Do you want to know how to enter the special boot BOOT menu of a computer or laptop?

To boot from a flash drive or CD - DVD disc A?

In this article you will learn how to do it correctly.

When we do a clean installation of Windows, we need to boot not from hard drive but from another medium.

This is either a CD - DVD disc or a flash drive.

Typically, this is done by entering Computer BIOS or laptop.

This is exactly what we did in previous lessons.

We went into the BIOS and changed the boot order of the devices.

It is at this step that approximately 90% of users who want to reinstall Windows stop.

They cannot enter the BIOS and make the necessary settings there.

Exists alternative way select boot device.

This is the BOOT menu. The BOOT menu is simpler and more convenient than entering the BIOS.

The essence of the BOOTH menu is to press a certain key when booting a computer or laptop.

A menu like this appears:

In this menu we can select any device and immediately boot from it.

Let's look at this in more detail.

I connected a bootable USB flash drive to the laptop. On my laptop, the Escape key is responsible for entering the Boot menu.

I pressed the Escape button, hold it down and, at the same time, turn on the laptop with the button. The Boot menu opened in front of me.

Using the cursor keys, up and down, I select the desired device. In this case it is a flash drive.

Once the desired device is selected, press the Enter key.

Ready! I booted from the flash drive and now I can start installing Windows.

So, to enter the BOOT menu, you need to press one key when you boot your computer or laptop.

As with the BIOS, the BOOT menu keys differ depending on the manufacturer and brand of your laptop or computer.

The most common keys are:

F12, Esc, F11, F9 and F8

Boot menu has significant advantages over BIOS.

1. Boot menu is simpler and faster to use.

2. You don't need to understand complex settings BIOS and change them. Let me remind you that there are settings in the BIOS that, if you change them, your computer or laptop will stop booting completely. Using the Boot menu you will avoid this.

3. No need to return BIOS settings back to its original state.

Of course, the Boot menu also has its own characteristics.

If you have Windows 10 or Windows 8.1, then to enter the BOOT menu, I recommend using restarting the computer instead of shutting down. The point is that in these operating systems ah, by default the so-called Quick Launch is activated.

Fast startup makes sure that when you shut down the computer does not turn off, in the usual sense of the word. He falls asleep, or rather enters hibernation.

So when you enable it, it will not give you the option to enter the Boot menu. It will simply wake up and show you the state it was in when you clicked the shutdown button.

The solution is very simple: use a reboot instead of shutting down.

Let's see how it's done:

So, my laptop is turned on, Windows is loaded, the bootable flash drive is connected. Now I enable reboot.


I just click on the Start button, click the Shut down button and click Restart.

Once the BOOT menu is in front of us, we can start installing Windows.

Quick startup can be disabled completely. And then you can use the Boot menu as usual when you turn on the computer.


The setup is very simple, I will now show you how it is done. Quick Start is disabled via the classic Control Panel. On Windows you can open it via search. Just enter the word “panel” into the search. As soon as the Control Panel icon appears in the search results, I simply press the Enter key.


In Control Panel, you can switch from categories to icons. Or you can simply search for Power Supply.

On the left we have Power Supplies. Click on it.


Here we need a button Actions of the power buttons. Click on it. To unlock settings that are not active, you need to click as shown in the picture. Changing parameters that are currently unavailable.


Now we can disable Quick Launch (Fast Boot), just uncheck the box. Then we save the changes.

After this, the Boot menu will be available to you upon boot.

In Windows 8.1, the setup is done in a similar way.

One more feature.

In some sophisticated BIOS and not so sophisticated ones, there is a menu item that disables the BOOT menu.

More details about this in the video.

If your BIOS has such an item, then you will have to go into the BIOS and enable the BOOT menu once. That is, activate this item.

After this, the BOOT menu will be available to you upon boot.

From the table, you can find out which keys you need to press on your PC or laptop to enter the BOOT menu.

Manufacturer Model (if not specified - all models) Key to enter BOOT menu
Asus Desktop computers F8
k25f, k34u, k35, k43u, k46cb, k52f, k53e, k55a, k60ij, k70ab, k72f, k73, k84l, k93, k95vb, k501, k601, R503C Esc
x32a, x35u, x54c, x61g, x64, x75a, x83, x90, x93sv, x95gl, x101ch, x102ba, x200ca, x202e, x301a, x401a, x401u, x501a, x502c, x750ja F8
VivoBook f200ca, f202e, q200e, s200e, s400ca, s500ca, u38n, v500ca, v550ca, v551, x200ca, x202e, x550ca, z202e Esc
N550, N750JV, g750, Infinity ux301la, Prime ux31a, Prime ux32vd, R509C, Taichi 21, Touch u500vz, Transformer Book TX300
Compaq Presario ESC, F9
Dell F12
eMachines F12
Fujitsu F12
HP Pavilion Media Center a1477, Pavilion 23 All In One, Pavilion g4, g6 and g7, Probook 4520s, 4525s, 4540s, 4545s, 5220m, 5310m, 5330m, 5660b, 5670b, Pavilion a410n Esc
Pavilion Elite e9000, e9120y, e9150t, e9220y, e9280t ESC, F9
Pavilion HPE PC, h8-1287c, Pavilion PC, p6 2317c, Pavilion PC, p7 1297cb, TouchSmart 520 PC, ENVY x2, m4, m4-1015dx, m4-1115dx, sleekbook m6, m6-1105dx, m6-1205dx, m6- k015dx, m6-k025dx, touchsmart m7, Envy, dv6 and dv7 PC, dv9700, Specter 14, Specter 13, 2000 - 2a20nr, 2a53ca, 2b16nr, 2b89wm, 2c29wm, 2d29wm Esc (Then press F9 to enter " Boot Menu»)
Other models ESC, F9
Intel F10
Lenovo Desktop computers F12, F8, F10
IdeaPad P500 F12 or Fn + F11
IdeaPad s300, u110, u310 Touch, u410, u510, y500, y510, yoga 11, yoga 13, z500 Novo Button (next after the power button), F12
ThinkPad edge, e431, e531, e545, helix, l440, l540, s431, t440s, t540p, twist, w510, w520, w530, w540, x140, x220, x230, x240, X1 carbon, IdeaPad S10-3, g460, g470 , g475, g480, g485 and other models F12
NEC F5
Packard Bell F8
Samsung NC10, np300e5c, np300e5e, np350v5c, np355v5c, np365e5c, np550p5c Esc
Series 5 Ultra, Series 7 Chronos, Series 9 Ultrabook Esc (You need to disable "Fast boot" in BIOS)
Ativ Book 2, 8, 9 F2 (You need to disable "Fast boot" in BIOS)
Other models F12, ESC
Sony VAIO Duo, Pro, Flip, Tap, Fit Assist button (Press the Assist button when the computer is turned off, not when booting)
VAIO, PCG, VGN F11
VGN ESC, F10
Toshiba F12

You have a bootable DVD or flash drive, now you need to make sure that the computer can boot from it.

There are 2 ways to boot your computer from a DVD or flash drive:

  • Selecting a device in the boot menu
  • Changing boot priority in BIOS

Each method has pros and cons.

If you need, for example, to install Windows, then it is more convenient to choose the first method. And if you constantly work with boot disks, That more convenient way second.

Features of selecting a device in the boot menu

  • On older computers (motherboards) the function is missing. In this case, you will have to change the priority in the BIOS.
  • When you select a device in the menu, the computer boots from this device 1 time. This is convenient when installing Windows - there is no need to return booting from the HDD after the first reboot.

Features of changing priority in BIOS

  • Works on both new and old computers.
  • The priority change is permanent, i.e. lasts until the next change, and not one load as in the case of the menu. This is not very convenient when installing Windows from a flash drive; you have to return booting from the HDD after the first reboot.

How to enter the boot menu or BIOS?

There is no universal button for entering the boot menu or entering the BIOS. It all depends on the computer manufacturer (motherboard), they are all different - the keys are also different. The most correct way to find the right key is to read the instructions from the computer (motherboard). For some of the most common boards, the keys are listed below.

The only time when you need to press these keys is during self-test immediately after turning on the computer (English - Power-On Self-Test or POST). Without going into details, POST lasts from turning on the computer until the operating system starts loading (the logo or OS selection menu appears). The POST pass looks something like this:

A prompt appears on the screen: Press DEL to run Setup, which means - click DEL to login BIOS Setup . DEL is the most common key, but there are many others - more on that below.

During POST, a graphical splash screen may be displayed with the name of the computer or motherboard manufacturer.

Keys to enter the boot menu and brief instructions

As noted above, each manufacturer has its own key to enter the boot menu. Here is a short list of the most common ones:

The boot menu looks something like this:

All you have to do is select the desired device from the list. If everything is done correctly, the disk or flash drive is written correctly, the download/installation should begin.

Keys to enter BIOS and brief instructions for changing boot priority

To enter BIOS Setup, use the key corresponding to the manufacturer of the computer or motherboard, here is a small list of them:

Acer (Aspire, Altos, Extensa, Ferrari, Power, Veriton, TravelMate):

F2 or Del

Acer (older models):

F1 or Ctrl+Alt+Esc

F2 or Del

Compaq (Deskpro, Portable, Presario, Prolinea, Systempro):

Compaq (older models):

F1, F2, F10, or Del

Dell (Dimension, Inspiron, Latitude, OptiPlex, Precision, Vostro, XPS):

Dell (old and rare models):

Ctrl+Alt+Enter or Fn+Esc or Fn+F1 or Del or Reset twice

ECS (Elitegroup)

Del or F1

eMachines (eMonster, eTower, eOne, S-Series, T-Series):

Tab or Del

eMachines (some older models):

Fujitsu (Amilo, DeskPower, Esprimo, LifeBook, Tablet):

Hewlett-Parkard (HP Alternative, Tablet PC):

F2 or Esc or F10 or F12

Hewlett-Parkard (OmniBook, Pavilion, Tablet, TouchSmart, Vectra):

Lenovo (3000 Series, IdeaPad, ThinkCentre, ThinkPad, ThinkStation):

F1 or F2

Lenovo (older models):

Ctrl+Alt+F3, Ctrl+Alt+Ins or Fn+F1

MSI (Micro-Star)

F2, F10 or Del

Sony (VAIO, PCG-Series, VGN-Series):

F1, F2 or F3

Toshiba (Portege, Satellite, Tecra):

F1 or Esc

You can find less common hotkeys for entering the BIOS.

In addition to the fact that there are several main BIOS manufacturers (AMI, Phoenix - Award), computer (motherboard) manufacturers also modify the BIOS to suit specific model. As a result, it is impossible to create universal instructions Even by changing one function (boot priority), there will be differences on each computer. You can only roughly show how this is done, but look for exact instructions in the documentation for your computer (motherboard).

To navigate through the BIOS and change settings, use the arrow keys on your keyboard. Enter And + \- .

AMI

Use the arrows to move to the tab Boot, let's go to Boot Device Priority:

In the following figure we see that the boot is performed sequentially: from the floppy drive (Floppy Drive), hard drive (Hard Drive), and the third device is not used (Disabled).

If we want to boot from a DVD, we need to change the priorities so that the first device is the DVD drive. Use arrows to switch to the first device ( 1st Boot Device), press Enter and select from the menu that appears CDROM. It's the same with a flash drive.

Click F10 and confirm the exit with saving (Save and Exit) by selecting .

Phoenix Award

We enter Advanced BIOS Features:

If we want to boot from a DVD, we need to change the priorities so that the first device is the DVD drive.

Use arrows to switch to the first device ( First Boot Device), change to CDROM. It's the same with a flash drive.

Click F10 and confirm exit with saving (Save and Exit).

Do you know other keys or want to find out more? Comments are open!

Enjoy using it!

Greetings!
The Boot menu is available on almost every computer or laptop, but often users either know nothing about it or have very basic information, and some confuse it with a menu in which they select to boot one of several operating systems installed on the computer . So what exactly is the boot menu and what is its purpose? In this material I will try to answer this question.

Where is the boot menu located and what is it used for?

This menu is located in the BIOS on the motherboard, and it serves to select the physical device from which to boot.

This can be either a CD or DVD disc, or Flash media. For a better understanding, we can give an example - using the boot menu, you can boot from any media (for example, Flash) in the absence of the hard drive itself on the PC.

Why does the average user need this menu? Of course, often the computer already has an operating system installed, which loads by default when it is turned on.

However, if you want to connect a second HDD, on which the operating system is also installed, then it will be necessary to select the device from which to boot.

Even if you don't connect additional hard disks, then if there are problems with the PC, you can use the boot menu to boot from other media and carry out: high-level diagnostics of PC components, you can try to recover data from a hard drive damaged by the malware, reset the password for logging into the system, etc.

Or maybe you just decided to reinstall the system, as they say, “from scratch,” and for this you will need to boot from a DVD or flash drive. By the way, you can read about how to create a bootable USB flash drive in the material.

As you can see, there are quite a few reasons to boot from third-party media.

How to call (get to) the boot menu

It is necessary to remember that the boot menu is part of the BIOS, and therefore, by going to BIOS Setup, you can also assign the boot order there from media connected to the computer.

If you happen to encounter a very old computer (before 2006), then you may not find a separately callable boot menu on such a rare PC - in this case, all settings are made exclusively in the BIOS itself.

Typically, a list is given bootable media in the section called Boot. The corresponding priority is set there, that is, having arranged the devices in a certain order, the system will alternately search for the boot area of ​​the operating system (or boot entry LiveCD, diagnostic flash drive, etc.) on each of them.

But let's assume the option that for one reason or another you cannot enter the BIOS or simply do not want to waste your time on it. In this case, the boot menu comes to your aid, which quickly allows you to select the device from which you want to boot.

Entering the Boot Menu is not difficult - when you turn on the computer, you need to press a certain key several times. This is done when the computer is turned on, similar to pressing a key to enter BIOS Setup.

There is no single standard, and therefore manufacturers are free to choose the key that would call up the corresponding menu. The boot menu can be called up by pressing a key F8, F11, F12 or even Esc. It depends on the developer of the motherboard and the BIOS used in it. Therefore most the right decision will refer to the motherboard documentation. If the documentation is lost, then you can find out the brand and name of the motherboard, and then highlight the necessary manual on the Internet.

Or, when you turn on your computer or laptop, highlight the required key, which is sometimes displayed with other technical information on the display.

However this method not always effective on laptops because there Technical information is displayed either very quickly or is not displayed at all and immediately upon switching on the operating system loads.

In this situation, you can try pressing the key F12, which is quite common among laptop manufacturers. If it doesn’t help, then use the manual for your laptop.

Take into account one more thing: the Boot Menu also does not have a single design, nor does it have a title that is displayed in a menu item or window title - it can be called “MultiBoot Menu”, “BBS Popup”, “Boot Agent”, etc. .

Below is a list of typical keys that motherboard and laptop manufacturers use to open the boot menu:

motherboard/laptop manufacturer (BIOS developer) – key

Brief summary

After reading this material, you now know what the Boot Menu is, how it differs from the menu in the BIOS, where boot priority is set and there is no way to quickly select boot media.

Naturally, the Boot Menu is not a replacement for the menu that is displayed when there are several operating systems installed on the computer. This menu serves several other purposes, which were described in the material.

If you have any questions, you can ask them in the comments.

The Boot Menu can be called up when turned on on most laptops and computers; this menu is a BIOS or UEFI option and allows you to quickly select which drive to boot the computer from this time. In this instruction I will show you how to enter the Boot Menu on popular laptop models and PC motherboards.

The described feature may be useful if you need to boot from a Live CD or bootable flash drive For Windows installations and not only - it is not necessary to change the boot order in the BIOS; as a rule, a single selection is enough desired device boot to Boot Menu. On some laptops, the same menu also gives access to the recovery partition of the laptop.


For laptops and computers that originally came with Windows 8 or 8.1, and soon with Windows 10, you may not be able to enter the Boot Menu using the specified keys. This is due to the fact that shutdown for these operating systems is not a shutdown in the full sense of the word. This is more like hibernation, and therefore the boot menu may not open when you press F12, Esc, F11 and other keys.

In this case, you can do one of the following:


One of these methods should definitely help with entering the boot menu, provided that everything else is done correctly.

Login to Boot Menu on Asus (for laptops and motherboards)

For almost all desktop computers with Asus motherboards, the boot menu is entered by pressing the F8 key after turning on the computer (the same time we press Del or F9 to enter the BIOS or UEFI).

But there is some confusion with laptops. To enter the Boot Menu on ASUS laptops, depending on the model, you need to press when turning on:

  • Esc - for most (but not all) modern and not so modern models.
  • F8 - for those Asus laptop models whose name begins with x or k, for example x502c or k601 (but not always, there are models on x, where you enter the Boot Menu using the Esc key).

In any case, there are not many options, so you can try each of them if necessary.

How to enter the Boot Menu on Lenovo laptops

For almost all Lenovo laptops and all-in-ones, you can use the F12 key to enter the Boot Menu when turning it on.

You can also select additional boot options for Lenovo laptops by pressing the small arrow button next to the power button.

Acer

The next most popular model of laptops and all-in-one PCs in our country is Acer. Login to the Boot Menu on them for different versions BIOS is done by pressing the F12 key at startup.

However, on Acer laptops there is one peculiarity - often, entering the Boot Menu using F12 does not work on them by default and in order for the key to work, you must first enter the BIOS by pressing the F2 key, and then switch the “F12 Boot Menu” parameter to the Enabled state, after Why save the settings and exit the BIOS.

Other models of laptops and motherboards

For other laptop models, as well as PCs with different motherboards, there are fewer features, so I’ll simply list the Boot Menu entry keys for them in the form of a list:

  • HP all-in-one PCs and laptops - F9 or Esc key, and then F9
  • Dell Laptops - F12
  • Samsung laptops - Esc
  • Laptops Toshiba - F12
  • Gigabyte motherboards - F12
  • Intel Motherboards - Esc
  • Maternal Asus boards- F8
  • Maternal MSI boards- F11
  • AsRock - F11

It seems that he took into account all the most common options, and also described possible nuances. If suddenly you still cannot access the Boot Menu on any device, leave a comment indicating its model, I will try to find a solution (and do not forget about the issues related to fast loading in latest versions Windows, as I wrote about above).

Video on how to enter the boot device menu

Well, in addition to everything written above, video instructions on how to enter the Boot Menu may be useful to someone.

This menu allows you to select from what type of media and even from which specific one the download will be made this time. This can be useful when installing a system, installing BIOS updates, or if necessary, launching a LiveCD.

Standard methods

In order to get to the boot menu there is a set standard keys, exactly the same as for entering the BIOS. Usually these are buttons f11,f12,Esc. In this menu you can see all devices from which you can download to this moment and select the one you need.

As a rule, information about which button should be pressed appears immediately when the computer starts; if this does not happen and the above options did not help, then other actions will be required.

Features of the boot menu in Windows 8 and 10

If the PC was shipped with one of these systems, pressing the keys may not work. This happens because these systems usually do not turn off, in the usual sense of the word, but rather, go into hibernation. To get to the boot menu, you need to completely turn off the computer. To do this, you can hold down the key shift when selecting " Shutdown" or reboot the device using the button on the front panel.

There is also an option with shutdown quick launch , but it’s not worth using it just to get into the Boot Menu.

Boot menu on Asus motherboards and laptops

For computers, login is carried out at pressedf8 immediately after launch. There can be some confusion with laptops. Most of them can also launch the necessary option when you press this key, and some enable it only when pressedEsс(usually this applies to models whose names begin with x or k).

Lenovo laptops

Here everything is much simpler, the launch is carried out when pressedf12. There may also be a special key with an arrow image, which will allow you to perform the same action.

Boot Menu on Acer

Here you can also enter by pressingf12. Only here lies a little trick: for proper operation and download the boot menu using this button, you must first enable the appropriate option in the BIOS. You can get into it by pressing f2. The name of the setting itself is shown in the image, all you need to do is set “ Enabled"at the right point.

Other models of laptops and motherboards

Manufacturers do not seem to have come to a consensus on which button is best to use for the Boot Menu and therefore, each of them left the most convenient option for themselves. As a result, it is practically impossible to “guess” it on the first try. the desired button without knowing what model motherboard. Below is a list for the most common of them.