be careful about any 3rd-party offers while installing freeware.
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The boot menu shows up every time you turn on a PC where two or more Windows operating systems are installed. For instance, if you have installed Windows 10 and Windows 7 in a dual boot setup, you will get the boot menu where you can either select the non-default operating system or let the boot menu automatically boot into the default operating system.
By default settings, the most recently installed or most recently upgraded operating system is the default operating system in the boot menu.
However, at times, after installing or upgrading an operating system, you might want to change the boot order to set or change the default operating system.
In Windows 10, if you need to change the default boot order, you can do so without the help of third-party tools.
The following are the four ways out there to change the boot order in Windows 10.
Method 1 of 4
Change the boot order in Windows 10 via System Configuration
Step 1: Type msconfig in the Start/taskbar search field and then press the Enter key to open the System Configuration dialog.
Step 2: Switch to the Boot tab. Select the operating system that you want to set as the default and then click Set as default button. Click the Apply button.
Here, you can also change the default 30-second waiting period to the time of your choice.
Method 2 of 4
Change the boot order in Windows 10 via advanced options
Step 1: Close all running programs. Restart your PC.
Step 2: When you see the boot menu (Choose an operating system) screen, click the Change defaults or choose others.
Step 3: Next, you will get the Options screen. Here, click Choose a default operating system tile.
Step 4: On the Choose a default operating system screen, you can see the default operating system. The entry at the top of the list is usually the default operating system.
To change the default operating system, simply click on the tile that you want to set as the default operating system in the boot menu. For instance, I am clicking on Windows 10 entry to make it the default operating system.
That’s all! You will not see any confirmation message.
Instead, you will be taken back to the Options screen, where you can click Change the timer tile if you wish to change the default 30 seconds of the boot menu to 5, 10, or 15 seconds.
To exit, click the Back icon. You will now get the Choose an operating system screen. Here, the default operating system will appear at the top of the list. Click on an entry to boot into it.
Method 3 of 4
Step 1: Open the Settings app. Navigate to Update & security > Recovery.
Step 2: Click the Restart now button in the Advanced startup section.
Step 3: Your PC will restart, and you will get the Choose an option screen after the restart. Click Use another operating system tile.
Step 4: On the Choose an operating system screen, click Change defaults.
Step 5: Next, you will see the Options screen. Here, click Choose a default operating system tile.
Step 6: Finally, click on the OS entry that you want to set as default to make it the default.
You will now see the Options screen. Click the Back icon to go back to Choose an operating system screen. Here, you can see the default operating system. The default one appears at the top of the list.
Click on an entry to boot into it.
Method 4 of 4
Change the boot order in Windows 10 using EasyBCD
EasyBCD is one of the must-have tools for dual-boot PC users. With EasyBCD, you can easily change not just the default boot order but also add a new operating system to the boot menu.
Here is how to use the EasyBCD to change the boot order in Windows 10.
Step 1: Download EasyBCD and install the same. The free version is for personal and non-commercial use only.
Step 2: Run, EasyBCD. Click the Edit Boot Menu button on the left pane.
Step 3: In the Modify Menu Entries section, select an entry and then click the Up or Down icons to move it up or down.
To change the default operating system, simply click the checkbox next to it.
Here you can also change the countdown time from the default 30 seconds to something else, or you can make the boot menu wait until the user selects an entry.
Finally, click the Save settings button.
Changing the boot order of the «bootable» devices on your computer, like your hard drive or bootable media in a USB port (e.g., flash drive), floppy drive, or optical drive, is very easy.
Why Change the Boot Order?
There are several scenarios where it’s necessary to change the boot order, like when launching some data destruction tools and bootable antivirus programs, as well as when installing an operating system.
The BIOS setup utility is where you change boot order settings.
The boot order is a BIOS setting, so it’s operating-system independent. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you have Windows 11, Windows 10, or another Windows version, Linux, or any other PC OS on your hard drive or another bootable device; these boot sequence change instructions will still apply.
How to Change the Boot Order
Follow these steps to change the boot order in BIOS. A change to the boot sequence will change the order in which devices are booted.
Step 1: Turn on or Restart Your Computer
Turn on or restart your computer and watch for a message during the POST about a particular key, usually Del or F2, that you’ll need to press to access the BIOS setup utility. Press this key as soon as you see the message.
Power On Self Test (POST).
Step 2: Enter the BIOS Setup Utility
After pressing the correct keyboard command from the previous step, you’ll enter the BIOS Setup Utility.
BIOS Setup Utility Main Menu.
All BIOS utilities are a little different, so yours may look like this or it may look completely different. No matter how it appears, they’re all basically a set of menus containing many different settings for your computer’s hardware.
In this particular BIOS, the menu options are listed horizontally at the top of the screen, the hardware options are listed in the middle (grey area), and the instructions for how to move around the BIOS and make changes are listed at the bottom.
Using the instructions given for navigating around your BIOS utility, locate the option for changing the boot order. In the example BIOS above, the changes are made under the Boot menu.
Since every BIOS setup utility is different, the specifics on where the boot order options are located varies from computer to computer. The menu option or configuration item might be called Boot Options, Boot, Boot Order, etc. The option may even be located within a general menu like Advanced Options, Advanced BIOS Features, or Other Options.
Step 3: Find the Boot Order Options in BIOS
Locate and navigate to the boot order options in BIOS.
BIOS Setup Utility Boot Menu (Hard Drive Priority).
In most BIOS setup utilities, it will look something like the screenshot above.
Any hardware connected to your motherboard that’s able to be booted from—like your hard drive, floppy drive, USB ports, and optical drive—will be listed here.
The order in which the devices are listed is the order in which your computer will look for operating system information—in other words, the «boot order.»
With the order shown above, BIOS will first try to boot from any devices it considers «hard drives,» which usually means the integrated hard drive that’s in the computer.
If no hard drives are bootable, BIOS will next look for bootable media in the CD-ROM drive, next for bootable media that’s attached (like a flash drive), and finally, it will look on the network.
To change which device to boot from first, follow the directions on the BIOS setup utility screen to change the boot order. In our example, it’s changed using the + and — keys.
Remember, your BIOS may have different instructions!
Step 4: Make Changes to the Boot Order
Next, you’ll make changes to the boot order.
BIOS Setup Utility Boot Menu (CD-ROM Priority).
As you can see above, we’ve changed it from Hard Drive shown in the previous step to the CD-ROM Drive as an example.
BIOS will now look for a bootable disc in the optical disc drive first, before trying to boot from the hard drive, and also before trying to boot from any removable media like a floppy drive or flash drive, or a network resource.
Make whatever boot order changes you need and then proceed to the next step to save your settings.
Step 5: Save Your BIOS Changes
Before your preference takes effect, you’ll need to save the BIOS changes you made. To do that, follow the instructions given to you in your BIOS utility to navigate to the Exit or Save and Exit menu.
BIOS Setup Utility Exit Menu.
In this example, we’d choose Exit Saving Changes.
Step 6: Confirm Your Changes
Confirm the changes and exit BIOS. You’ll most likely see a confirmation prompt like below, so you’d select Yes.
BIOS Setup Utility Save and Exit Confirmation.
This Setup Confirmation message can sometimes be cryptic. The example above is pretty clear but I’ve seen many BIOS change confirmation questions that are so «wordy» that they’re often difficult to understand. Read the message carefully to be sure that you’re actually saving your changes and not exiting without saving changes.
Your boot order changes, and any other changes you may have made while in BIOS, are now saved and your computer will restart automatically.
Step 7: Start the Computer
Start the computer with the new boot order. When your computer restarts, BIOS will attempt to boot from the first device in the order you specified. If the first device isn’t bootable, your computer will try to boot from the second device in the boot order, and so on.
Boot from CD Prompt.
In Step 4, we set the first boot device to the CD-ROM Drive as an example. As you can see in the screenshot above, the computer is attempting to boot from the CD but is asking for a confirmation first. This only happens on some bootable CDs and will not show up when booting to Windows or other operating systems on a hard drive. Configuring the boot order to boot from a disc like a CD, DVD, or BD is the most common reason for making this change, so I wanted to include this screenshot as an example.
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На каждом компьютере есть BIOS. Пользователь, который переустанавливал операционную систему или «разгонял» компьютер, сталкивался с необходимостью настройки этого компонента ПК. Поэтому нужно знать, как зайти в BIOS на Windows 10.
Зачем он нужен?
BIOS – это аббревиатура, которая в переводе с английского означает «базовая система ввода/вывода». С его помощью компоненты компьютера взаимодействуют друг с другом и с ОС. Он первым стартует на ПК и тестирует составляющие устройства, и только после этого запускается Windows. Также в нем есть много изменяемых параметров, с помощью которых компьютер «разгоняется» или настраивается на максимальную производительность.
Разновидности
Как и любой другой компонент компьютера, базовая система ввода/вывода со временем совершенствуется, поэтому сейчас используются ее различные виды.
AMI
Разработанный компанией American Megatrends Incorporated этот тип отличается наличием синего или серого экрана на синем фоне. В зависимости от версии расположение пунктов меню в нем отличается.
AWARD
AWARD разработан компанией Phoenix. Отличие от AMI заключается в ином расположении пунктов меню. Но в общем эти два вида похожи между собой.
UEFI
UEFI предустанавливается на современные компьютеры. В отличие от двух предыдущих, эта система имеет графический понятный интерфейс и отличается большим количеством дополнительных функций, которые недоступны в предыдущих сборках BIOS.
Как узнать версию на ПК?
Откройте окно «Выполнить» (нажатием клавиш Win+R) и введите в нем команду: msinfo32. В разделе «Сведения о системе» указана версия установленного на компьютер BIOS.
Используйте для просмотра командную строку.
ПКМ → меню Пуск → Командная строка (Администратор) → введите команду: wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion → на экране появится версия установленного BIOS.
Как зайти
Вход в BIOS выполняется во время перезагрузки, включения компьютера или из-под Windows.
При перезагрузке
Во время перезагрузки устройства, после того как компьютер выключится, нужно несколько раз нажать клавишу входа в BIOS. В основном это Del, F2 или Esc, но каждый производитель сам выбирает, какими клавишами он запускается, и указывает это на стартовой заставке компьютера. Но из-за того, что современные устройства имеют маленький промежуток между запуском и загрузкой ОС, эту информацию не всегда можно прочитать. Поэтому увеличьте этот временной интервал.
Панель управления → электропитание (включите маленькие значки) → Действие кнопки питания → Изменение параметров, которые сейчас недоступны → снимите галочку с пункта «Включить быстрый запуск».
Из Windows
Для входа из-под Windows используйте приложение Параметры.
- Приложение Параметры → Обновление и безопасность → Восстановление → нажмите Перезагрузить сейчас.
- Диагностика → Дополнительные параметры → Параметры встроенного ПО UEFI.
Важно! Этот способ работает исключительно с устройствами, на которых установлен UEFI-интерфейс.
Видео
Посмотрите на видео, как выполняется вход в BIOS из-под ОС и при перезагрузке компьютера.
Как изменить приоритет загрузки
Изменение приоритета загрузки понадобится, в первую очередь, при переустановке Windows (вам будет интересно прочитать статью Как обновиться до Windows 10?) или же восстановлении ОС. Сделать это можно двумя способами.
При использовании Boot Menu настройки BIOS не изменяются. Во время загрузки ПК вызовите это меню (в основном это клавиша F8) и установите загрузку с того носителя, который вам нужен (прочитайте, как установить Windows 10 с флешки в статье Создание установочной флешки Windows 10 различными способами). Это изменение одноразовое, поэтому последующие загрузки выполняются со стандартного носителя.
В настройках BIOS
Найдите в меню пункт Boot (для AMI) или Advanced BIOS Features (AWARD и Phoenix) → перейдите в Boot Device Priority (только для AMI) и на пункте First Boot Device укажите то устройство, с которого выполнится загрузка → перед выходом сохраните изменения.
При использовании интерфейса UEFI изменить устройство загрузки можно, следуя графическим подсказкам.
Вывод
В BIOS настраивается взаимодействие между компонентами компьютера. В нем можно изменить приоритет загрузки с различных устройств, но сложности возникают из-за того, что современные производители используют разные базовые системы ввода/вывода.