Firmware Settings: BIOS & UEFI
Getting into the right place
Spam the vendor key during power-on:
| Vendor | Keys |
|---|---|
Most laptops (Dell/Lenovo/HP) |
F12 / F9 / Esc for one-shot boot menu; F2/F10/Del for setup |
Motherboards |
Del or F2 for setup; F8/F11 boot menu |
VMs |
Esc during splash (VirtualBox/QEMU) |
One-time: boot the USB
One-shot boot menu → pick your USB stick (UEFI entry preferred on modern machines — matches how you’ll install).
Settings worth checking once
-
Secure Boot → Disabled (Arch-family standard; can be re-established later with custom keys).
-
SATA mode → AHCI, not "Intel RST/RAID" — Linux drivers target AHCI; switching later means reinstalling Windows too, so decide NOW on dual-boots.
-
Fast Boot (firmware flavor) → Off, so USB init completes.
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TPM → leave alone unless BitLocker complains (then suspend BitLocker per Installing Alongside Windows).
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Boot order — set disk-first afterwards so GRUB owns boot.