▷ How to enter the computer bios step by step

How many times have we tried to enter the BIOS of our computer and did not know how to do it? Well, surely many, because computers start faster and we have less time to think about which key to press to test if it is the key to our BIOS.

Index of contents

Today we will try to learn step by step how to access the BIOS of our computer without dying in the attempt and without restarting our computer a lot of times. To do this, we have collected the BIOS access keys from the most common PC manufacturers, but we will also see a little trick to stop the boot process of our PC and thus be able to read the information it gives us for access.

Why are we interested in entering the BIOS?

The BIOS is a non-volatile flash memory chip in which software or, rather, firmware is stored that allows us to manage the basic input and output system of our PC. This BIOS is responsible for checking and managing the presence and correct startup of the devices that are present on our PC.

We will be interested in entering the BIOS to manage advanced parameters of our hardware which cannot be modified from a normal and current operating system. Some examples could be:

• Configure voltage and frequency of our processor to overclock Activate virtualization technologies for our CPUM Modify the boot sequence of devices of our PC Configure BIOS Legacy mode if we have BIOS UEFIC configuration of profiles of RAM, hard disk, fans, CPU, PCI slots, etc.

And so we could have a good time, because for many advanced actions that we want to do on our computer, or to install new hardware, we may have to pay a visit to the BIOS.

Is the BIOS type important to know how to enter it?

Well, in principle not, because for practical purposes, the way to access it is exactly the same. It always consists of starting the computer and immediately starting to press the indicated key to access it.

We will already know that there are two types of BIOS, first of all, the traditional BIOS Phoenix and Americen Megatrends, which are basically a program with a very basic environment that we can use using our keyboard. And on the other hand there are the new UEFI BIOS that incorporate the possibility of management by mouse, with a much friendlier design and greater management possibilities. As we say for practical purposes, both are entered in the same way.

Don't throw away your PS / 2 keyboard

What we must take into account in the BIOS of the old format is the compatibility with the connected USB peripherals, such as mouse and keyboard. On many occasions, after performing a “clear CMOS” on our BIOS, when installing a new hardware device or simply because we have needed to change the BIOS battery, we may have serious problems to continue booting the computer.

These old BIOSes can be incompatible in their access by means of USB keyboards, not reading the peripheral correctly and leaving the boot of the computer blocked without the possibility of access. To solve this, there is no other option than accessing it with a keyboard with a PS / 2 connector, so if you have an old computer, don't throw away your PS2 keyboard, because it could save your life. Fortunately, in the new UEFI BIOS, compatibility is practically guaranteed, so we should not have any problem and if we do, we will resort to one of these keyboards.

Enter BIOS from Windows, it is possible if it is UEFI

For all those computers that are less than 3 or 4 years old, it is practically certain that they will have a UEFI-type BIOS, so they can easily access the BIOS of their PC from the operating system itself.

Visit this tutorial to know how to enter the BIOS from Windows

It is the method that we recommend in current equipment, so as not to go searching among the keys on our keyboard.

Enter BIOS manually from boot

But of course, many times our team does not feel like starting the operating system, or precisely what we want, is to modify the boot sequence or solve any error that has occurred that does not allow the system to boot. Well, for this event it will be necessary to know the way to enter the BIOS from the start.

The process to enter the BIOS will consist of starting the computer normally, and as soon as it starts turning on the screen, we will repeatedly press the corresponding key. Automatically the BIOS program will load and we will be inside it.

At this point it is possible that as soon as it starts, we will see a message like the following: “ Press to run SETUP ”or something very similar. This "SETUP" refers to the BIOS, so with that key we will access our BIOS.

The "Pause" key is your ally

In most cases this message will go through the screen very quickly and will not give us time to read it, but there is a solution, and it is on the " Pause " or " Pause " key on our keyboard.

With this key we will be able to pause the starting of the equipment at any time, staying exactly when we want. It is in this way that we can read all the messages that appear on the screen.

In the case of laptops it may be a secondary function of a key, so we will press " Fn + Pause " to act with it.

This way we will stop the boot and see if there is a message or not. But in addition to that, we can think about which key to press to access, only when we press the correct one, the pause state will automatically be removed and the BIOS will appear.

If we have skipped the message, touch restart

Possibly on the first try we pause the team at a different time than ideal, so it will be necessary to restart. We recommend doing it using the " Ctrl + Alt + Del " key combination, since it is much safer than doing it from the PC's physical button.

If the key combination does not restart the computer, then all you have to do is press and hold the PC start button until it turns off.

In each of the list, we will provide a link to the official source to know this information first hand.

Keys to access the BIOS according to the brand of the PC

If you do not see any message, such as in our case, let's see what are the keys that normally work depending on the different brands of motherboard or PC and laptop.

Asus

In the newest Asus boards we can access the BIOS with the " F2 " key, and it will also be the same with the brand's laptops.

In other older cases, the access key will be " Del ". Try one of these two, and remember, press Pause to do it more easily.

M: YES

For laptops, PCs and MSI boards the " Delete " key is almost always used.

Gigabyte / AORUS

In this case, the “ Delete ” key is also almost always used.

Dell

For Dell desktops and laptops the most used key is " F2 ", although it is also possible to enter a boot menu where the option to enter the BIOS using the " F12 " key will appear. This option is available on a computer with a UEFI BIOS.

Lenovo

Lenovo almost always uses the " F1 ", "Fn + F1" or "Ctrl + Alt + F3" key, although in more current models the " F2 " key is also used.

Toshiba

On the latest Toshiba computers, and later than Windows XP, the key to access the BIOS is " F2 ".

If we cannot access it, we will restart and hold down the "Esc" key for three seconds, then press F1 when requested by the computer.

HP and Compaq

HP as always is different from the rest of the world, and in this case we will have several options:

• If the laptop or PC is later than 2011, then we will use the " Esc " key and when requested we will press the "F10" key. If it is between 2008 and 2011, then we will directly press F10 to access. If we cannot, we will do the same as in the previous case. If it is before these dates, then pressing the F10 key will be enough to enter.

Acer

For Acer computers more of the same, the chosen key will almost always be " F2 ".

On older computers, it may also be the " F1 " key

Intel / Samsung / Sony Vaio

We finish the list with the teams from Intel, Samsung and Sony Vaio that will have the same form of access, and it will be through the " F2 " key

At this point we must bear in mind that some Samsung computers do not have the BIOS access system using traditional keys, due to the Secure Boot system they implement. In this case, the only way to access the BIOS will be through Windows, or the Windows installation disc.

Well this is all about how to get into the BIOS of a PC from boot. It is your turn to test and comment to see if you have been able to enter.

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Now try the key according to your case, if it does not work, leave us a comment to make the necessary adjustments and thus keep the article updated. What key have you managed to access and what is your equipment?