How to boot from a flash drive in BIOS
In order to install any operating system from a flash drive or CD / DVD, we need to initially boot from them. By default, a computer or laptop most often starts from the hard drive. That is why in our today's article we will talk about how to boot from a USB flash drive in the BIOS in the first place. Let's get down to business without delay.
What is BIOS and UEFI?
BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is a basic input-output system that provides interaction between the hardware and software parts of a computer. Used for a very long time, but recently replaced by the newer UEFI. The latter stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface. The second mode supports much more functionality and a huge number of settings that were not in the BIOS.
Expert opinion
Daria Stupnikova
Specialist in WEB-programming and computer systems. PHP/HTML/CSS editor for os-helper.ru site .
Ask Daria As part of today's article, we are interested in installing our flash drive as the first boot device. And in BIOS and UEFI it is possible.
Booting BIOS and UEFI
In order to start this mode, we need to press the button intended for this at the moment the PC is turned on. Usually this is [knopka]Del[/knopka], however, the key may be different. Below you will find a special table that contains the most common options. Follow it with a few simple steps:
- Shut down your computer completely.
- Start the PC and at the moment the first inscriptions appear, press the button responsible for switching to the BIOS or UEFI.
When you learn how to run the BIOS on your computer or laptop, you can proceed to the next step and set the USB flash drive as the first boot device.
Installing a flash drive as bootable
So now that we've got our BIOS up and running, let's make the flash drive the first boot device. This is actually implemented as follows:
- We start our BIOS and look for a section called "Boot" or "Boot". This is in both BIOS and UEFI. Next, we find something like the boot order or "First Boot Devices". Here something will be organized in the form of a drop-down list, in which we need to move our flash drive to the first place.
- In different models of BIOSes and motherboards, everything can be very different, however, in this case, you already have to search a little. As a result, when the settings are made, the changes must be saved. This is usually done using the [knopka]F10[/knopka] button on the keyboard. We recommend looking at the tips, which are usually located on the right side of the screen or at the bottom.
- Now that we have configured our flash drive as the first boot device, we can restart the computer and proceed to install the operating system.
See also: How to delete private in Minecraft on the server
Attention: we recommend that you look at one of our articles, which shows in detail and clearly how to burn Windows to a USB flash drive. We considered three ways at once, but you can choose any that you like.
When everything is ready, you will start installing your operating system. However, in this case it is important to know the correct sequence of the process. On our website there are instructions for Windows 10, for Windows 11 and, accordingly, for Windows 8. We recommend that you definitely read them and only then get down to business.
Video instruction
We also recommend watching a training video on the topic covered in our article. The video will take you only a couple of minutes of time, but it will more clearly show how to boot from a USB flash drive in the BIOS. Therefore, before proceeding with the practice, we recommend that you definitely familiarize yourself with the contents of the video.
Summing up
In principle, this is where we can finish our article, because you probably understand well how to set up the first bootable media in the form of our flash drive. Now that you can do that, you can proceed directly to installing the operating system. We described how this is done in our previous article.
But if you still have any questions, you can always ask our experts using the comment form attached a little lower. The answer will be given as soon as possible to each user who asked for help.