Running a flash drive on old cmos bios. Does a bootable flash drive deteriorate over time? Problems when solving the task on AMIBIOS and Phoenix BIOS
Sometimes there are quite unpleasant situations when the operating system crashes. And to restore you need the original disk. If you don’t have one available, you can write the image to a regular flash drive. But here's the problem - what to do when the BIOS does not allow booting from a flash drive? Many users simply do not know what to do and are lost in this matter. Let's try to dot all the i's.
How to enable it in BIOS using the simplest method?
To set these parameters, you must first decide how exactly you will enter the BIOS. The most common way is to use the Del, F2, F12, etc. keys.
However, on the same Sony laptops Vaio is accessed using special button ASSIST, located on the keyboard panel. On some laptops, the BIOS can only be accessed by calling the primary boot menu using the Esc key.
How can I set the BIOS to boot from a flash drive? Yes, very simple. After calling the I/O system, you need to go to the boot section. Here you need to find the boot priority line, which may have different names, depending on the developer and manufacturer of the BIOS ( Boot Device Priority, Boot Sequence, etc.). In any case, something like this will be present. But that's not the point.
What to do if the BIOS does not allow booting from a flash drive?
It also happens that the bootable flash drive is not recognized by the primary I/O system. With what it can be connected? There are usually several reasons for this:
- incorrectly recorded image or installation distribution;
- damage to the USB drive itself.
To make sure that all the steps for booting from a flash drive are completed correctly, there are several steps you need to take. For now, let’s leave the question of how to enable booting from a flash drive in the BIOS in the background, and move on to pressing problems.
Checking in Device Manager
Let's start with the last point. When checking the device itself for its functionality, there can be two options: either it is faulty itself, or the accompanying driver responsible for recognizing the flash drive by the operating system is missing or installed incorrectly.
In case of malfunctions everything is clear. The device will simply have to be replaced. But what to do when it is in working condition (at least detected on another computer or laptop)? We need to check its functionality. And to do this, in the simplest version, you just need to insert it into the appropriate USB 2.0/3.0 port, and then call the standard “Device Manager” through the “Control Panel” or use the devmgmt command in the “Run” menu bar (Win + R).
Let's assume that after inserting into a port, it may either not be displayed in the manager or be displayed with yellow icon, on which it is present. In the second case, everything is simple: you need to install or produce re-installation drivers. It may very well be that the system itself does not find suitable driver, although it should do it automatically. But this mostly applies to non-standard devices. Flash drives like Transcend are usually recognized immediately.
If the device is not displayed in the corresponding manager, there may also be two reasons: either the corresponding universal USB controller driver is not installed, or the port itself is faulty. Again, you should install the driver (the controller is indicated yellow or is not in the manager at all), or try to plug the flash drive into a different port. It is worth considering that if the device is designed exclusively for data transfer only with USB support 3.0, when connected to standard port 2.0 it will not be determined.
Formatting USB device partitions
Let’s leave aside the question of how to boot from a flash drive in the BIOS for now, and let’s move on to the procedures, without which even recording an image to install the system on the device may be in vain.
First of all, if the device has problems in operation or no action can be taken with it, you should first format it. However, it is not advisable to do quick cleaning table of contents, or better yet, complete formatting. Only in this case will the file system contained on it ensure correct data transfer and reading.
This operation is performed in standard Explorer. On the device you just need to right-click and select the appropriate line from the menu. In the new window, be sure to uncheck the “bird” from the line quick formatting, and then activate the start of the process. Depending on the total volume, this may take a long time.
Creating a bootable distribution
If we consider the question of how to set boot from a flash drive in the BIOS even more broadly, we cannot ignore the issue of creating boot image and transferring it to the drive. This can be done using the UltraISO utility or similar.
However, the original installer must be used as the source. Windows disk. Actually, it’s not that difficult, so there’s no point in dwelling on this in detail. And if the BIOS does not allow booting from a flash drive, in the future it all comes down to correctly transferring the image or unpacked distribution files to the drive. Here you will have to tinker a little.
Media preparation
If you use your own system tools, even after formatting with a USB device, you still need to perform a series of additional actions(assuming the image has already been created with original disc using the same UltraISO programs or even 7-Zip, and the flash drive is in working condition and connected to a computer or laptop).
First we call command line(cmd in the “Run” menu), always on behalf of the system administrator. In the console that appears, enter and press the enter button.
After this we use the command list disk, again, followed by pressing Enter keys, after which we look through the available disks and remember the number of the USB device. To accurately check the USB drive number, you can use the diskmgmt.msc command entered in the Run menu.
Now in the console you need to enter the select disk command and, separated by a space, indicate the number of the disk you are looking for. Next, the device should be cleared of its contents using the clean command.
The next step is to create a primary boot partition. This is done using the create partition primary command followed by entering. After confirmation of a successful operation appears on the screen, use the select partition 1 command, then - active (to activate the selected partition) and finally - format fs=ntfs quick for formatting with selection If you need to create a file FAT systems 32, a similar one is used format command fs=fat32 quick.
The next step is to assign a name to the device using the assign command (the name will be assigned automatically). Finally, enter exit and finish the job. The bootable USB device is ready to use. All that remains is to correctly transfer the distribution files to it.
Transferring data to a flash drive
On at this stage no more configuration required. We don’t yet need a BIOS to boot from a flash drive, but we will need the 7-Zip program. In the very simple version with its help you can correctly copy installation files to the media (roughly speaking, extract them from the image).
Let's launch Zip utility File Manager from the standard “Explorer”, then select the installation distribution image previously created or downloaded from the Internet, specify the USB flash drive as the final device and confirm the actions by pressing the OK button. At the end of the process, the media will be completely ready for use.
Start download
Now let’s move on to the question of how to set the BIOS to boot from a flash drive directly. We reboot the system and at the initial stage press a key or key combination to enter the BIOS settings. Usually these are Del, F2, F12 (for ASUS laptops, BIOS loading from a flash drive is done this way), but other keys or combinations described above can also be used. Depending on the manufacturer of the equipment, you may first need to call up the main menu. This situation is typical for laptops like HP - booting from a flash drive (BIOS) is installed somewhat differently, although the operations themselves are very similar.
In the boot section, look for the Boot Device Priority item and look at the line 1-st Boot Device. By pressing the PgDn key, we select the desired device, after which we exit and save the parameters (as a rule, this is done using the F10 key). This is followed by a reboot, and the installation starts automatically.
However, it is not enough to know how to select boot from a flash drive in the BIOS. It is important to remember that you should call up the settings of the primary I/O system only when a USB device is connected before starting to boot your computer or laptop. Otherwise, the flash drive simply will not be detected.
How to fix problems?
Now let's look at a situation where the device seems to be working, since all the steps described above were supposedly performed correctly, but in fact there is still no boot from a flash drive in the BIOS. What to do in this case?
We use the same command line. Let's assume that the USB device in the system is designated by the letter F, and optical drive- E. Now you need to enter the command E:\Boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 F: (F is a flash drive in our case, and E is a disk drive).
Alternative method
If this does not work, enter the following one by one:
F:\Boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 F:
After this, everything will definitely work as expected.
Compatibility issues
If none of the above methods help, first you should pay attention to the state of the drivers. In the very optimal option you can use programs like Driver Booster, which are able to update drivers automatically.
If everything is fine with them, the reason may be that the user is trying to install a 32-bit system over a 64-bit one. In addition, the file system on the USB drive and the installation distribution may also differ in terms of bit depth. Actually, the flash drive itself may not support USB ports 3.0, in which it is included. Here you need to be very careful.
Instead of a total
That, in fact, is all that concerns how to set boot from a flash drive in the BIOS. Of course, many users may have questions about the advisability of using the system’s own tools for preliminary actions, after all automated programs make it much faster and easier. But here I would like to note that such knowledge is extremely important, and programs in case of failures in Internet access are also not always available.
But prerequisite, as is already clear, is a disk image that is created based on the original or downloaded from the Internet. You can't go anywhere without him. It remains to add that attention should also be focused on the bit depth of the installed system, since the 32-bit version is on top of the 64-bit version without formatting system partition will not install. This is only due to the fact that OS versions require 32 bits and 64-bit modifications require at least NTFS. And the flash drive itself must contain the corresponding file systems FAT or NTFS, not UDP, as is sometimes the case. As for the volume, 4 GB will be quite enough for any system, including even the tenth modification that is gaining popularity.
Not with DVD disc, as many people usually do, but from a USB device, then the first thing you need to do is go into Bios and set it to boot from a flash drive. Otherwise, nothing will work out for you. Since, when booting, the computer will access either hard drive, or to DVD.
In this article I will try to describe in as much detail as possible and for different versions Bios.
Booting from a flash drive in BIOS
I won’t be wrong if I say that laser discs are slowly fading into the background. More and more are being released personal computers without DVD-ROM. Distribution operating system It also doesn’t have to be on a DVD; it can easily fit on a flash drive. I wouldn’t be surprised if they too soon disappear, yielding cloud storage. One way or another, as long as the technology exists, you need to be able to use it.
How to get into Bios
Each manufacturer of computers and laptops has its own buttons to enter the BIOS, such as “F1”, “F2”, “TAB”, etc.
But the most common option is, of course, “Delete”.
Being directly in the BIOS, we are interested in the “Boot” section - it is there that the parameters that we need are changed.
Phoenix Award
It's a rarity now. I remember him from old computers with operating Windows system 98. I just had one like this.
The first thing we do in this and subsequent cases is to check whether the USB controller is activated. To do this we need to go to the "Peripherals" section.
And opposite the inscription “USB Controller” the “Enable” parameter should be set. If it is missing, it should be included. This is done using Up and Down - go to the desired line, press Enter and select.
Now press "ESC" (this is an exit from the previous menu) and head to "Advanced". Here we are interested in the line “First Boot Device”, where using the method described above we set the value to “USB-HDD”, as shown in the screenshot below.
Award
Again, the very first thing we do is check whether the controller is connected. We are heading to “Integrated Peripherals”.
Find "USB Controller". Use Enter to select the "Enable" value.
We return to the main window with the ESC key, go to “Advanced” BIOS Features" and then " Hard Disk Boot Priority”.
The picture above, unfortunately, shows loading from a hard drive. And there should be “Patriot Memory”. You can change it using “+” on the keyboard by going to the desired line.
The next step is to press Enter on the “First Boot Device” line. We now have “CD-ROM” there, but we need to install the already familiar “USB-HDD” or “USB-FDD”.
And save the settings by going to “Save & Exit Setup”.
AMI
Again, at the very beginning, we check the functionality of the USB controller. To do this, go to “Advanced” and then “USB Configuration”.
Please note that “Enable” is set opposite “USB 2.0 Controller” and “USB Function”.
As you can see from the picture below, on this moment exhibited HDD. Using Enter, change the position to “Patriot Memory”.
It should look like this.
Then we go to “Boot Device Priority”.
BIOS UEFI
For example, I will use a Lenovo laptop.
After turning it on, simultaneously press the En+F2 hotkey combination. This takes us to InsydeH20 Setup Utility. It can be seen more often in laptops from Toshiba and Acer. Using the Up and Down buttons we go to “Security” and, on the contrary, “ Secure Boot” set to “Disabled”. Attention, I highlighted this word for a reason!
Now go to “Boot” and look. There should be UEFI next to “Boot Mode”.
We are making an adjustment to “Legacy Support”. Instantly, below in “Boot Priority” the value will change to “Legacy First”.
We save everything and reboot again into Bios.
Actually, now we will have the opportunity to set the laptop to boot from a flash drive.
To do this, insert into USB input our device. The bootable USB flash drive will now be displayed in the “Boot” section.
Use the combination Fn+F6 to shuffle the line to top position and save.
That's actually all I wanted to tell you today.
P.S.: And finally...
List of buttons that open the Boot Menu
Asus – Esc or F8
Asrock – F11
Acer – Esc can be F12 and F9
Compaq - Esc and F9
Dell-F12
ECS-F11
Fujitsu Siemens – F12
Gigabyte-F12
HP – Esc or F9
Intel - F10
Lenovo-F12
MSI-F11
Packard Bell– F8
Sony Vaio– F11
Samsung - Esc
Toshiba-F12
You have a bootable USB flash drive with a distribution of the operating system, and you want to do the installation yourself, but when you insert the USB drive into your computer, you discover that it does not boot. This indicates the need to make the appropriate settings in the BIOS, because this is where the hardware configuration of the computer begins. It makes sense to figure out how to properly configure the OS to boot from this particular storage device.
First, let's figure out how to enter the BIOS in general. As you know, the BIOS is located on the motherboard, and each computer has a different version and manufacturer. Therefore, there is no single key to enter. Most often used Delete, F2, F8 or F1. Read more about this in our article.
After going to the menu, all that remains is to make the appropriate settings. Its design differs in different versions, so let's take a closer look at a few examples from popular manufacturers.
Award
In the setup for booting from a flash drive to Award BIOS there is nothing complicated. You just need to carefully follow the simple instructions and everything will work out:
AMI
In AMI BIOS process The settings are slightly different, but are still simple and do not require additional knowledge or skills from the user. You are required to do the following:
Other versions
The algorithm for working with BIOS for other versions of motherboards is similar:
- Start the BIOS first.
- Then find the menu with devices.
- After this, enable the item on the USB controller "Enable";
- In the order in which the devices are launched, select the name of your flash drive as the first item.
If the settings are completed, but booting from the media fails, then the following reasons are possible:
- The bootable flash drive is written incorrectly. When you turn on the computer, the drive is being accessed (the cursor blinks in the upper left part of the screen) or an error appears "NTLDR is missing".
- Problems with the USB connector. In this case, connect your flash drive to a different slot.
- The BIOS settings are incorrect. And the main reason is disabled USB controller. In addition, older versions of BIOS do not allow booting from flash drives. In such a situation, you should update the firmware (version) of your BIOS.
More details about what to do if the BIOS refuses to see removable media, read our lesson on this topic.
You may not have configured the USB drive itself correctly to install the operating system. Just in case, check all your actions according to our instructions.
And these instructions will be useful to you if you are recording an image not from Windows, but from another OS.
And don't forget to return the settings to original state after you will not need to log in from the bootable USB flash drive.
If you cannot configure the BIOS, it will be enough to simply go to "Boot Menu". Almost all devices are responsible for this different keys, so read the footnote at the bottom of the screen, it's usually indicated there. After the window opens, select required device For loading. In our case, this is USB with a specific name.
We hope that our article helped you understand all the intricacies of setting up the BIOS for booting from a flash drive. Today we looked in detail at performing all the necessary actions on the BIOSes of the two most popular manufacturers, and also left instructions for users who use computers with other BIOS versions installed on them.
Surely you have noticed that now in many articles on correction various errors in Windows or its recovery, it is almost always recommended to use a bootable USB flash drive with installation files operating system or from a LiveCD. And only then do they remember to use the installation CD.
In principle, this is not surprising, since today DVD drives have already faded into the background, and they were naturally followed by CD/DVD discs. For example, when assembling a new computer, few people additionally buy and install a DVD drive; by the way, in many PCs that are already sold in assembled form, the drive is also not installed. Well, oh modern laptops or netbooks, I’m generally silent, in most models the drive has disappeared for a long time.
Just in this instruction we will look at several examples of how to set boot from a flash drive to different versions BIOS. In this article you can find examples of both the most earlier versions BIOS and for some modern UEFI versions from various manufacturers.
Procedure for installing boot from a flash drive in BIOS
Setting up booting from a flash drive in different BIOS versions may differ slightly, but in principle the algorithm itself is the same for everyone.
- We write or with ;
- We connect the prepared USB drive to the computer. If you are planning to install Windows, I recommend connecting the drive to USB 2.0, that is, to ports that are painted black (blue is USB3.0). So, sometimes the system may refuse to start installation due to the lack of drivers for USB3.0 to which the device was connected;
- Turn on or restart the computer and enter the BIOS using the " Del" or " F2" If none of these keys work, you can find options that can help you here;
- In the BIOS, open the “Boot” section, where in the list of boot devices we move the flash drive to the first place;
- By pressing the “F10” key and saving the changed parameters, we try to boot from the device we connected;
IN general outline it looks something like this. Well, now let's specifically go through each BIOS version.
Booting from a USB flash drive into Pheonix AwardBIOS
AwardBIOS is quite old version BIOS, and today they come across very rarely, but still sometimes it happens.
So, having entered the BIOS, we need to go to the “” tab.
Initially, the hard drive will be in the first positions, or if you have several of them, then all will be displayed first hard disks and only then the connected USB device. Here you need to use the " + » Move the flash drive to the very first line.
Then we return to the previous menu using the “ Esc" and in the parameter " First Boot Device" select the value " USB-HDD" (By the way, some versions of this BIOS may not have such a line, so you can try selecting either USB-FDD or USB-CDROM).
Well, in the parameter “ SecondBootDevice » set « HardDisk».
By pressing F10, save the settings and restart the computer.
Booting from a flash drive in another version of Pheonix AwardBIOS
Also, there are several more versions of Pheonix AwardBIOS, in which the principle of installing boot from a flash drive is similar, but the menu itself is slightly different.
We'll start by checking whether the USB controller is directly enabled:
Installing boot from USB flash drive:
By the way, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that this BIOS version may have several more options for installing boot from a flash drive, for example:
- In some cases, it is enough to simply select “USB-HDD” in the “Boot” section as the first device from which the computer will boot.
- Sometimes the flash drive can not be found in the settings hard drives, and in the subsection “Removable Drives”;
How to set boot from a USB drive in AMI BIOS
AMIBIOS is another version of BIOS, which is often found on not the latest motherboards. boards. In general, if you get into the BIOS appearance will be the same as in the screenshot below, then to install the flash drive as boot device you need to follow these steps:
In this BIOS version, also, the flash drive can be found not only in “ Removable Drives", but also in "", so be careful.
We set boot from a flash drive in UEFI BIOS Gigabyte
Now, let's move on to more modern species BIOS, which can be found on later models of motherboards from various manufacturers.
Well, right now we will start with the UEFI BIOS on the Gigabyte motherboard.
So, having entered the BIOS using the same “Delete”, “F2” or “Esc” keys, go to the “ tab BIOS Features" Here you can see that initially booting from a flash drive will only be available in UEFI mode.
Well, since this option won’t suit most people, because the regular Legacy mode has a higher priority, we need to change it. To do this, go to the line “ Hard Drive BBS Priorities".
IN " Boot Option #1"We set a bootable USB flash drive instead of a hard drive, respectively, in " Boot Option #2", HDD must be installed.
After that, in the previous menu you will be able to select a flash drive as a boot device, but without the UEFI prefix.
There is another boot option, which, it seems to me, is much easier to use, but its trick is that it serves for a one-time boot from a USB drive, that is, the next time you reboot you will have to choose to boot from it in the same way again.
In order to use it, you need to move to the “ Save & Exit" and in " Boot Override» select the required device to boot the computer.
The beauty of this option is that it does not require any additional changes in the BIOS settings, and later you simply won’t have to bother with returning the boot settings to initial position. By the way, this option very similar to the same Boot menu, although in this case we will have to go directly to the BIOS.
Booting from a flash drive on ASUS motherboards
The BIOS on ASUS motherboards also has several options for starting a computer from a bootable USB flash drive with Windows.
On more modern motherboards the principle is the same. Below I will show an example using the same ASUS.
After entering the BIOS, on home screen We again need to use the mouse to move the priority device to the very top. Up because this menu has moved to the right side and become vertical.
Also, you can use boot menu, as I showed in the previous example.
By going to " AdvancedMode ( F7)" and going to the tab " Boot", you can change the download priority manually in the " Boot Option Priorityties ».
Or just choose required device start downloading from it in the section " Boot Override", which is located in the same "Boot" tab.
Booting from a flash drive in BIOS on an MSI motherboard
Regarding motherboard in MSI, here we can set booting from a flash drive in two ways.
In general, I hope that you will find an option that suits you, and that you will be able to set boot from a flash drive in your BIOS without any problems.
How to boot from a flash drive old computer, who has BIOS settings Is there no option to boot from USB devices? Today everyone is modern computer devices this possibility is provided, because that’s why they are modern, but if not in the users’ homes, then at least in budgetary institutions There are still old PC builds that can only boot from CD/DVDs, floppy disks or over a network. It is designed to cope with such restrictions free program Plop Boot Manager . This is a bootloader with its own own menu, which, in particular, provides the ability to boot from USB media.
The program can be installed in boot MBR entry hard drive, while the selection menu bootable media will appear every time you boot your computer. Another way to use Plop Boot Manager is to write its disk image to a disc and use it only in cases where it becomes necessary to boot from a flash drive. Once recorded, such a disc will serve as a bridge connecting the computer and USB devices for their interaction. Boot from a flash drive - be it installation disk operating system, be it a rescue or anti-virus Live-Disk, it will be possible by selecting it among the options for loading the Plop Boot Manager environment. Whereas the latter will appear on the screen after setting the computer to boot from a CD/DVD.
To create a CD/DVD with the Plop Boot Manager boot menu, we need to download its distribution for recording onto a blank disc. Go to the official website of the program and download the archive from latest version Plop Boot Manager.
Unpack the archive.
Of the files in the archive, we only need the image ISO disk. The rest of the archive contents with Plop Boot Manager installation files in boot entry In our case, we don’t need a hard drive.
The next step is to write the disk image to a disc. For these purposes, a lot of different software is provided, you can also use regular means Windows.
A standard CD/DVD burning tool will require a minimum of effort.
We boot the computer from the burned disc, setting the priority in the BIOS to boot from the drive.
An important point: the flash drive must be inserted into the USB port before the Plop Boot Manager menu loads.
The Plop Boot Manager menu is primitive and minimalistic. Navigation in the bootloader environment is carried out using the navigation keys "" "↓", and selecting a boot option is done using the Enter key.
Among possible actions we'll see:
- Setup– bootloader settings;
- About– information about the version of Plop Boot Manager;
- Shutdown– turning off the computer;
- HDA Partition No.— loading from one or another disk partition;
- USB– loading from a flash drive is actually what we need.
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