Entering the Bios of a computer is used, in 99% of cases, to change the option of the boot order of the computer in order to force the computer to load a program or other system from a USB stick or from an external hard disk, or to boot the PC from a CD or DVD player, instead of loading the operating system from the hard disk. Often in the guides there is talk of changing the boot order of the computer to, for example, install another system, to load a portable operating system other than the current one which can be Linux or a backup system or an antivirus.
I had already written a guide on how to enter the BIOS and, in this article, we see how to change the boot order .
this process may look different on each computer, because the BIOS version you find depends on the motherboard and the computer model, but the options are the same, even if they are sometimes written differently.
To access the BIOS, you must restart the computer and press a specific key on the keyboard at the beginning of the boot process, when a black screen appears with the writing.
On the screen, during boot, you can see a message saying " Press DEL to enter setup " or " Press F2 to access the BIOS ".
This message is always written in English so it is important to know that DEL is the Del key on the Italian keyboard and that Setup is the Bios.
In some cases it may also require another key, for example F1, Esc, or Ctrl + Alt + Esc, depending on the computer model and brand or motherboard in the case of assembled PCs.
Once inside the BIOS you will see a menu written in English in which you can move using the arrows on the keyboard and pressing the Enter key for selection.
In each BIOS one of the sections is that of the Boot which can be a separate card or an option under another card that, in this case, must be found.
When you move on the various options, generally, on the right side of the screen you can see instructions on the keys to press to make changes.
After finding the Boot options, you should see an order with the first, second and third choices.
Select the first one, press Enter to change it and choose the media with which you want to start the computer .
In some types of BIOS you have to use the + and - keys to move between the devices in the list of who to start first.
For USB sticks and external hard drives, make sure that the device is connected to the PC port before entering the BIOS otherwise some option will not appear.
Never an option like "USB Drive" appears in the list; typically the device name appears.
The main hard disk is also called by its name and brand which, therefore, it is important to recognize.
In the end, after changing the boot order of the computer, press the indicated key to save the settings and exit the BIOS .
If you press ESC you go back to the main menu and then go to the Exit tab to save.
Make sure to always select the "Save and Exit" option otherwise the changes are not saved and everything remains as before.
Depending on the boot order chosen, when the PC restarts, a bootable system is first searched for on the CD player or on the USB stick, then, if nothing is found, the operating system is loaded from the hard disk as normal.
If there was nothing on the CD or USB stick, the PC may show a black screen.
On some computers it is not necessary to enter the BIOS to change the boot order because there is a separate option.
Always on the black screen that appears for a second when you turn on the computer you can find an indication where it says " Press the key (usually it is F11 or F12) to enter the boot menu " ( Press F11 key for boot menu ) .
This allows you to choose which device to use for booting the computer, only on that occasion, without changing the boot order permanently.
On new computers, the BIOS has been replaced with a different system of options called UEFI, much easier to use and understand.
Although the keys to be pressed and the graphics may change depending on the computer model, the process is similar in all computers that use the traditional BIOS.
For more information, see the post that explains what BIOS is and what it is used for .
In another article it was explained how to boot the computer from USB even if the option does not exist in the BIOS .
