How to set computer boot from USB drive
This document shows you how to set your computer to boot from USB flash drive. You can set your computer to boot from USB flash drive by the following ways.
- Method 1: Boot computer from USB drive with Boot Menu (Recommend)
- Method 2: Set USB drive as first Boot device Priority in BIOS/UEFI
Method 1: Set computer Boot from USB device by Boot Menu
Guide to set your computer boot from USB drive:
Step 1: Insert USB flash drive to computer.
Step 2: Power on or restart computer. When vendor logo appears on screen, press Boot Option Key repeatedly until Boot Option Menu appears. You can find the Boot Option Key for your computer from the following table.
Step 3: When Boot Menu appears, choose USB drive to boot your computer. Tips: Boot Menu may show your USB drive as USB HDD or other name. You can try again to get the right one.
Tips: While your computer is preinstalled with Windows 8/10, sometimes probably you cannot set computer boot from USB drive so easily with boot option key, because UEFI BIOS has replaced traditional BIOS. It seems to be more secured, more fast to boot computer, and maybe you coudn't have enough time to press boot option key when computer logo appears.
Besides, note that this boot menu option may not be present on all UEFI PCs. On some UEFI PCs, you may have to access the UEFI settings screen in a different way - check your PC’s documentation for instructions if you don’t see the button here.
So if this method cannot work for UEFI PCs, please follow method 2, entering UEFI BIOS settings and set USB device as first boot device.
| Mainboard Vendor | Laptop | Desktop computer | |||||
| Brand | Boot Keys | Brand | Boot Keys | Tips | Brand | Boot Keys | Tips |
| Asus | F8 | Lenovo | F12, F10, Novo button, F12+Fn+F11 | Lenovo | F12, F8, F10 | ||
| Gigabyte | F12 | Acer | Esc, F12, F9 | The "F12" must be enabled in BIOS. | HP | F12, Esc | Press Esc, then F9 for Boot Menu. |
| MSI | F11 | Asus | ESC, F8 | Disable "Fast Boot" and "Secure Boot Control" in order to boot from MBR formatted media. | Acer | F12 | |
| Biostar | F9 | HP | ESC, F9 | Press Esc, then F9 for Boot Menu. Select "Patriot Memory" on the Boot Option Menu. | Dell | F12 | |
| Soyo | ESC, F12 | Thinkpad | F12 | First disable "Secure Boot", and choose "UEFI Only" and set CSM as "Yes in "UEFI/Legacy Boot". | Asus | F8 | |
| Colorful | ESC, F11 | Dell | F12 | First disable "Secure Boot" and change "Boot List option" as "Legacy", enable "Load Legacy Option Rom" | Benq | F8 | |
| Intel | F10 | Samsung | F12, Esc, F2 | Must first disable fast boot in BIOS/UEFI to boot from USB drive or use F2 boot menu. | Tsinghua Tongfang | F12 | |
| Onda | F11 | Toshiba | F12 | Change "AHCI" as "complete" in Boot> Advanced> System. | Founder | F12 | |
| UNIKA | ESC | IBM | F12 | Hasee | F12 | ||
| ASL | F10 | Gateway | F12 | Founder | F12 | ||
| Asrock | F11 | Gigabyte | F12 | Haier | F12 | ||
| Foxconn | ESC, F12 | Benq | F9 | Compad | Esc, F9 | ||
| Gamen | F11, F12 | Sony | F11, ESC, F10 | Enable "External Drive Boot" in "Advanced" first. | Fujitsu | F12 | |
| Topstar | F11, F12 | Fujitsu | F12 | The "F12" must be enabled in BIOS. | |||
| Yeston | F8 | MSI | F11 | ||||
| CTHIM | F12 | eMachines | F12 | ||||
| Jetway | ESC | Hasee | F12 | ||||
| Elite | ESC, F11 | Tsinghua Tongfang | F12 | ||||
| Maxsun | ESC | Founder | F12 | ||||
| Haier | F12 | ||||||
| Compad | Esc, F9 | ||||||
Examples:
Example 1. Set Dell laptop or computer boot from USB Drive.
Insert the USB stick into a USB port and start or restart computer. When F12 = Boot Menu appears in the upper-right corner of the screen, press <F12>. When Boot Option Menu appears, choose USB stick to boot from.
Example 2. Set HP laptop to boot from USB flash drive.
Insert USB memory stick to computer and start or restart HP computer. When HP Logo appears on screen, pressF9 to enter BOOT MENU (Boot Device Options), and then choose USB memory stick to boot from.
Example 3. Set Acer laptop to boot from USB flash drive.
Insert USB memory stick to Acer laptop and start or restart Acer laptop. When Acer logo appears on screen, pressF12 to enter Boot Device Options, and then choose USB memory stick to boot from.
Note: For traditional BIOS, follow the examples above to set Dell/HP/Acer laptop boot from USB flash drive is OK. But for UEFI BIOS, some settings should be disabled or enabled first in BIOS (follow "Tips" in above table ), then we can set laptop or desktop boot from USB flash drive successfully with boot keys.
Method 2: Set USB drive as first Boot device Priority in BIOS/UEFI
If you choose this way to set your computer to boot from USB drive, you just need 3 or 4 steps. But because of differences between traditional BIOS and UEFI BIOS, this method will talk about how to set USB drive as first boot device in BIOS Setup in two parts.
For new computers pre-installed with Windows 8/10:
Step 1: Start computer (Eg. Asus) and press UEFI key to enter UEFI BIOS Utility window.
Step 2: Click Exit/Advanced button in the upper right side of window.
Step 3: Choose Advanced Mode.
Step 4: Choose Boot in sub-menu.
Step 5:Turn to "1st Boot Device" by PgUp and PgDown buttons, and press Enter.
Step 6: Select USB flash drive in pop-up dialog. Press Enter. It will be shown in "1st Boot Device" option.
Step 7: Press F10 to save changes and exit.
For older computers with traditonal BIOS:
Step 1. Insert USB flash drive to the computer.
Step 2. When power on or restart your computer, press BIOS Key to enter BIOS Setup Utility.
Step 3. Enter Boot option tab, and go to Boot device Priority item. On Boot device Priority item, choose USB drive or USB HDD as the first boot device.
Step 4. Press F10 to save the BIOS setting, and restart computer.
Example for setting traditional computer boot from USB drive:
1. Phoenix Award BIOS
1-1 Press Del to enter BIOS setting screen while powering on computer.
1-2 Choose Advanced BIOS Features.
1-3 On the Advanced BIOS Features screen, choose Hard Disk Boot Priority.
1-4 Move USB device to the first place of Hard Disk Boot Priority by pressing “+” or “-“, press ESC back to the previous step.
1-5 Select First Boot Device.
There is no option such as USB-HDD, USB-ZIP, so choose Hard Disk as the first boot device.
1-1 Press Del to enter BIOS setting screen while powering on computer.
1-2 Choose Advanced BIOS Features.
1-3 On the Advanced BIOS Features screen, choose Hard Disk Boot Priority.
1-4 Move USB device to the first place of Hard Disk Boot Priority by pressing “+” or “-“, press ESC back to the previous step.
1-5 Select First Boot Device.
There is no option such as USB-HDD, USB-ZIP, so choose Hard Disk as the first boot device.
2. Award BIOS (older)
2-1 Press Del and enter BIOS setting screen while powering on computer.
2-2 Choose Advanced BIOS Features.
2-3 On the Advanced BIOS Features screen, choose Hard Disk Boot Priority.
2-4 Move USB device to the first place of Hard Disk Boot Priority by pressing "+" or "-", press ESC back to the above step.
2-5 there are options like USB-HDD, USB-ZIP etc. Select Hard Disk or USB-HDD, USB-ZIP as the first boot device.
2-1 Press Del and enter BIOS setting screen while powering on computer.
2-2 Choose Advanced BIOS Features.
2-3 On the Advanced BIOS Features screen, choose Hard Disk Boot Priority.
2-4 Move USB device to the first place of Hard Disk Boot Priority by pressing "+" or "-", press ESC back to the above step.
2-5 there are options like USB-HDD, USB-ZIP etc. Select Hard Disk or USB-HDD, USB-ZIP as the first boot device.
3. AMI BIOS
3-1 Press Del or other Bios Key to enter BIOS.
3-2 Press direction keys to move your mouse to BOOT.
3-3 Press up and down arrow keys to move mouse to Boot settings/Boot device Priority, and press Enter.
3-4 In Boot device Priority menu, press up and down keys to move mouse to 1st boot Device. And then pressEnter.
3-5 Select Removable Device as the first boot device.
If you have not chosen USB device as the first boot device for Hard Disk Drives, there will not be USB device. But you can choose Removable Device as the first boot device. If you have set the first boot device for Hard Disk Drives, now you can select USB device as the first boot device directly.
3-6 Press F10 to save BIOS settings and exit.
3-1 Press Del or other Bios Key to enter BIOS.
3-2 Press direction keys to move your mouse to BOOT.
3-3 Press up and down arrow keys to move mouse to Boot settings/Boot device Priority, and press Enter.
3-4 In Boot device Priority menu, press up and down keys to move mouse to 1st boot Device. And then pressEnter.
3-5 Select Removable Device as the first boot device.
If you have not chosen USB device as the first boot device for Hard Disk Drives, there will not be USB device. But you can choose Removable Device as the first boot device. If you have set the first boot device for Hard Disk Drives, now you can select USB device as the first boot device directly.
3-6 Press F10 to save BIOS settings and exit.
Keys for various BIOS/UEFI:
| Mainboard Vendor | Laptop | Desktop computer | |||
| Brand | BIOS Keys | Brand | BIOS/UEFI Keys | Brand | BIOS/UEFI Keys |
| Asus | F2,DEL | Lenovo | F1, F2 | Lenovo | F1, F2 |
| Gigabyte | F12 | Acer | DEL, F2 | HP | Esc, F10 |
| MSI | F11 | Asus | Del, F2 | Acer | DEL, F1, F2 |
| Biostar | F9 | HP | Esc, F10, F1 | Dell | F2 |
| Soyo | ESC or F12 | Thinkpad | Del, F8, F1 | Hasee | F12 |
| Colorful | ESC or F11 | Dell | F2 | Asus | F9 |
| Asrock | F11 | Hasee | F12 | Founder | F12 |
| Onda | F11 | Toshiba | F1, F2, ESC, F12 | Tsinghua Tongfang | F12 |
| UNIKA | ESC | Samsung | F2, F10 | Haier | F12 |
| ASL | F10 | IBM | Del | Benq | F8 |
| Intel | F12 | Sony | F1, F2, F3 | ||
| Foxconn | ESC or F12 | Fujitsu | F2 | ||
| Gamen | F11 or F12 | Haier | F12 | ||
| Topstar | F11 or F12 | Founder | F12 | ||
| Yeston | F8 | Tsinghua Tongfang | F12 | ||
| CTHIM | F12 | MSI | F11 | ||
| Jetway | ESC | Benq | F9 | ||
| Elite | ESC or F11 | Gigabyte | F12 | ||
| Maxsun | ESC | Gateway | F1,F2 | ||
| eMachines | F12 | ||||
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