New computers with Windows 8 no longer have the traditional BIOS; they use instead a firmware called UEFI which works slightly differently than the old BIOS. The BIOS, in terribly synthetic words, is a low-level software that resides on a chip in the motherboard. When the computer boots, it's up to the BIOS to wake up the various components, make sure they are functional, and tell the operating system or another boot loader to get started. In another article we saw how to enter the BIOS on the computer.
All in all it was a good system, albeit with an interface dating back to the 80s really ugly to look at and not simple to use.
UEFI is the Successor of the BIOS, stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, which has brought some important changes to the pre-boot environment of the computer.
READ ALSO: Switch from BIOS to UEFI and convert disk to GPT (Windows 10)
As it is structured, UEFI is similar to the traditional BIOS, with the big difference of a visual layout much clearer and nicer to look at. In addition to better managing the startup of the computer, it also supports secure startup by preventing malware from loading with the operating system and protects against any attempts to gain unauthorized access to the computer.
This may not be necessary, but it makes it less scary for those who are less experienced and also easier to use for the geek.
To open the start menu on new PCs, use Windows 10 Settings, press Shut down in the right sidebar and then press and hold down the Shift key and click Restart .
The computer will restart in the boot options menu.
Another article explains how to turn on advanced boot options in Windows 10
Rebooted the PC with access to the boot options, to access the UEFI firmware settings you need to click on the Troubleshooting tile, then on Advanced options and finally select the UEFI firmware settings.
Restarting the computer will open the UEFI settings screen.
Depending on the computer, the options may change.
UEFI still remember, it's only found on new computers and installations of Windows 10 with GPT partition style. So if you have installed Windows 10 on a very old PC or have updated from Windows 7 or 8.1, you will not see any option regarding UEFI and you will have to access the BIOS in the traditional way (see at the beginning of the article).
The most important option in the UEFI settings screen is that which allows you to disable Secure Boot, a security feature that prevents malware from taking possession of Windows or any other operating system (said in Microsoft words: provides "process protection before booting from bootkit attacks ")
However, since it can also prevent other operating systems from being installed, including Linux distributions and previous versions of Windows, and since its utility is relative and perhaps represents an excessive precaution, it is worth turning it off.
You can disable Secure Boot UEFI from the settings screen on any PC with Windows 8 and have the freedom to install any operating system you want on the computer.
To boot your computer from a removable medium such as a USB stick or a CD disc, you need to access the boot options screen.
Depending on your computer hardware you will see different options such as USB drive, CD / DVD drive, SD card, network boot, and so on.
Legacy BIOS mode
Many computers with UEFI firmware also allow you to activate a legacy BIOS compatibility mode.
In this mode, the functions of the UEFI firmware will be governed by a standard BIOS which can help improve compatibility with older operating systems such as Windows 7, not designed for UEFI.
If your PC has this option, it will be in the UEFI settings screen and you can then disable UEFI and never see it again.
Changing the system time
A built-in clock is generally included in the BIOS; in UEFI the time is there but it does not change.
However, it is sufficient to change the time in the system to change it also at the UEFI firmware level.
Access Hardware Information
The UEFI settings screen may have the ability to view information about the hardware inside the computer and its temperatures.
If not, you can always use a program like Speccy to check your computer hardware.
Change hardware settings
The BIOS has always offered a number of hardware settings such as, for example, overclocking the CPU and increasing its power, optimizing RAM timing, video memory configuration, and more.
These options may also be present in the UEFI firmware even if it is not said and depends on the motherboard.
Even if the access method to UEFI has changed as well as the boot from USB stick, for new PCs it is not that the situation is so different from before and, indeed, they have less and less options and customization options, so much so that in Windows 8 tablets UEFI is very lackluster and only linked to SecureBoot.
