How to put a flash drive in the BIOS first. How to set the BIOS to boot from a disk or USB flash drive? Changing the boot order in UEFI BIOS

Users often need to boot their PC from third-party media. So, for example, in the case of reinstalling Windows, you need to set the boot from a flash drive in the BIOS. The same need may arise if you need to roll back the system to a restore point.

In order to boot from a system flash drive, you need to prepare the drive itself. The drive should be selected based on the capacity of the operating system. So, Windows 7 OS weighs 2.5 GB, and version 8 weighs 4 GB. Naturally, it’s worth buying a larger drive. If you already have an old flash drive on hand, then you need to format it. Simply deleting data will not solve the problem. The flash drive may contain viruses and system errors. Then you won’t be able to record the OS image.

How to format a flash drive? We connect the device to the PC, open “My Computer”. Right-click on the icon and select “Format”.

Specify the file system parameters (if you select any of the parameters, the flash drive will be compatible with Windows OS, but the maximum file size will be limited):

1. FAT32. It will not be possible to write files larger than 4 GB onto such a drive. 2. exFAT. On such a drive you can store files of any size. 3. NTFS. Many devices will not see the drive.

IN " Volume Label» indicate the name of the drive. Select the item “ Quick cleaning" and click " Begin" Next, you need to download the licensed OS image from the Microsoft website. Before downloading, you need to enter the serial key and select the system language.

To boot a PC from a USB flash drive, you need to create a system image. Let's look at how to do this using the USB/DVD Download Tool.

Download and launch the application. In the first step, you need to specify the path to the OS image.

Next, select the drive.

And press the "" button.

After copying the image, you can begin installation and change the BIOS settings.

How to run a flash drive through BIOS - step-by-step instructions

Most often, to boot from a flash drive, you do not need to change the BIOS settings. Just call up the boot menu when you turn on the computer and select the flash drive.

The problem for most users is getting into the BIOS system. Regardless of how the version is installed, to boot from a flash drive you must:

Insert the drive into the USB connector of the computer. It is advisable to use the port located on the motherboard, i.e. from the back of the block. Check. Is the USB controller turned on? Start the PC by holding down certain keys. A prompt will be displayed on the screen when the system starts. For example, in the screenshot below you need to hold DEL to open the BIOS.

Go to the downloads section and select a USB flash drive in the list of devices. Save the changes.

You can only use the arrow buttons to navigate through menu items, and to confirm your selection - Enter.

Running from a flash drive in Award Bios

Here's what the Award Bios loading screen looks like:

Let's go to the "" section. We go down to the point “ USB Controller" Click " Enter" In the new window select “ Enable" In a similar way we change “ USB Controller 2.0».

Click " Esc» to exit to the main menu. Let's go to the "" section. We go down to the point “ Hard Disk Boot Priority" The screen below shows that loading is carried out from the hard drive.

How can I set the BIOS to boot from a flash drive? Go to the line with the name of the flash drive (Patriot Memory) and drag it to the very top using the " + " Exit the menu by pressing " Esc».

In the line “” click “ Enter" In the drop-down menu, select “” (or “ USB-FDD"). The second device must be " Hard Disk».

In order for booting from the flash drive to take place after a restart, you need to save the changes. To do this, click " Esc" and in the message "" select " Y».

Installing boot from flash drive in AMI Bios

We check the USB controller on the “ tab Advanced» – «».

Opposite "" and " USB 2.0 Controller"should be" Enabled».

Enter" From the list select " Enabled" Exit the menu by clicking " Esc».

How to set boot from a flash drive in BIOS? On the " Boot" instead of "" you need to select "".

To do this, stand on the line and click “ Enter" and in the window that appears, select our flash drive.

We exit the section via “ Esc" Let's go to the "" section. Here the first device should be a flash drive.

Close the BIOS and save the changes.

How to boot from a flash drive in Phoenix-Award Bios

Checking the operation of the controller is carried out on the “” tab. Against " USB Controller" And " USB 2.0 Controller"should be" Enabled».

To change the parameter values, go to the line and click “ Enter" From the list select " Enabled" Exit the menu by clicking " Esc».

How to enable boot from a flash drive in BIOS? On the " Advanced"opposite "" set "".

Exit the OS, saving the changes.

After restarting, the PC will boot from the USB flash drive.

How to boot Windows from a flash drive to EFI (UEFI) Bios

On laptops with UEFI, you won't be able to quickly change settings. To run a flash drive through BIOS, you must disable this Secure Boot protocol. It blocks the system from booting from any third-party drive. Next you will need to enable " compatibility mode for other operating systems" It is called differently: " CSM Boot», « UEFI», « Legacy BIOS», « CSM OS"To get into the BIOS you need to press the keys immediately after turning on: Fn+F2.

Immediately after launch, use the arrows to go to “ Security" Paragraph " Secure Boot" set to " Disabled».

In order to follow the instructions below, you will need the bootable USB flash drive itself. The process of creating it is quite simple. You will need the flash device itself, software and data that you want to use when starting your personal computer.

The UltraISO program will be used during the preparation process.

Preparation steps:

Download the program to your computer using any browser convenient for you.
After the download is complete, start the installation process and follow the instructions provided by the Wizard window.
Next, when the software installation is complete, you should open the program and insert your flash drive into the port of the system unit.
In the program window, select the “File” tab, where using the “Open” item you open the data you need to record.
In the “Boot” tab, left-click on the “Burn Hard Disk Image” item.
In the window that appears, find the “Disk Drive” selection line, where the name of the flash device should be.
To complete the procedure for creating a bootable USB flash drive, you need to left-click on the “Burn” button.

Working through the selection window

After you have created a bootable USB flash drive, connect it to a free port on the system unit and restart. When it starts, you need to methodically press the “F11” key; if nothing happens, then perhaps you have a different BIOS version, and you can try using the “F8”, “F10” or “F12” keys.

A window should appear to select how to boot an external device, where you will need to use the arrows on the keyboard to select the name of the flash drive.

Work throughBIOS

If you have problems with the previous method, then there is a reliable option - working through.

On a note! BIOS versions are different and each of them requires a special series of actions, but the operating principle remains the same. In order to understand which version of BOIS you have on your PC, you must first call up the main menu and look at the similarities with the versions presented below.

To get started, you need to insert the flash drive into any free port in the system unit, restart the computer and frequently press the “Del” or “F2” key when the computer starts. If nothing happened and the operating system started up, then restart the computer and look at the prompts, which should contain the names of the keys, for example “Tab” or “F1”. This already depends on the BIOS version and manufacturer.

VersionAMI BIOS

If, after manipulating the keys, this image appears on your monitor, then, undoubtedly, the BIOS version is installed on your personal computer - AMI.

Important! Before setting launch priority, you need to verify the functionality of the two functions.

Now it’s time to set boot priorities:

VersionAWARD BIOS

Enter the BIOS using the steps described earlier. If this picture is on your screen, then follow the following plan:

Go to the “Integrated Peripherals” line using the arrow keys on your keyboard. The “USB Controller” and “USB 2.0 Controller” functions must be set to “Enable”.
Next, go back up a level by pressing the “Esc” button once and select “Advanced BIOS Features.”
After entering the menu from the list of available functions, you will need the “Hard Disk Boot Priority” item, where you will set your flash memory as a priority for loading. This is done in a simple way. Using the arrows, select the name of the flash drive and by pressing the “+” key, raise this name to the first position.
You need to press "Esc" to perform the last action. Find the “First Boot Device” item in the “Advanced BIOS Features” section, and change the previous value to “USB-HDD”.
Then it remains to exit the BIOS, while saving the settings.

VersionPhoenix-Award Bios

After entering the BIOS, you should have the following picture if the BIOS version is Phoenix-Award.

The procedure is almost the same as in the previous version:

Video - How to set boot from a flash drive in BIOS

How convenient a USB Flash drive is to use can be discussed endlessly. However, it is not the purpose of this article to list the advantages and advantages of this removable storage medium.

We will talk about how to set boot from a flash drive in the BIOS. After all, the user is often faced with the problem of being unable to install the operating system or cannot use the Live USB boot shell software using the mentioned gadget.

Let's figure out what causes electronic immunity and what settings need to be applied in order for the Flash storage device to be “noted and identified” by the BIOS microsystem as a full-fledged bootloader.

Bios can be different

Today, computer manufacturers widely use three main types of BIOS of microsystems:

Award

AMI (American Megatrends, Inc.)

Phoenix (Phoenix Technologies, Ltd.)

Meanwhile, each of them is individually divided into many versions and can be used on computers of various types and modifications.

Despite the generally accepted asceticism of the BIOS interface and standardization in management (with the exception, perhaps, of UEFI BIOS, which will be discussed separately), the names of the sections and their location in the working area of the microsystem are often, as they say, regulated by the manufacturer, and therefore have a distinctive character interpretations.

At the same time, we should not forget about such a factor as the built-in level of functionality relative to a specific base system, which, in general, can be compensated by increasing or, on the contrary, decreasing the current BIOS version. By the way, you can learn more about the process of updating the BIOS on laptops from the article posted .

Changing Boot Device Priorities - Practical Examples

So, in order to set the BIOS to boot from a flash drive, you need to perform several simple manipulations in the basic microsystem. However, in view of the differences described above, sometimes this process is, frankly speaking, very difficult. Therefore, it makes sense to deal with each individual case, that is, to look at an example of how booting from a flash drive is set for each specific system BIOS.

Assigning a USB storage device as the main bootloader in the AMI BIOS

Before you enter the microsystem interface, the flash drive must be connected to the appropriate connector. Use only essential ports.

Using the “right/left” keys, move to the “Boot” tab - press the “Enter” button.

Go to the “Hard Disk Drives” item (down) - “Enter” again and when you activate the “1st Drive” item, which means “First Disk”, select the name of the installed flash drive from the drop-down list.

When finished, press “ESC”.

Now use the item “Boot device priority” - “1st Drive” - “Enter” and specify the flash drive again.

Press “ESC” twice and go to the “Exit” tab, where you need to activate the “Exit saving changes” item.

We affirmatively agree to the request to save - “Yes”.

The changes made will take effect after the computer restarts.

Booting from a flash drive in AWARD and Phoenix BIOS

Go to the second item “Advanced BIOS Features”.

Using the "Enter" key, activate "First Boot Device".

In the drop-down menu you must specify “USB Flash” or “USB-HDD”.

After you have specified the boot device, press “ESC”.

Use the F10 hotkey to save your changes.

How to configure the InsideH20 BIOS to boot from a flash drive

In some laptop models you may encounter this BIOS option.

Go to the "Boot" tab.

In the “External Device Boot” item, set the value to “Enabled”.

Now in the “Boot Priority” block, using the “F5” and “F6” keys, put the “External Device Boot” parameter in the first position in the list.

Next, go to the “Exit” tab and select “Save and Exit Setup”.

Afterwards, the laptop will boot from the flash drive.

Manipulating UEFI settings: changing the boot order

As a rule, when entering an advanced BIOS microsystem, all active drives are displayed on the main screen (in its lower part). Using your mouse, drag the flash drive to the first position.

Some versions of UEFI BIOS do not have this feature. However, your attention should be drawn to the “Bios Features” or “Boot” section, where you need to set your flash drive as the priority bootloader.

Boot menu - the fastest way to boot from a USB drive

Literally all versions of BIOS have the ability to boot from a specific device without executing the login script into the microsystem management interface.

Depending on the type of computer, version of the operating system, and even the design features of the computing device, the process of calling the “Boot menu” service may differ radically.

Basic keys with which you can enter the fastboot menu

In some laptops, the manufacturer provides a special “Nano Button” or “One Key Recovery” button (you can find out some details ), through which you can also get to the fast boot menu.

In conclusion: about “button omissions”

In some cases, after turning on the computer, the process of loading the operating system goes very quickly, which in turn can become a kind of obstacle to entering the BIOS and calling the “Boot menu”. In most cases, this “inconvenience” is observed in computers with Windows 8 or, the latest, version 10 pre-installed.

If you encounter such a problem, the solution is found . You can also try disabling the "Fast Boot" option. Enter “button” in the search field of the start menu and select “Customize the functions of the power buttons” - perform the necessary actions. As you can see, there are plenty of options for booting from a flash drive. Choose the one that suits you best.

, just like any other boot parameters, is configured in the basic input/output system - BIOS. Each motherboard, without exception (and this is the one equipped with a BIOS chip), has the ability to configure both the boot and operating modes of almost all devices installed on it. The BIOS performs the so-called overclocking of the computer by increasing the overall frequency of the processor, bus and RAM with a parallel increase in voltage. In the basic I/O system, you can even set the time when your computer automatically turns on. However, at the moment we are interested in only one thing - setting up the BIOS, namely booting the computer from a flash drive.

In the article “How to configure the BIOS to boot a computer from a disk,” I already mentioned that today there are several main types of BIOS - “blue”, “gray” (this is the color of the background of the window of this system) and UEFI. All BIOS versions are launched according to the same scheme. When you boot your computer, a message like “Press DEL to run BIOS Setup” usually appears. As soon as you see it, press the “Del” button on your keyboard several times. A slightly less common control button for starting the BIOS is “F2”.

Within 1-2 seconds the I/O system will start. I'll start with the “blue” system. After launching it, a window will appear representing a table consisting of two columns. In the left column, use the arrows on the keyboard (in this version of BIOS, as well as in the “gray” one, parameters can be changed only under keyboard control) select the menu item called “Advanced BIOS Features” and press “Enter”.

Because we are interested installing Windows 7 from a bootable USB flash drive, you need to make sure that in the “First Boot Device” menu item (which means “first boot device” in English) there was a “Hard Disk” option (translated as “hard drive”). Because a flash drive is, although removable, still a hard drive.

If another parameter is set here, use the arrows to highlight this menu item and press “Enter”. In the small window that appears, select “Hard Disk” or “HDD-0” (depending on the BIOS version) and press “Enter”. The small window will disappear.

Next, you need to select the “Hard Disk Boot Priority” menu item and press “Enter”

If your flash drive was detected by the computer, the flash drive should appear in the list of all hard drives installed in your system unit. It can be called differently. Most often it bears the name of the company that produced it. For example, “Kingston 2 gb”, “Transcend” and so on. This is what you need to move to the first position of the entire list. To do this, use the arrows to highlight it and use the “+” and “-” keys on the keyboard to move the flash drive to the first position, that is, to the very top. Once you have done this, feel free to press the “F10” key and agree to save the new settings by pressing the “Y” button on the keyboard, and then “Enter”. After this, the computer will immediately “go” to reboot, and it will now boot from the bootable USB flash drive.

For BIOS with a gray window background, the setting will be slightly different. After starting the I/O system, a window will appear in which you need to select the “Boot” menu item using the right or left arrows.

From the list that appears, we are interested in the “Boot Device Priority” menu item (translated as “boot device priority”). Select it and press “Enter”.

In the menu item “1st Boot Device” you must select “HDD: “name””. Name is the name of your hard drive, for example, Hitachi, Samsung or WD.

Now we return to the previous menu item. To do this, press the “Esc” key on your keyboard once. Use the arrows to select “Hard Disk Drives” and press “Enter.” Here we will install the USB flash drive as the main boot hard drive.

From the proposed hard drives, which also includes your flash drive, as I already mentioned, use the “+” and “-” keys to install the flash drive opposite the “1st Drive” item. Some BIOS versions use the F5 and F6 keys instead of the + and - keys.

To save the settings, press "F10", select "OK" and press "Enter".

Finally, let’s look at setting up a computer to boot from a flash drive in BIOS UEFI (using the example of a motherboard from Asus). I talked a little about this version of the input/output system in the article “How to configure the BIOS to boot the computer from disk.” Therefore, I suggest starting with the setup itself. After launching the BIOS, a window will open as in the picture below. The system interface language is configured in the upper right corner. I have “Russian”. Let me remind you that in this version of the BIOS all manipulations can be performed with both the keyboard and the mouse. So, left-click on the “Exit/Advanced” button.

From the list that appears, select "Advanced Mode".

The advanced BIOS settings mode will open. Here select the “Download” menu item.

When installing Windows from a bootable USB flash drive, you must go to the menu item “Boot order of hard drives.”

Now click on the “Boot Option #1” menu item button.

From the entire list of hard drives, select your flash card. My flash drive is called "OCZ RALLY 2". We return to the previous menu item by pressing the “Esc” button on the keyboard or using the mouse on the “Back” button.

Now in the “Boot Option #1” menu item, select the flash drive.

To save your settings, click Exit. And in the window that appears, select “Save changes and reset.”

The computer will restart with the settings you set. After it, the installation of the Windows 7 operating system immediately starts, which you can learn about from the article “

The world does not stand still. Once upon a time, the height of popularity was to store information on a disk or floppy disk. Now preference is given to more convenient and capacious flash drives.

To boot into BIOS via a flash drive, you need to take into account several features:

It is recommended to connect the removable disk to the connector located on the back of the system unit. It is he who is located on the motherboard;
Connect the storage device before turning on or restarting the computer.

Regardless of the BIOS manufacturer, to boot Windows from a flash drive, you must take the following steps:

Open BIOS. To do this you need to click Delete or Esc. The service call keys may differ in different versions of the program. They are usually written at the bottom of the screen immediately before the operating system boots.
Next you need to enable the USB controller.
After this, the flash drive must be moved to the first place in the list of devices from which to boot.
Save your changes.

Running from a flash drive in Award Bios

This version of the program is called by the button DEL or keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Esc(in older versions).

Go to the tab "Integrated Peripherals" to enable the USB controller. Near the inscription "USB Controller" And "USB Controller 2.0" set value "Enable". To do this, use the button Enter. Go back one step by clicking Esc.

Now we need to directly configure booting from a flash drive in bios. To do this, go to the tab "Advanced BIOS Features". Choose a section "Hard Disk Boot Priority". Here the first line should indicate the name of the memory card. By default, this position is occupied by the hard drive. Using the key «+» , move the required line to the first place. Return to the previous menu.

Pay attention to the line "First Boot Device". Next to this inscription there should be "USB-HDD", which means booting from a flash drive or external hard drive. Sometimes the installation process may not proceed. In this case, you should select the external floppy drive indicator - "USB FDD".

Hard Disk should be indicated next to Second Boot Device.

After making changes, you can exit the BIOS while saving the changes. Press Esc to exit to the main menu. Then click "Save & Exit Setup".

Installing boot from flash drive in AMI Bios

Exit to “AMI BIOS” is carried out by pressing keys DEL or F2.

USB controller settings are located in the tab "Advanced", In chapter "USB Configuration". Index "Enable" should be near "USB Function" And "USB 2.0 Controller".

Return to the previous menu (Esc) and go to the tab "Boot", chapter "Hard Disk Drives". The name of the flash drive should come first. Click "Enter" on the first line and in the new window, select the desired item.

In the previous menu, go to "Boot Device Priority". There should be a flash card at the top.

After this, you can return to the main menu and exit the BIOS, saving the settings.

Set boot from flash drive in Phoenix-Award Bios

Clicking F1 or F2 you can open the BIOS version “Phoenix-Award” .

The USB controller section can be found in the tab "Peripherals". Index "USB-HDD" must be placed in line "First Boot Device", tab "Advanced". Don't forget to save your settings.

Configure booting from a flash drive in Bios UEFI

New laptops released no earlier than 2013 have a special BIOS version. One of its features is the presence of protection against installing operating systems from any media other than a licensed disk. To install booting from a flash drive in this version of bios, you must first disable this protection and set the compatibility mode with other operating systems.

After entering the BIOS, go to the tab "Security", chapter "Secure Boot" and set the value there "Disabled".

In chapter "Boot", in line "Boot Mode" value should be set "Legacy Support". In line "Boot Priority" should stand "Legacy First".