Distros : Puppy - New Boot
UEFI the new BIOS
BIOS has been around since the birth of the PC and is been phased out by a major update called Unified Extensible Firmware Interface UEFI.
UEFI not only resides on the Motherboard but also on a special UEFI Partition on the PC's Hard Drive, this allows for greater configuration of the computer and in particular a feature called Secure Boot which protects the computer from booting malicious software.
It's this secure boot that you have to deal with in order to boot from the Puppy USB key/CD.
Getting to UEFI
When booting up a modern Laptop/PC you can still get to the BIOS/UEFI before you load up the Operating System, however you have to be quick with that Esc Key or F2 or F12 key.
Did Windows 8 or 10 still load up, no hassle, you can configure Windows to go directly to the UEFI settings on the next reboot, below is how I got there, also check out Microsoft Documentation on how to boot to UEFI Mode or legacy BIOS mode.
Click on the Windows/Start Icon and then Click the Gear Icon to go to Settings.
Alternately Click on the Notification Icon and Click on All settings.
This will bring you to the Windows Setting, Click on Update and Security.
In the Settings Panel on the left click on Recovery Scroll down to the Bottom of the Right Panel and under Advanced start-up click on Restart now.
This will bring you to a blue screen with boxes, similar to the graphics below, containing choices, the first is:
Choose an Option
Troubleshoot
Advanced options
UEFI Firmware Settings
The PC will now shut down and this time boot into the BIOS/UEFI so that you can make the changes needed to boot from the USB key/CD ROM rather than the hard drive.
On this 6 year old laptop the UEFI was very similar to BIOS, navigation was practically the same, (on newer PC's the UEFI is more like an Operating System with a GUI Interface).
The settings that I need to change to allow the PC to boot off a Puppy USB key were ..
- Disable Secure Boot
- Enable Legacy Boot
- Adjust the Boot Order
I selected Secure Boot which was enabled by Default, hit Enter and Selected Disabled, easy PC.
Then I selected Legacy Boot which was Disabled by Default, hit Enter and Selected Enabled.
Now for the Boot Order..
Below are the settings that I finally settled on
The UEFI Boot Order.. I selected the OS Boot Manager and pushed it right down below the USB Diskette Key
- Internal CD/DVD ROM Drive
- USB Diskette on Key/USB Hard Disk
- OS Boot Manager
- USB CD/DVD ROM Drive
- ! Network Adapter (Disabled)
The Legacy Boot .. was practically the same as my Old Laptop I selected the USB Diskette and hit the F6 key to rise it to the top.
- USB Diskette on Key/USB Hard Disk
- Internal CD/DVD ROM Drive
- Notebook Hard Drive
- USB CD/DVD ROM Drive
- ! Network Adapter (Disabled)
On my first attempt: I just configured the Legacy Boot and then hit F10 to save changes, then reboot only to discover that the laptop seemed to go first to the UEFI Boot Order and I ended right back in Windows again.
On my second attempt: I was quick enough to hit the F2 key to get to the Boot Menu and selected the Puppy USB Key, almost there.
I then configured the UFEI boot order and on attempt number three, with the Puppy USB key still inserted I rebooted the machine directly into Puppy Linux, Happy Days.