Interesting

How to boot from a USB stick or external HDD

Good time!

Today I will try to answer a rather "hackneyed question" about booting a PC / laptop from a USB flash drive (external HDD). It occurs very often, for example, when you need to reinstall Windows or use the LiveCD ...

By the way, I want to note right away that many cannot do this due to the fact that they incorrectly write down the bootable USB flash drive (I gave an example of it here for installing Windows 10). Be sure to double-check this point (in more than half of the cases, this is the case!).

Also, before all the manipulations and attempts to enter the BIOS, and change some settings there - check that the flash drive is connected to a working USB port!

Now let's move on to a few step-by-step examples ...

👉 To help!

BIOS (UEFI) does not see the bootable USB flash drive - what to do ->

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Booting from a USB stick

Option 1: you already have Windows 10 installed, and it still "somehow" works

Perhaps this is the most favorable option, because you don't need to look for any specials. keys, try, experiment ...

To start:

  • connect the bootable USB flash drive / disk to the USB port;
  • open up parameters Windows (via the START menu or by pressing Win + i);
  • go to section "Update and Security" .

In it you need to open a tab "Recovery" and click on the button "Special boot options / reload now" ... See example below. 👇

Special reboot options

Next, a "blue" screen (service menu) will appear with several options for actions: you need to open the menu "Troubleshooting / additional parameters" .

Troubleshooting

Then click on the menu "UEFI Firmware Options" . 👇

Firmware parameters

After that, the computer restarts and, usually, the BIOS / UEFI opens automatically (if this does not happen - look carefully at the inscription at startup, even if accelerated boot was enabled - you will see prompts that you need to press to enter the BIOS (usually F2 or DEL )).

Actually, then you can open Boot Menu (for example), select a USB flash drive in it and boot from it. 👇

Boot Menu - start OS installation

Or in the BIOS settings open the sectionBOOT and put our USB flash drive in the first place (this list is a priority. That is, when the USB flash drive is in the first place, the PC will first of all try to boot from it, and if this does not work out, it will go to the HDD).

Boot Section - Boot Configuration (Example UEFI Settings)

Do not forget to save the settings in the "Save and Exit" section (you can simply click on F10 (this key works in almost any BIOS version)).

Save and Exit

After reboot - the computer should start booting from your flash drive / external drive. Problem solved ?! 👌

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Option 2: we use specials. keys and open the boot menu after turning on the device

The method described above is not always suitable for everyone (firstly, not everyone has Windows 10 installed, and even more so, it does not always load ...).

In general, on most PCs (if you look closely at the screen when turning on), information about the buttons for entering the Boot Menu and BIOS is usually displayed (see the example below 👇). Most often, the keys are used to enter the Boot Menu F11 and F8.

👉 To help!

1) Hot keys for entering the BIOS menu, Boot Menu, recovery from a hidden partition (for different manufacturers).

2) How to enter BIOS (UEFI) on a computer or laptop [instruction]

Enter the Boot Menu

In the boot menu (Boot Menu), as a rule, it is enough to select the name of the flash drive from the list and press Enter. Next, the computer will try to boot from the specified media ...

Boot Menu (ASRock)

👉 By the way (about laptops)!

Laptops have their own nuances to enter the boot menu and BIOS / UEFI. For example, on devices from HP (modern), the service menu entry button (ESC) must be clamped and held until incl. devices (otherwise you may simply not be in time)!

👉 To help!

BIOS entry and boot menu on laptops: ASUS, ACER, Lenovo, DELL, HP

Boot Device Option / HP Notebook

Lenovo devices may have a separate button for calling up the service menu (usually, it is located near the power cable). You need to press this button when the laptop is turned off!

Lenovo B70 - BIOS entry button next to the power input. It is most convenient to press with a pencil or pen

Lenovo G700 - button to enter device settings (including BIOS)

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Option 3: we use specials. the key to enter the BIOS and change the boot priority

In principle, this method is similar to the previous one (only we will not use the Boot Menu, but a special section of settings in the BIOS). By the way, for some reason, for inexperienced users, the method with the Boot Menu seems to be a little more complicated than with the BIOS settings ...

And so, immediately after turning on the computer / laptop, press the special. key - usually, it is F2 or Del (a list of keys for devices from different manufacturers). Please note, there is usually a hint on the loading screen ... 👇

Enter BIOS (F2)

Further, in the BIOS, you need to open the BOOT section (it is almost always placed in the main upper menu). Much, of course, depends on your specific firmware (and there are hundreds of their variations, so I can't give everything here ...).

In this section you need to put the USB flash drive in the first place (Boot Option # 1). This is how we change the boot priority - i.e. the computer will first try to boot from the first device (flash drive), then from the second, etc., until it finds a working drive ...

BIOS Settings - BOOT Menu

As you can see from the examples above and below - despite different BIOS versions, the boot menus are, in principle, identical!

Boot Section - Boot Configuration (Example UEFI Settings)

Do not forget that after changing the settings in the BOOT section, they are also needed to keep (otherwise they will not take effect). To do this, click F10 (or use the "Save and Exit" menu).

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Option 4: what to do if you do not have time to press any keys, because fastboot mode enabled

Some BIOS versions (UEFI) have an ultra-fast boot mode. If it is activated, then after turning on the PC / laptop, it "does not allow" to press, in principle, any keys to enter the BIOS (more precisely, it does not even wait for them to be pressed and immediately proceeds to boot the OS).

Ultra Boot Mode Enabled

If you are faced with such a moment that you have this mode enabled, and Windows does not work correctly (and you cannot open UEFI from it, as in option 1), I can recommend the following:

  • open the system unit and remove the pill-like battery for 3-5 minutes. (with this we will reset the BIOS settings and the ultra-boot mode must be disabled);

    What does the battery look like on the mat. board

  • remove / disconnect the hard drive with the OS from the PC / laptop, disconnect everything from the USB ports, and turn on the device (not finding where to boot from, you will be prompted to enter the BIOS and specify the boot device).

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Add-ons (👇) - are welcome!

Good luck!

👋

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