Boot selection button on an HP laptop. How to enter the Boot Menu on a laptop and computer? The boot menu on Acer opens by pressing the F12 button
Sometimes it becomes necessary to boot a computer (or laptop - there is no difference) bypassing the installed operating system, from external media: CD/DVD disks or flash drives. These can be so-called LiveCD or other utilities for recovery, testing and other needs.
1. Insert the flash drive into the USB connector or install the disk into the drive. In the case of a disk drive, you can only open it while the computer is running (we won’t talk about the method using a needle or pin).
2. Turn on the computer. A window appears with a splash screen (usually the motherboard logo) and at the bottom of the screen, as a rule, it will be written which key you need to press on the keyboard to download Bios And get to the Boot Menu. You need to have time to press the desired key before the operating system starts loading. Otherwise, you will have to restart your computer and try again.
Advice: Press the desired key repeatedly as soon as the monitor screen lights up when you turn it on.
If you need to perform a one-time boot operation from external media, you can use the quick Boot Menu (the settings will not be remembered). If you plan to boot from disks and flash drives regularly, you can configure the Bios. I don’t recommend doing this to boot from flash drives, because then when you start the system, every time you start, it will first try to boot from the flash drives (if you forgot to remove them), and only then access your hard drive. This will take additional time when turning on the computer and loading the operating system. This was a lyrical digression, let's return to practical actions.
In most cases, on motherboards from different manufacturers, the start buttons Bios And Boot Menu different.
3.1. For launch Boot Menu Usually one of the keys on the top row of the keyboard is used. Most often: Esc, F1, F2, F7, F11, F12 .
The Boot Menu looks something like this:
The list shows all the media from which you can try to boot: floppy drives, hard drives, flash drives (in this case HL-DT-STDVDRAM GT40N- this is a disk drive and WDC WD5000BPVT-60HXZT3 - hard drive, if you insert a flash drive, then it will appear in this list). Using the arrows on the keyboard, select the desired media and press Enter. The download will begin from the specified media, but our choice will not be remembered. If you need to download again, the operation will have to be repeated.
3.2. If for some reason you were unable to boot from a disk or flash drive using the description from paragraph 3.1., then proceed to Bios settings.
The most common keys used for Bios downloads also the keys of the top row of the keyboard: Del, F2, Esc, F10, F12 .
We get to Bios. The figure shows one of the options for its appearance. The interface on different motherboards may differ, but the essence of the required settings remains the same.
Finding the section Boot(or Boot Menu). Go to it by pressing the arrow keys - left-right - and press Enter, to expand the section.
Select with arrows Boot Option #1(may be called First Boot Priority or similar) and press Enter. A selection window opens. Here we indicate which device we want to boot from first. Select and click Enter .
Similarly, you can assign a device from which we will boot in the second place, etc.
If you don’t find yours in the list of devices (for example, if you are going to boot from a flash drive, and the computer decides that it is another hard drive). Then you should go to the section Hard Drive Priorities. All hard drives will be listed there, and you can set the boot order for them in the same way.
When all the necessary changes have been made, click F10 (which actually calls the command Save and Exit - Save and Exit) and confirm saving the settings by selecting Yes(sometimes you need to enter a letter y from the keyboard).
That's all. Good luck!
Good day everyone.
When installing Windows (for example), it is very often necessary to select boot media other than the hard drive. This can be done in two ways:
1) Go to the BIOS and change the boot queue (i.e. put the flash drive in the boot queue before the HDD - this way the PC will first check the flash drive for boot entries, and only then the hard drive);
2) Call the Boot Menu and select the specific media to boot at the moment. In my opinion, this option is even better than the first: it’s faster and you don’t need to go back and forth into the BIOS to change the boot queue.
To enter the BIOS (call Boot Menu) in most cases the following keys are used: F2, Del, Esc, F12 (depending on the device manufacturer). The button must be pressed immediately after turning on the computer (you can do it several times so as not to miss the right moment.
By the way, if you look closely at the first screen, which is visible immediately after turning on the computer, there is often a button written on it to enter the necessary settings (call up the menu). An example in the screenshot below.
Rice. 1. Dual Bios. DEL button - enters BIOS settings, F12 button - Calls Boot Menu.
Table No. 1: hot keys for computers
To use the table, you need to know what motherboard you have and the BIOS version. There are several ways to find out, here are the fastest:
A simple free program that will tell you a lot about your hardware. For example, you can find out information about: processor (CPU), RAM (Ram), motherboard (Motherboard), video card (Graphics), HDD drives, SSD (Storage), etc. In addition, you can find out and control the temperature online main components: hard drive, video card, processor.
A screenshot of the operation of this utility is shown in Fig. 2.
Rice. 2. Speccy - obtaining information about the motherboard
Table No. 1
| Motherboard | BIOS version | Hotkey | Which menu will be open |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acer | Del | Enter Setup | |
| F12 | Boot Menu | ||
| ASRock | AMI | F2 or DEL | run Setup |
| F6 | Instant Flash | ||
| F11 | Boot Menu | ||
| TAB | switch Screen | ||
| Asus | Phoenix Award | DEL | BIOS Setup |
| TAB | Display BIOS POST Message | ||
| F8 | Boot Menu | ||
| Alt+F2 | Asus EZ Flash 2 | ||
| F4 | Asus Core Unlocker | ||
| BioStar | Phoenix Award | F8 | Enable System Configuration |
| F9 | Select Booting Device after POST | ||
| DEL | Enter SETUP | ||
| ChainTech | Award | DEL | Enter SETUP |
| ALT+F2 | Enter AWDFLASH | ||
| ECS (Elite Group) | AMI | DEL | Enter SETUP |
| F11 | BBS POPUP | ||
| FoxConn (WinFast) | TAB | POST Screen | |
| DEL | SETUP | ||
| ESC | Boot Menu | ||
| GigaByte | Award | ESC | Skip memory test |
| DEL | Enter SETUP/Q-Flash | ||
| F9 | Xpress Recovery Xpress Recovery 2 | ||
| F12 | Boot Menu | ||
| Intel | AMI | F2 | Enter SETUP |
Table No. 2: hot keys (Bios/Boot Menu, etc.) for laptops
Note: on modern laptops, the key combination in Windows also works: hold down the SHIFT button + select the restart button with the mouse.
The Boot Menu is a small window in which, using the mouse (arrow keys on the keyboard), you can select the device from which to boot. An example of such a menu is shown in Fig. 3.
Depending on the manufacturer of your device, the menu may differ slightly, but the principle of operation is the same everywhere.
Table No. 2
| Laptop manufacturer | BIOS version | Hotkey | Function/menu call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acer | Phoenix | F2 | Enter Setup |
| F12 | Boot Menu (Change Boot Device,Multi Boot Selection Menu) | ||
| Alt+F10 | D2D Recovery (disk-to-disk system recovery) | ||
| Asus | AMI | F2 | Enter Setup |
| ESC | Popup Menu | ||
| F4 | Easy Flash | ||
| Phoenix Award | DEL | BIOS Setup | |
| F8 | Boot Menu | ||
| Benq | Phoenix | F2 | BIOS Setup |
| Dell | Phoenix,Aptio | F2 | Setup |
| F12 | Boot Menu | ||
| eMachines (Acer) | Phoenix | F12 | Boot Menu |
| Fujitsu Siemens | AMI | F2 | BIOS Setup |
| F12 | Boot Menu | ||
| Gateway (Acer) | Phoenix | Click mouse or Enter | Menu |
| F2 | BIOS Settings | ||
| F10 | Boot Menu | ||
| F12 | PXE Boot | ||
| HP (Hewlett-Packard)/Compaq | Insyde | ESC | Startup Menu |
| F1 | System Information | ||
| F2 | System Diagnostics | ||
| F9 | Boot Device Options | ||
| F10 | BIOS Setup | ||
| F11 | System Recovery | ||
| Enter | Continue Startup | ||
| Next | F1 | Calling Boot Menu | |
| F2 | BIOS setup | ||
| Lenovo (IBM) | Phoenix SecureCore Tiano | F2 | Setup |
| F12 | MultiBoot Menu | ||
| MSI (Micro Star) | *** | DEL | Setup |
| F11 | Boot Menu | ||
| TAB | Show POST screen | ||
| F3 | Recovery | ||
| Packard Bell (Acer) | Phoenix | F2 | Setup |
| F12 | Boot Menu | ||
| Toshiba | Phoenix | Esc,F1,F2 | Enter Setup |
| Toshiba Satellite A300 | F12 | Bios |
Table No. 3: recovery from a hidden partition (for laptops)
Most modern laptops have a built-in special hidden partition with the ability to restore the Windows OS using a “pair” of keys (there is no need to prepare a bootable USB flash drive, download ISO images from Windows, etc.).
As a rule, to launch the recovery function, after turning on the laptop, just press one key (F9, for example, on Asus laptops). Next, a window will appear in which you need to follow the instructions of the recovery wizard.
Note: when restoring information, the system drive “C:\” is often formatted and all information is deleted from it. Make a copy of important data from it in advance.
Rice. 4. ACER laptop - recovery service utility
Table No. 3
| Laptop manufacturer | Button combination | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Acer | Alt+F10 | First you need to enter the laptop's Bios and enable the D2D Recovery function. The default password in the recovery system is 000000 or AIM1R8. |
| Asus | F9 | |
| Dell Inspiron | Ctrl+F11 | |
| Fujitsu Siemens | F8 | |
| HP | F10, F11 | |
| LG | F11 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad | F11 | |
| MSI | F3 | |
| Packard Bell | F10 | |
| RoverBook | Alt | |
| Samsung | F4 | |
| Sony VAIO | F10 | |
| Toshiba | F8, F11 |
PS
The tables will be updated (over time). For additions on the topic of the article - thank you very much in advance. Good luck to all!
What is boot menu
Probably everyone knows that in order to boot from a disk drive or flash drive you need to set the order of devices to boot in the BIOS. For example, to install Windows XP from a disk onto a computer, you first need to boot from this very disk. To do this, you need to set the disk drive as the first boot device in the BIOS.
However, you don’t have to go into the BIOS and change nothing there. All you need to do is immediately after turning on the computer, press the boot menu key and in the list of devices that appears, select the one from which to boot. Selecting a boot device in the boot menu has no effect on BIOS settings. That is, this menu affects specifically a specific boot, and if you do not call it afterwards, the computer or laptop will boot as configured in the BIOS.
How to call the boot menu - keys for calling the BIOS boot menu
So, we figured out what the boot menu is in BIOS. Now I’ll tell you what hotkeys you use to call it. There is no standard here. It all depends on the manufacturer of the PC or laptop motherboard and on the version of the BIOS installed there. For example, calling the boot menu asus is different from calling the boot menu on an acer or sony vaio laptop.
In most cases, the key to call up the boot device selection menu is F12 , but some manufacturers use their own key combinations. Particular attention can be paid to the boot menu Samsung and HP. To get to the boot menu of a Samsung laptop you need to press Esc (just one time!). If you click on Esc at least twice, the boot menu will close before it can open. Therefore, you need to calculate and accurately hit the time by pressing the boot menu hotkey. This can be quite difficult to do without some skill.
Calling the boot menu on HP laptops is also specific. To do this, you first need to click Esc , after which the laptop service menu will appear. In it we already select the desired item (by pressing the hot key). To call the HP boot menu, press F9 .
For some manufacturers, the device to be loaded into the menu is selected using the cursor keys; for others, you need to press a key with a number indicating the serial number of the device in the list.
Below is a table that is easy to understand. This is a table of correspondence between hotkeys for calling up the menu for selecting the boot device, motherboard manufacturer and BIOS.
Yes, and one last clarification. In some cases, boot menu hotkeys are disabled by default in the BIOS. To be able to use the boot menu, you need to enable it in the BIOS settings. Typically this function is called F12 Boot Menu . To enable this feature, you must set its value to Enabled .
In addition to the keys for calling the boot menu, the table shows keys for entering the BIOS.
| Manufacturer/device | BIOS version | Boot menu key | Key to enter BIOS |
| Mat. MSI boards | AMI | F11 | Del |
| Mat. Gigabyte boards | Award | F12 | Del |
| Mat. Asus boards | AMI | F8 | Del |
| Mat. Intel boards | Phoenix Award | Esc | Del |
| Mat. AsRock boards | AMI | F11 | Del |
| Asus laptops | Esc | F2 | |
| Acer laptops | Inside H2O | F12 | F2 |
| Acer laptops | Phoenix | F12 | F2 |
| Dell laptops | Dell | F12 | F2 |
| HP laptops | Esc -> F9 | Esc -> F10 | |
| Lenovo laptops | AMI | F12 | F2 |
| Packard Bell laptops | Phoenix Secure Core | F12 | F2 |
| Samsung laptops | Phoenix Secure Core | Esc (once, pressing again exits the menu) |
F2 |
| Sony Vaio laptops | Inside H2O | F11 | F2 |
| Toshiba laptops | Phoenix | F12 | F2 |
| Toshiba laptops | Inside H2O | F12 | F2 |
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 can be useful if you need to boot from a Live CD or bootable flash drive to install Windows and more - it is not necessary to change the boot order in the BIOS; as a rule, selecting the desired boot device in the Boot Menu once is enough. On some laptops, the same menu also gives access to the recovery partition of the laptop.
First, I will write general information on entering the Boot Menu, and nuances for laptops with pre-installed Windows 10 and 8.1. And then - specifically for each brand: for laptops Asus, Lenovo, Samsung and others, motherboards Gigabyte, MSI, Intel, etc.
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 need to 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, which I will write about below (sometimes information about what you need to press to call up 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 (installing Windows, checking for viruses), then it is better to use the Boot Menu rather than install, for example, .
In the Boot Menu you will see a list of all devices connected to the computer from which booting is potentially possible at the moment (hard drives, flash drives, DVDs and CDs), as well as, possibly, an option to network boot the computer and start restoring the laptop or computer from the backup partition .
Features of entering the Boot Menu in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 (8)
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. Entering the Boot Menu on them for different BIOS versions is done by pressing the F12 key when turning it on.
However, on Acer laptops there is one feature - 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, 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, 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
- Asus motherboards - F8
- MSI Motherboards - 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 the latest versions of Windows, which I wrote about higher).
Boot Menu is a menu that allows you to select the device that the system will process first. This function is actively used to replace operating systems and to carry out diagnostics, such as RAM with MemTest.
This function is extremely convenient, as it is intended for a one-time launch of the equipment as the main carrier. This same function is necessary when installing Windows, since it does not require changing boot priorities in the BIOS.
After completing the steps required to enter the menu, all devices that are currently connected to the computer and with which the program is potentially likely to be launched will be displayed.
Unfortunately, there is no single denominator in the matter of entering the described menu, since there is no strict standard in this industry yet. However, there is a dependence of the manufacturer and the actions required to launch the Boot Menu, which will be discussed in detail in the article.
General information on entering the Boot Menu
Boot Menu is used to specify which device the program should be launched from. Of course, the BIOS already has such functionality, but for one-time use, for example a program, it is better to use the boot menu.
An interesting question is how to call up the boot menu on the motherboard because there are no standards in this regard. Each manufacturer uses different options. Most often, a hint appears on how to go to the section. In general, the F8, F9, F11, F12 and Esc buttons are used.
To launch the desired menu, press the key corresponding to your brand of motherboard during system startup. Often several of the above buttons are used. You can get more accurate information by going to the section that corresponds to your computer manufacturer.
There are also slight differences in launching the necessary menu in all-in-one PCs and laptops that have Windows 8 and higher pre-installed.
How to access the boot menu on a netbook? – The situation is complicated by the fact that laptop computers may not use a full shutdown, but hibernate instead. This option is quite justified, as it returns the PC to a working state faster, but is not suitable for entering the menu. You only need to completely turn off the netbook by holding Shift and clicking on “Shutdown”. If this does not help, then you need to configure the “Power Options” section.
Launching Boot Menu in Windows 8, 8.1, 10
The whole point is that personal computers with this configuration most often use hibernation mode instead of the usual shutdown. Often this has a positive effect on the system boot time, and processes launched in the previous work session are restored, but in this case this method is not suitable for us, to do this, use one of the following options:
1. Restart the computer using the appropriate option in the menu, you don’t need to just turn it off with the button and turn it on again, for the reason just described;
2. At the moment when you click on the “Shutdown” button, hold down the Shift key, thanks to this procedure the PC will completely turn off, then press the desired key at the time of startup;
3.You may need to disable Fast Startup.
- Open the Start menu;
- Go to “Control Panel”;
- Select the tile named "Power";
- Follow the link “Actions of the power buttons”;
- Disable the "Quick Launch" item.
Login to Boot Menu for Acer manufacturer
This manufacturer uses the same key to enter the Boot Menu on all versions of computers, all-in-one computers and laptops, this button is F12. The only distinctive feature is the item in the BIOS or UEFI, which includes the necessary handler, that is, nothing will happen until you enable this function, sometimes it works by default, for this:
1.Go to BIOS, for this boot press F2 or Del;
2.Find the “F12 Boot Menu” item;
3.You need to replace the value with “Enabled”;
4.Restart your computer.
After completing these steps, the boot menu should become available by pressing F12.
Boot Menu for Asus
For the vast majority of computers on which this platform is located, you need to press F8 to launch the Boot Menu, but with laptops everything is a little more complicated; there is some division here.
For most Asus laptops, the Esc button is used, but this is more likely for more or less modern PCs, and for models that start with K and most with X, F8 can be used.
Logging into the Boot Menu on Lenovo laptops
It’s quite easy to go to the menu of interest thanks to the F12 key, it is used in all models. This situation also applies to monoblocks from the same manufacturer. A distinctive feature is a special button located on the case, next to the standard switch, usually a circular arrow is drawn on it; by clicking on it, you can get to the menu of special system startup options.
Information on other manufacturers
For most manufacturers, there is no point in describing instructions for going to the Boot Menu, since the only difference is the required key, and everything else works according to the standard scheme, so:
- Dell, Toshiba laptops and Gigabyte motherboards – F12;
- Samsung laptops and Intel motherboards – Esc;
- HP laptops – F9;
- AsRock and MSI Motherboards – F
This should be enough to launch the Boot Menu for any computer configuration; if you have a little-known manufacturer, you should use the instructions, which should be presented on the manufacturer’s website.
If you still have questions on the topic “How to enter the Boot Menu on a laptop and computer?”, you can ask them in the comments
