Power up the computer and look closely at the very first screen. You are looking for words like Press <F2> for settings or Press <F12> for Boot menu. It could be ESC, F2, F6, F8, F10, F12 or DEL for delete.
KeyboardYou may have to press Fn key at the bottom of your keyboard. So the combination could be Fn+F2 or Fn+F12. It depends upon the computer. When you find out which key combination gets you into BIOS then remember it.
Boot MenuIf you are lucky you will see this menu. You get a list of boot devices. Here we see USB, Hard Drive, CDROM drive and network boot options.
Use the arrow keys to select CDROM or USB. Follow prompts.
You have to get into something we call the BIOS Basic Input Output System of the computer. Today it’s a simplified operating system called UEFI but we still call it BIOS. It’s not always an easy thing to do.
This computer offers a Boot Override. Just select a boot device and enter.
I keep forgettingSometimes a dual boot Windows/Linux computer will have UEFI/BIOS settings as one of the boot options in the GRUB menu. Look for it and you get right in.
Usually, we have to set the Boot Order Priorities. The computer will attempt to boot from each device on the list moving to the next device if it does not work.
You will have to Save changes for them to take effect. Bootable devices include both Windows disks and Linux.
Secure Boot is a feature that stops the computer from starting with CDs, DVDs and USB keys. You want to turn it off if you can find it. It restricts booting to Windows and Linux with trusted certificate keys. This is one reason booting will skip a bootable DVD or USB.
Try this. Start up Windows then select restart while holding down the shift key. You will see new pages and you are looking for Advanced Options. Select UEFI Firmware Settings and follow prompts.
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