{"id":2478,"date":"2014-09-21T06:11:21","date_gmt":"2014-09-21T11:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/?p=2478"},"modified":"2022-02-05T16:54:21","modified_gmt":"2022-02-05T22:54:21","slug":"boot-usb-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/boot-usb-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"Booting from a USB drive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This guide explains <strong>how to boot from a USB flash drive<\/strong> and what configurations you need to have.<\/p>\n<p>If you have a new computer model (usually with Windows 8 or Windows 10) that has UEFI\/EFI, make sure that you read <a href=\"#UEFIEFI_configuration\">UEFI\/EFI configuration<\/a> before you proceed to <a href=\"#How_to_boot_from_a_USB_flash_drive\">How to boot from a USB flash drive<\/a> below.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re looking to boot from a CD or DVD, follow the <a href=\"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/booting-from-a-cd-or-dvd\/\">Booting from a CD or DVD guide<\/a> instead.<\/p>\n<h2>How to boot from a USB flash drive<\/h2>\n<p>In order for your computer to boot from a USB flash drive, you need to make sure that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the USB flash drive is bootable<\/li>\n<li>the USB flash drive is prioritized in the Boot devices menu of your BIOS\/UEFI panel. For more information, go to <a href=\"#To_access_BIOSUEFI\">To access BIOS\/UEFI<\/a><\/li>\n<li>on certain computer models (mostly ultrabooks) with a fast boot option, you&#8217;ll need to disable fast boot before you can boot from a USB<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Instructions<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Method #1 &#8211;<\/strong> Follow these steps to boot from a USB:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Insert the USB flash drive. It&#8217;s recommended that you remove all other drives, memory cards, printers, scanners etc.<\/li>\n<li>Reboot the computer<\/li>\n<li>Press any key to boot from an external media, if you are prompted to do so<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Method #2 &#8211;<\/strong> If you are not prompted with this type of message, you should be prompted to do a certain combination of keys to select a device to boot from:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Insert the USB flash drive. As above, remove all other drives, memory cards, printers etc.<\/li>\n<li>Reboot the computer<\/li>\n<li>Access the <strong>Boot Menu<\/strong>.To find the combination of keys for your specific PC manufacturers, go to <a href=\"#To_access_Boot_Menu\">To access Boot Menu<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Choose the USB item and hit <kbd>Enter<\/kbd><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img class=\"colorbox-2478\"  loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wiki\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2013\/08\/bootmenu.png\" alt=\"BIOS boot menu option\" width=\"300\" height=\"275\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">BIOS boot menu option<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Boot Menu can have different names for the external media:<\/p>\n<pre>1. +Removable Devices\r\n2. +Hard Drive\r\n3. CD-ROM Drive<\/pre>\n<p><strong>Method #3 &#8211;<\/strong> If none of the above work, check that the BIOS\/UEFI settings are correct and you can &#8220;move&#8221; the USB item at the top of the list in the Boot Device Select Menu.<\/p>\n<p>With this method, you&#8217;ll be forcing your computer to always boot from a USB flash drive first and then from your hard drive. If a USB drive isn&#8217;t available, the computer will boot from the hard drive.<\/p>\n<p>Usually, a <strong>&#8220;Removable Devices&#8221;<\/strong> or a <strong>&#8220;USB-HDD&#8221;<\/strong> would be the flash drive you&#8217;re looking for.<\/p>\n<p>This list can look something like this:<\/p>\n<pre>1st Drive [SATA]\r\n2nd Drive [USB:Flash Drive]<\/pre>\n<p>Depending on your computer model and BIOS version, you can hit <kbd>Enter<\/kbd> on the <em>1st Drive<\/em> option to open the menu and select the USB drive item instead.<\/p>\n<p>Doing these steps would make the list above into something like this:<\/p>\n<pre>1st Drive [USB:Flash Drive]\r\n2nd Drive [SATA]<\/pre>\n<p>Make sure you save the changes before you exit.<\/p>\n<h2>Shortcut keys<\/h2>\n<p>Depending on the PC manufacturer, you need to press different keys or combination of keys to access the Boot Menu or the BIOS\/UEFI menu.<\/p>\n<p>The Boot Menu is the Windows&#8217; menu that lets you select the device you want to boot from: HDD, USB, CD-ROM etc.<\/p>\n<p>If the Boot Menu isn&#8217;t available, you can force your computer to boot from an external and removable media (such as a USB flash drive, CD or DVD) by configuring your BIOS\/UEFI settings.<\/p>\n<p>Newer computers models with UEFI\/EFI need to have the legacy mode enabled (or disabling the secure boot). If you have computer with UEFI\/EFI, go to <a href=\"#UEFIEFI_configuration\">UEFI\/EFI configuration<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Your USB flash drive won&#8217;t boot if the USB flash drive isn&#8217;t bootable. Go to <a href=\"#How_to_boot_from_a_USB_flash_drive\">How to boot from a USB flash drive<\/a> to see the steps you need to do.<\/p>\n<h3>To access Boot Menu<\/h3>\n<p>To access the Boot Menu, find your PC manufacturer below to see what combination of keys you need:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Acer:<\/strong> <kbd>Esc<\/kbd>, <kbd>F12<\/kbd> or <kbd>F9<\/kbd>. Most computers models from Acer should work with the <kbd>F12<\/kbd> key.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Asus:<\/strong> <kbd>F8<\/kbd> or <kbd>Esc<\/kbd><\/li>\n<li><strong>Compaq:<\/strong> <kbd>Esc<\/kbd> or <kbd>F9<\/kbd><\/li>\n<li><strong>Dell:<\/strong> <kbd>F12<\/kbd><\/li>\n<li><strong>eMachines:<\/strong> <kbd>F12<\/kbd><\/li>\n<li><strong>Fujitsu:<\/strong> <kbd>F12<\/kbd><\/li>\n<li><strong>HP:<\/strong> <kbd>Esc<\/kbd> or <kbd>F9<\/kbd>. If Esc works, you may need to press F9 afterwards: <kbd>Esc<\/kbd> + <kbd>F9<\/kbd>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lenovo:<\/strong> <kbd>F8<\/kbd>, <kbd>F10<\/kbd> or <kbd>F12<\/kbd>. On computer models with the <kbd>Novo<\/kbd> button, try pressing the Novo button. Other key combinations: <kbd>Fn<\/kbd> + <kbd>F11<\/kbd>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Samsung:<\/strong> <kbd>Esc<\/kbd> or <kbd>F2<\/kbd> or <kbd>F12<\/kbd>. Users of ultrabooks from Samsung should disable the fast boot option in BIOS\/UEFI before they boot from a USB device. To disable the fast boot, go to <a href=\"#To_access_BIOSUEFI\">To access BIOS\/UEFI &gt; Samsung<\/a> and find the combination of keys you need to press to access this.<\/li>\n<li><strong>VAIO:<\/strong> <kbd>Esc<\/kbd>, <kbd>F10<\/kbd> or <kbd>F11<\/kbd>. On some Sony VAIO computers models you may need to press the <kbd>Assist<\/kbd> button.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Toshiba:<\/strong> <kbd>F12<\/kbd><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>To access BIOS\/UEFI<\/h3>\n<p>To access the BIOS\/UEFI, find your PC manufacturer below to see what combinations of key you need:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Acer:<\/strong> <kbd>Del<\/kbd> or <kbd>F2<\/kbd> key. Most models should work with the F2 key.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Asus:<\/strong> <kbd>Delete<\/kbd> or <kbd>Del<\/kbd> key<\/li>\n<li><strong>Compaq:<\/strong> <kbd>F10<\/kbd><\/li>\n<li><strong>Dell:<\/strong> <kbd>F2<\/kbd><\/li>\n<li><strong>eMachines:<\/strong> <kbd>Tab<\/kbd> or <kbd>Del<\/kbd><\/li>\n<li><strong>Fujitsu:<\/strong> <kbd>F2<\/kbd><\/li>\n<li><strong>HP:<\/strong> <kbd>Esc<\/kbd>, <kbd>F10<\/kbd>, <kbd>F11<\/kbd>. On certain Pavilion models, you may need to press <kbd>F1<\/kbd> instead.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lenovo:<\/strong> <kbd>F1<\/kbd> or <kbd>F2<\/kbd>. If your computer is a laptop from Lenovo, try searching for a small button next to the Power button instead.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Samsung:<\/strong> <kbd>F2<\/kbd>. On some ultrabooks models, you may need to press <kbd>F10<\/kbd>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>VAIO:<\/strong> <kbd>F1<\/kbd>, <kbd>F2<\/kbd>, <kbd>F3<\/kbd>. On models with the <strong>Assist<\/strong> button, press <kbd>Assist<\/kbd>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Toshiba:<\/strong> <kbd>F1<\/kbd>, <kbd>F2<\/kbd>, <kbd>F12<\/kbd> or <kbd>Esc<\/kbd>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>UEFI\/EFI configuration<\/h2>\n<p>Windows 8 and Windows 10 computers usually have the new UEFI\/EFI that needs some configuration before you can proceed to boot from a USB flash drive.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re not sure how to access UEFI\/EFI, go to <a href=\"#To_access_BIOSUEFI\">To access BIOS\/UEFI instructions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You need to <strong>disable the secure boot option<\/strong>. Alternatives names can be any of the following, depending on your computer model:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Legacy Support.<\/strong> If you have Legacy Support listed, make sure it&#8217;s On or Enabled.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Legal CSM.<\/strong> If you have Legacy CSM listed, make sure it&#8217;s On or Enabled.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Launch CSM.<\/strong> If you have Launch CSM listed, make sure it&#8217;s On or Enabled.<\/li>\n<li><strong>CSM.<\/strong> If you have CSM, make sure it&#8217;s On or Enabled.<\/li>\n<li><strong>UEFI\/Legacy Boot.<\/strong> If you have a UEFI\/Legacy Boot option, make sure it&#8217;s selected as Both or Legacy Only.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img class=\"colorbox-2478\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wiki\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2014\/05\/ThinkPad-UEFI-Legacy-Boot-Priority-300x226.gif\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Boot Mode.<\/strong> If you have a Boot Mode option listed, make sure Legacy Support is selected.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img class=\"colorbox-2478\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wiki\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2014\/05\/AMI-UEFI-BIOS-Boot-Mode.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Boot Option Filter.<\/strong> If you have a Boot Option Filter option listed, make sure you select Legacy too: UEFI and Legacy, Legacy First, Legacy Only<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img class=\"colorbox-2478\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wiki\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2014\/05\/ASRock-CSM-300x225.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>After you made the changes to disable the secure boot (or enable legacy mode), make sure you save the changes.<\/p>\n<p>This is usually done by clicking the <kbd>F10<\/kbd> key.<\/p>\n<p>For more information on how to enable the legacy mode, read <a href=\"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/enable-legacy-boot-mode\/\">our guide &#8220;Enable Legacy Mode&#8221;<\/a> or the <a href=\"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/disabling-secure-boot\/\">&#8220;Disabling Secure Boot&#8221; guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Troubleshoot<\/h2>\n<h3>HDD is visible, but not USB<\/h3>\n<p>If the HDD option is visible at Boot Menu, but not the USB drive, follow these tips and reboot your computer to try again:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If your computer has multiple USB ports: plug and unplug the flash drive in different ports for each boot you do<\/li>\n<li>If your computer has USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports: try to use the flash drive only on the USB 2.0 port<\/li>\n<li>Make sure you installed all necessary drivers from the PC manufacturers for the Windows version you&#8217;re running<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>USB not booting<\/h3>\n<p>If <a href=\"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/troubleshooting-boot-from-usb\/\">the USB isn&#8217;t booting<\/a>, you need to make sure:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>That the USB is bootable<\/li>\n<li>That you can either select the USB from the Boot Device list or configure BIOS\/UEFI to always boot from a USB drive and then from the hard disk<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>On new computer models with UEFI\/EFI, you also need to know:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>That legacy mode must be enabled (alternative names are: disabling secure boot)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On some ultrabooks models with a <strong>Fast Boot<\/strong> option:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Disable fast boot<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you need further assistance booting from your USB, refer to the following article: <a href=\"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/troubleshooting-boot-from-usb\/\">Troubleshooting Boot from USB<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>More Information<\/h2>\n<h3>Support Links<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/neosmart.net\/EasyRE\/\" title=\"Easy Recovery Essentials\">Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows<\/a> &#8211; our repair and recovery disk.<\/strong><br \/>\n<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s an easy-to-use and automated diagnostics disk. It&#8217;s available for <a href=\"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/blog\/2012\/windows-8-repair-cd-download\/\" title=\"Windows 8\">Windows 8<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/blog\/2009\/windows-7-system-repair-discs\/\" title=\"Windows 7\">Windows 7<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/blog\/2008\/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download\/\" title=\"Windows Vista\">Windows Vista<\/a>. It&#8217;s also available for Windows XP and Windows Server.<\/p>\n<p>Read more at <a href=\"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/blog\/windows-recovery-discs\/\" title=\"Windows Recovery Disks\">Windows Recovery Disks<\/a>.\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/neosmart.net\/forums\/\" title=\"The NeoSmart Support Forums\" rel=\"nofollow\">The NeoSmart Support Forums<\/a>, member-to-member technical support and troubleshooting.<\/li>\n<li>Get a discounted price on replacement setup and installation discs: <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00022PTI4\/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=390957&#038;creativeASIN=B00022PTI4&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=neosmart.tech-20\">Windows XP<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B000HCZ9BG\/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=390957&#038;creativeASIN=B000HCZ9BG&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=neosmart.tech-20\">Windows Vista<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B004Q0PT3I\/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=390957&#038;creativeASIN=B004Q0PT3I&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=neosmart.tech-20\">Windows 7<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B008H3SW4I\/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=390957&#038;creativeASIN=B008H3SW4I&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=neosmart.tech-20\">Windows 8<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Windows-Professional-Bit-OEM-DVD\/dp\/B08HDKTGBL?&#038;linkCode=ll1&#038;tag=neosmart.tech-20&#038;linkId=c1a541f8b3e350a03fcca7c6ce59031f&#038;language=en_US&#038;ref_=as_li_ss_tl\">Windows 10<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Professional-USB-Version-Lifetime-License\/dp\/B09NMGSDNH?&#038;linkCode=ll1&#038;tag=neosmart.tech-20&#038;linkId=614037b88b90bdb1bd4ca287eb7e5108&#038;language=en_US&#038;ref_=as_li_ss_tl\">Windows 11<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Server-Standard-English-Version-New\/dp\/B09NYJS5PX?&#038;linkCode=ll1&#038;tag=neosmart.tech-20&#038;linkId=f43a20a272212a42942364bafaf79e73&#038;language=en_US&#038;ref_=as_li_ss_tl\">Windows Server 2022<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Applicable Systems<\/h3>\n<p>This Windows-related knowledgebase article applies to the following operating systems:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Windows XP (all editions)<\/li>\n<li>Windows Vista (all editions)<\/li>\n<li>Windows 7 (all editions)<\/li>\n<li>Windows 8 (all editions)<\/li>\n<li>Windows 8.1 (all editions)<\/li>\n<li>Windows 10 (all editions)<\/li>\n<li>Windows 11 (all editions)<\/li>\n<li>Windows Server 2003 (all editions)<\/li>\n<li>Windows Server 2008 (all editions)<\/li>\n<li>Windows Server 2012 (all editions)<\/li>\n<li>Windows Server 2016 (all editions)<\/li>\n<li>Windows Server 2019 (all editions)<\/li>\n<li>Windows Server 2022 (all editions)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This guide explains how to boot from a USB flash drive and what configurations you need to have. If you have a new computer model (usually with Windows 8 or Windows 10) that has UEFI\/EFI, make sure that you read UEFI\/EFI configuration before you proceed to How to boot from a USB flash drive below. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":508,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3SlTq-DY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/508"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2478"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5624,"href":"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2478\/revisions\/5624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}