Almost any modern PC user knows that sometimes, instead of the operating system, it is extremely necessary to change some parameters of the BIOS / UEFI primary input / output systems to configure the computer. Unfortunately, the options installed by default do not always meet all the requirements for the correct operation of the equipment, and very often, for example, when installing a new operating system from a removable drive, you can’t get around without user intervention.
But fine-tuning the BIOS / UEFI for many ordinary users may seem somewhat complicated, so it’s worth considering some important points related to installing the required options. Absolutely all the parameters that can be found in primary systems will not be considered (and this is not necessary), but we will dwell only on the most important points, the knowledge and understanding of which will optimize the user computer or laptop to the fullest extent possible.
What are BIOS and UEFI?
Before you begin to consider the main custom options, you should decide what these primary systems are. There are many differences between the BIOS and UEFI in terms of organization of work.
The BIOS is a special chip mounted in the motherboard and equipped with its own software environment (firmware), made in the form of a text DOS-like interface, which is controlled exclusively from a computer keyboard. To move through sections and menu items, use the arrow keys, to enter the desired options or select some parameter value - the enter key, for some other operations - function keys or letter keys, which is most often used to exit the BIOS with confirmation save installed options (F10 + Y).
On the contrary, UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is a kind of operating system with a graphical interface in which it is possible to fine-tune the options the user needs. Many of these systems are Russified, and they are controlled even with a computer mouse. But in terms of precisely the tunable parameters, UEFI compares favorably with the fact that the setting here looks more sophisticated, not to mention the fact that it is UEFI that adds several important parameters that are not available in the BIOS. In particular, this concerns the provision of protection against malicious programs that could theoretically start when the computer is turned on.
Primary system login
To configure BIOS / UEFI, you must first log in to the primary system. But how? Everyone knows that on stationary PCs, the Del key is most often used to perform such actions.
But on laptops recently, manufacturers themselves have set the use of other keys or combinations based on function keys in combination, for example, with the Fn or Esc button. On some models, you can even find special buttons on the keyboard panel (as on Sony VAIO laptops) or additionally called boot menus.
Basic parameters and appearance of BIOS / UEFI
Now let's go directly to the BIOS / UEFI setup. As a rule, the options set by default are usually not recommended to be changed, but reconfiguring them at your discretion is quite simple.
As for the main sections and the parameters presented in them, the UEFI from the BIOS is not very different. True, some developers can find the placement of the main sections not horizontally, but vertically.
How to configure BIOS / UEFI to optimize the processor and RAM
As for the most important parameters, then, first of all, you need to pay attention to optimizing the processor and RAM. How and what to change in BIOS / UEFI. In Windows 7, setting some options will not hurt either.
First, install some kind of informative utility like CPU-Z or Prime95, and then look at the real clock speed of the CPU. It is quite possible, if you compare it with the nominal value indicated in the technical documentation by the manufacturer, the discrepancy will be very significant. It is not always possible to increase the frequency directly in the operating system, since the restriction on such actions is precisely set in the primary system. As an example, consider how to configure BIOS / UEFI on ASUS motherboards.
After entering the primary system, find the Extreme Tweaker section there (on systems from other developers, this may be something like clock speed parameters). Typically, this option is set to Auto (Auto). However, the maximum value is never used. Thus, you can simply set the increased frequency, save the parameters, and check the speed of the computer after rebooting.
However, do not get involved. Best of all, immediately launch the above utilities and check the threshold for raising the temperature of the processor to a critical point. If it is exceeded, it is better to set a lower value or refuse acceleration at all. The same goes for RAM.
Hard disk controller parameters in BIOS / UEFI: how to install Windows 7 and higher?
One of the most important parameters is setting the operation mode of the SATA hard disk controller. Unfortunately, by default this option is set correctly. Since the primary UEFI system is designed to work in conjunction with 64-bit operating systems and partitions of the hard disk with the GPT style, when installing the same Windows 7 or systems of a rank higher, error messages are often issued.
For the correct installation of the system in the Advanced section, you need to find the parameters of the SATA controller and set the use of AHCI mode instead of IDE.
Features of Secure Boot Mode
This option has appeared in primary systems relatively recently. Its main purpose is to block all third-party processes in order to increase the level of security. Because of this, it can be impossible even to boot from removable media.
To deactivate safe boot, you must use either the Security section, which can be presented in the Main menu, or find an item like Launch CSM. In the first case, the Secure Boot parameter is set to Disabled or Off. In the second, Launch CSM (Enabled) mode is activated.
Note! Disabling Safe Boot mode is far from possible on all devices and not on all UEFI modifications. Even a reset does not help, since this option is active by default (and even paired with the TPM module). In this situation, the safest solution is to change the firmware, which will be discussed later.
Configuring start from removable media and the requirements for flash drives
Another important parameter is setting the loading order. Apparently, many people remember that in the BIOS these were options like Boot Sequence or Boot Device Priority, in which the required media was installed first in the queue (1 st Boot Device).
The BIOS / UEFI setting is no different in this regard, and the main section is usually called simply Boot or Boot Order. However, if there are two distributions on the same flash drive (for 32-bit and 64-bit modifications of the same system), then among the boot devices two media can be shown, one of which is marked with the EFI prefix.
How to install windows 7? UEFI / BIOS, as already clear, gives a hint for choosing a boot device. In the case of a 32-bit system, the drive with the usual name is selected, and for 64-bit operating systems, the drive marked with the above prefix is used. But modern primary systems of the latest generations usually recognize the right device on their own, so that the user can not particularly worry about it.
But the correct creation of a bootable USB flash drive with the desired distribution is better to take care of in advance. In order not to deal with the installation of the necessary options when recording the image of the future OS onto the media, it is recommended to use automated applications like Rufus. In this program, simply select the desired image file and the connected media, after which the necessary parameters (including those related to the file system used in formatting) will be set automatically. The user needs to pay attention only to the volume of the flash drive (for Windows 7, the capacity should be about 4 GB, for systems with a rank higher - at least 8 GB).
Note! Keep in mind that if you are installing Windows from under UEFI, the file system on the USB flash drive must be FAT32 (UEFI does not work with NTFS at all).
The nuances of including components of equipment
Finally, briefly dwell on the activation of the equipment installed on the computer. It happened to you that some component did not work, and when viewing the information in the “Task Manager”, a notification was displayed that the device was disconnected, but it was simply impossible to turn it on through RMB?
The reason is simple! The equipment is disabled in the primary system. To enable it, you will have to go into the settings of the primary system, then find the hardware section in the UEFI interface (it can be represented in the Advanced settings or in the form of the Onboard Devices submenu), find the disabled component there and activate it using the Enabled or On parameter setting (more often In total, such actions apply to the inclusion of USB ports built into laptop cameras, to change sound cards, if there are several, etc.).
Reset, update and flash BIOS / UEFI
Finally, we will consider issues related to updating the firmware of primary BIOS / UEFI systems and resetting to factory settings. The reset is performed almost exactly the same as in the BIOS (for this, similar sections are used like Load Setup Defaults). But installing the new firmware exactly in UEFI, if you compare these actions with similar procedures in the BIOS, is generally elementary.
It was in the BIOS that it was necessary to look for the update section, write the firmware to the USB flash drive, then perform a lot of operations to select the necessary software, etc. You can update the UEFI software environment directly from under Windows. After downloading the firmware file, you just need to run it as administrator, and all other operations will be performed when the computer device is rebooted without user intervention. But you need to download the firmware that exactly matches your modification, otherwise you can only achieve that the entire computer system will stop working.
To search, the easiest way is to directly contact the official website of the manufacturer of the motherboard or a specific laptop model. You can determine the motherboard marking and the current BIOS / UEFI firmware version either through system information, or through the command line, or through the DirectX dialog, or using special informative utilities like Speecy, AIDA64, SSU and the like. Some developers add their own proprietary utilities to UEFI to upgrade directly to the primary system.