The Boot Menu (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 guide, we'll show you how to access the Boot Menu on popular laptops and PC motherboards.
The described feature can be useful if you need to boot from a Live CD or a bootable flash drive to install Windows and more - it is not necessary to change the boot order in BIOS, as a rule, selecting the desired boot device in the Boot Menu once is enough. On some laptops, the same menu gives access to the laptop's recovery partition.
First we write general information by entering the Boot Menu, nuances for laptops preinstalled with Windows 8, 8.1, and soon Windows 10. And then - specifically for each brand: for Asus, Lenovo, Samsung and other laptops, Gigabyte, MSI, Intel motherboards, etc. P. Below there is also a video showing and explaining how to enter such a menu.
General information on entering the BIOS boot menu
Just as to enter the BIOS (or configure the UEFI software) when you turn on the computer, you must press a certain key, usually Del or F2, so there is a similar key to call the Boot Menu. In most cases, these are F12, F11, Esc, but there are other options that I will write about below (sometimes information about what you need to press to call the Boot Menu appears immediately on the screen when you turn on the computer, but not always).
Moreover, if all you need is to change the boot order and you need to do this for some one-time action ( Windows installation, virus check), it is better to use the Boot Menu, and not, for example, boot from a USB flash drive in the BIOS settings.
In the Boot Menu, you will see a list of all devices connected to the computer, from which this moment booting is potentially possible (hard drives, flash drives, DVDs and CDs), as well as, possibly, the option of network booting the computer and starting to restore a laptop or computer from a backup partition.
Features of entering the Boot Menu in Windows 8, 8.1 and Windows 10
For laptops and computers that originally shipped with Windows 8 or 8.1, and soon with Windows 10, you may not be able to enter the Boot Menu using these keys. This is due to the fact that shutdown for these operating systems is not in the full sense of the word a shutdown. 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.
Entering the Boot Menu on Asus (for laptops and motherboards)
For almost everyone 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 BIOS or UEFI).
But with laptops there is some confusion. To enter the Boot Menu on ASUS laptops, depending on the model, you need to press when you turn it on:
- Esc - for most (but not all) modern and not so models.
- F8 - for those Asus laptop models whose name starts with x or k, for example x502c or k601 (but not always, there are x models where the Boot Menu is entered by pressing 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 turned on.
You can also select additional boot options for Lenovo laptops by clicking the small arrow button next to the power button.
Acer
The next most popular model of laptops and monoblocks with us is Acer. Entering the Boot Menu on them for different versions The BIOS is accessed by pressing the F12 key at power on.
However, there is one feature on Acer laptops - often, entering the Boot Menu by 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, then save the settings and exit the BIOS.
Other models of laptops and motherboards
For other laptop models, as well as PCs with different motherboards, the features are smaller, and therefore I will simply list the Boot Menu entry keys for them in the form of a list:
- HP All-in-Ones and Notebooks - F9 or Esc, then F9
- Dell laptops - F12
- Samsung Notebooks - Esc
- Notebooks Toshiba - F12
- maternal Gigabyte boards- F12
- maternal Intel boards- Esc
- maternal asus boards-F8
- maternal MSI boards- F11
- AsRock-F11
It seems that they took into account all the most common options, and also described the possible nuances.
Video on how to enter boot device menu
Well, in addition to everything written above, the video instruction on entering the Boot Menu may be useful to someone.
Greetings!
Boot menu ( boot menu) is available on almost every computer or laptop, but often users either do not know anything about it, or have very basic information, and some confuse it with a menu that selects to boot one of several operating systems installed on the computer. So what, in fact, is the boot menu and what is its purpose? In this article, I will try to answer this question.
Where is the boot menu located and what is it used for
This menu located in the BIOS on the motherboard, and it serves to select physical device from which to load.
It can be either CD or DVD disc, and Flash media. For a better understanding, we can give an example - using the boot menu, you can boot from any media (for example, Flash-ki) in the absence of the hard drive itself on the PC.
Why does this menu need a regular user? Undoubtedly, often the computer already has an installed operating system, which is loaded by default when it is enabled.
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 the boot should be performed.
Even if you do not connect additional hard drives, then in case of problems in the operation of the PC, using the boot menu, you can 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 malware, reset the password to enter 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 USB flash drive. By the way, about how to create bootable flash drive you can read in the material.
As you can see, there are quite a few reasons for downloading from third-party media.
How to call (get) the boot menu
It must be remembered that the boot menu is part of the BIOS, and therefore, by entering BIOS Setup, you can also assign the boot order from media connected to the computer there.
If you happen to encounter a very old computer (until 2006), then you may not find a separately called boot menu on such a rare PC - in this case, all settings are made exclusively in the BIOS itself.
As a rule, a list of bootable media is set in a section called Boot. The corresponding priority is set there, that is, having arranged the devices in a certain order, the system will one by one search for the boot area of the operating system (or the boot record of the LiveCD, diagnostic flash drive, etc.) on each of them.
But let's assume such an 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 make the appropriate boot.
Entering the Boot Menu is not difficult - while turning 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 the corresponding menu. The boot menu can be called by pressing the key F8, F11, F12 or even Esc. It depends on the developer motherboard and the BIOS used in it. Therefore, the most right decision will refer to the motherboard documentation. If the documentation is lost, then the brand and name of the motherboard can be found out, and then underline the necessary manual on the Internet.
Or, at the moment of turning on the computer or laptop, underline the necessary key, which is sometimes displayed with other technical information on the display.
but this method not always effective on laptops. there Technical information is displayed either very quickly, or not displayed at all, and immediately after switching on, the operating system is loaded.
In this situation, you can try pressing the key F12, which is quite common among laptop manufacturers. If it does not help, then use the manual (manual) for your laptop.
Take into account one more thing, the Boot Menu also does not have a single design, as well as the title that is displayed in the 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 call the boot menu:
motherboard/laptop manufacturer (BIOS developer) – key
Summary
After reading this material, you now know what the Boot Menu is, how it differs from the menu in the BIOS, where the boot priority is set and there is no way to quickly select bootable media.
Naturally, the Boot Menu is not a replacement for the menu that appears when there are multiple 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.
Sometimes there is a need to call the boot menu when starting the computer - the boot menu. This is necessary in cases where it is necessary to boot the PC from any media (CD, flash drive, internal or external hard disk, etc.), for example, to install or reinstall the operating system. In this manual, you will learn how to enter the Boot Menu from a desktop computer or from a laptop.
I want to note right away that in old computers with antediluvian motherboards, the Boot Menu is not provided. In this case, in order to boot from any other device, you need to go into the BIOS of the computer (usually the Del or F2 key is responsible for this, rarely F1) and set the desired device boot order in the Boot section.
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On different motherboards, this is done in different ways, however, the word Boot will be present in the name of such a section.
To call the boot menu, you need to almost immediately after turning it on also press a special key on the keyboard. Usually these are the Esc keys or F11, F12. But there are exceptions depending on the manufacturer of the motherboard of a personal desktop computer or laptop. When you turn on the PC on the screen below, you can see which key is responsible for calling the BIOS, Boot Menu, etc.
How to Enter the Boot Menu on Windows 8 and 10 Systems
If you have a laptop and a system up to and including Windows 7 is installed on it, then getting into the Boot Menu will not be difficult at all. As I said already, this can be done with the Esc, F11 or F12 keys. However, if you have installed Windows system 8, 8.1 or 10, then get into the boot menu fast way It does not always work. This is because, starting with Windows 8, shutdown or reboot is not complete. Such a shutdown is more like hibernation, therefore, pressing the hot keys responsible for calling the boot menu may be ineffective. To turn off the computer completely in new operating systems, you can use one of the following methods:1. When turning off the computer, press the Shift key.
2. You can disable fast startup in the "eighth" system like this: go to the Control Panel,
select the "Power" section,
On the left side of the window, click on "What the power buttons do".
We find the item "Enable fast startup" and deactivate it. By the way, the same actions can be done on mobile PCs (laptops, netbooks).
How to enter the Boot Menu on a Lenovo laptop
To get to the device boot menu on Lenovo laptops you need to press the F12 button. Also on many computers from this manufacturer you can find a service button with an arrow, as shown in the image below.
This key is used to call the service boot options. Here you can go to BIOS, Boot Menu, perform emergency system recovery, and so on, it all depends on the brand of the device.
How to get into the boot menu on an Acer laptop
If you own an Acer laptop, then use the F12 key to open the Boot Menu. However, there is one point: on many laptops, the ability to call the boot menu in the BIOS settings is disabled. This can be fixed: when you turn on the laptop, press the F2 key in order to get into the BIOS. Let's go to the Main section and activate the item "F12 Boot Menu" (should be in Enabled mode).
After that, we save the settings by pressing the F10 key and confirming. Now when turned on Acer laptop press the F12 key and see the boot menu.
How to enter the Boot Menu on an Asus laptop
It just so happened that on older models, the F8 function key is used to call the boot menu. As for the new laptop models from Asus, you need to press the Esc key to call the Boot Menu. If you don't know old laptop or a new one, then try at startup, first, press F8, and then, if it doesn’t work, press Esc when you turn it on again.
If you need to enter the BIOS on Asus laptops press Del or F9.
If you own a laptop from another manufacturer, then see the table below, which lists popular laptop brands with call keys for both the Boot Menu and BIOS.
I think that now, after reading this manual, you can easily get into the boot menu on any desktop computer or laptop from any manufacturer. That's all, thanks for your attention.
detailed video:
Not all even quite experienced users know about the presence in their computer or laptop of the so-called boot menu, or boot menu, which can be called up when the system boots. And if they have heard about it, they do not always know what it is.
It should be noted that the concept of boot menu should not be confused with the OS boot manager, with which you can select the operating system you need installed in any of the logical disk partitions. Boot menu is a BIOS built-in menu for selecting boot from the physical device on which the operating system is located.
Why does the boot menu need an ordinary user? Indeed, as a rule, most users have computers with a pre-installed operating system that ensures their performance.
However, in the course of working with a computer, the user is often faced with the need to use various options to boot the system. And the BIOS of the computer provides ample opportunities for this. You can boot the operating system from hard drive(or from several, if you have system unit more than one hard drive installed), and from a floppy drive, and also use a CD or DVD drive as a boot device. As a rule, there is also an option in the boot menu to boot the system via the network. Moreover, due to the widespread Lately USB flash drives have also become extremely popular as bootable devices.
The reasons for using the boot menu can be varied. Suppose your operating system has crashed and you want to boot from portable device to restore it. Or you are going to install the operating system on a blank hard drive.
How to get into the boot menu
First of all, do not forget that the order of boot devices can be set in the BIOS Setup program menu. This possibility is also worth remembering because some motherboards, especially on older computers, simply do not have a boot menu. Usually, a list of boot devices can be found in the Boot section, where you can set their priority, that is, arrange the devices in such an order that the system would search for the operating system on each of them in turn.
But suppose that for some reason you cannot go into the BIOS and install there desired device Or you just don't want to spend time on it. Then you have the option to choose boot device right at the time of booting the computer.
Entering the boot menu is quite simple - all you need to do is press a certain key during boot, just like you do to enter BIOS Setup. Usually different manufacturers assign different keys for this. It can be a key and F8, and F11, and F12, and Esc. It all depends on the specific motherboard manufacturer, as well as the BIOS. Therefore, it is best to look in the documentation for a specific motherboard or laptop. Or look at the desired key during BIOS boot on the screen.
But this method is unlikely to work in that case of a laptop, because the boot screen on a laptop flickers very quickly, and the user, as a rule, does not have time to notice what is written there. The only thing that can be advised this case, this is what laptops tend to use the F12 key. So if possible, try F12 first, and then other function keys.
Also keep in mind that in different systems boot menu is denoted differently - it can be called BBS Popup, MultiBoot Menu, Boot Agent or something else.
Below we provide a list of the main keys used to call the boot menu, depending on the manufacturer of the motherboard and BIOS.
Desktops
- MSI (motherboard) - AMI (BIOS) - F11
- Gigabyte-Award-F12
- BioStar - Phoenix-Award - F9
- Asus-AMI-F8
- Intel - Phoenix Award - Esc
- AsRock-AMI-F11
- ChainTech - missing
- ECS-AMI-F11
- FoxConn - Esc
- Gigabyte-F12
laptops
- Asus- Esc
- Acer-F12
- Asus AMI - Esc
- Asus Phoenix-Award-F8
- Dell-F12
- Fujitsu-F12
- HP - Esc then F9
- Lenovo-F12
- MSI-F11
- Samsung - Esc (note - press only 1 time during the boot screen!)
- Sony-F11
- Toshiba-F12
Conclusion
So, from this article, you learned how to call the boot menu - a convenient built-in BIOS option that helps the user select a boot device. Of course, the boot menu cannot be a replacement for OS boot managers such as ntldr on Windows, but it has the advantage of being independent of a particular operating system.
What is the Boot Menu (boot menu), why is it needed and how does it replace the BIOS. In fact, when choosing devices, the boot menu is the best to use. More details below.
All more or less experienced computer users know that when installing the OS, or using a tool from disk media or a flash drive, it is necessary to set the priority of these devices in the BIOS, in simple words– what will be loaded in the first place when you start your PC. For this you can use.
boot menu(boot menu) - boot menu designed to simplify the selection of devices from which it is possible to boot. You turn on the computer, go to the boot menu using special keys, and then use the arrows to select the boot device, for example, a USB flash drive or a floppy drive. This makes it easier for inexperienced users to do many things.
Now we will learn how to enter the Boot Menu using the usual keyboard shortcuts. And also how to do it on laptops.
How to enter the Boot Menu - BIOS boot menu
When we enter the BIOS, we press a certain combination on the keyboard. In the case of the Boot Menu, the same is true. In many cases, for laptops and motherboards, the following methods are relevant: Esc, F11, F12, although there are other options to enter the boot menu.
It makes sense to use this feature if you do not need to change any parameters in the BIOS, except for setting the boot order.
So, if you have a laptop with Windows 8, and now with Windows 10, the above keys are not a fact that they will work. In some models, when you turn off the laptop, the device can be considered to go into hibernation mode, and not turn off as usual, so an attempt to enter the boot menu fails.
To get rid of this problem, you can use the following methods:
How to enter the Boot Menu from an Asus laptop
Most possible options The entry for Asus are the following keys:
- ESC - for many brands;
- F8 - for devices where names can start with the letters X and K, if it doesn't work, then use Esc.
Entering the boot menu from a Lenovo laptop
In these models it is even easier, you press the F12 key and get into the boot menu. Also on many laptops of this brand there is a special button with an arrow that allows you to select the type of boot, for example, BIOS, Boot Menu, or recovery mode.
and translate the option there F12 Boot Menu to the enabled position - Enabled. Then we save the applied actions, reboot and try to log in again using the F12 key.
Entering the Boot Menu of an HP laptop
I have a laptop of this brand, so I know a lot about it. You can enter the boot menu from this device as follows:
- Esc is a fairly common option;
- F9 - by pressing the Esc key.
Entering the Boot Menu on other models of motherboards
In the options described by me below, almost the same as described above, that is, the same keys:
- Dell laptops - F12 key.
- Toshiba - F12 key.
- Samsung - Esc key.
- Motherboards from Intel, FoxConn, Phoenix-Award - Esc key.
- Gigabyte motherboards - F12 key.
- Board from Asus, AMI - key F8 or F11, as on laptops.
- MSI, ECS, AsRock, Sony - F11 key.
- BioStar - F9 key.
- Asus AMI - ESC key.
- Fujitsu-F12.
Here, I have described most of the models. If you are unhappy that your laptop or motherboard model is not listed, please leave a comment and I will try to help you. You can always find more details in the instructions for your computer or laptop motherboard. If there is no paper version, look for an electronic one on the Internet.
Why the Boot Menu does not work on a laptop
If your boot menu refuses to work, that is, it does not start or does not see the connected devices, then there are a number of explanations for this.
It turned out that on some laptops this mode does not work for the simple reason that UEFI mode is enabled, and not BIOS Legacy Mode. In this case, you can try to enable either Legacy BIOS or UEFI and check the boot menu.
The second reason is a rare failure. In this case, it does not go out to enter both the boot menu and the BIOS. The treatment is usually simple - turning off and on the computer again. The second way is by removing the CMOS battery.
It is possible that the boot menu on your device is turned off, and on some laptop models it is possible to turn it on. Go into the BIOS and find the F12 Boot Menu item there, which should be set to the Enabled position.