Often, new-made owners of laptops have the following question: “How to log into BIOS on a laptop?” A similar procedure in this case is significantly different from ordinary system units. In the latter case, for these purposes, when you boot the PC, use the Del key. On the laptop, various options are possible, which depend not only on the manufacturer, but also on the model itself. Therefore, if necessary, adjustments to the BIOS settings have to seriously sweat. Complicating the situation is the fact that for these purposes both a single key and their combination can be used. The most difficult situation with Samsung’s mobile PCs. They do not always have an extended keyboard. That is, the set of function keys they can end with F10, and to enter, press F12. In this case, you have to use the key to switch the keyboard layout Fn. Advanced users are well aware of this. And beginners have problems with this. Another important point. Before carrying out various manipulations in the basic settings, it is recommended to completely rewrite them on paper in an operational state. With incorrect inserts, your mobile PC may stop loading (for example, with an empty list of devices to boot). In this case, with the help of records it will be possible to easily and simply return everything to its original state and restore the device to operability.
What is a BIOS?
Before entering BIOS on a laptop, we will understand what it is and why it is needed at all. Literally, this abbreviation translates as "basic input / output system." Physically, it is a chip with volatile memory that is installed on the motherboard. To ensure its performance, you need a battery. This chip stores information necessary for testing and downloading a PC. During normal operation of the laptop, the user does not enter these settings, and there is no point in this. But when reinstalling the operating system or a malfunction, it is difficult to do without BIOS. One of its main sections is the Boot Priority menu, in which their priority is set. Therefore, when performing such an operation, you simply cannot do without entering this section.
Main sections
Until recently, the BIOS menu structure consisted of many items. It was problematic for the average user to understand the purpose of each of them. Moreover, manufacturers changed it at their discretion. But now the situation has changed dramatically. Everything was standardized, and this greatly simplified the process of working in the basic settings. Now even a novice user can cope with the task. At the moment, the composition of most BIOS items is as follows:
- MAIN - current date and time, a list of connected drives and their characteristics.
- ADVANCED - advanced system settings: PCI, CPU, SATA and more. (This section is recommended to be corrected only by well-trained users who are confident that they will not harm the system.)
- POWER - voltage and temperature values at the moment.
- BOOT - sets the order of download sources; it is used when reinstalling operating systems.
- SECURITY - passwords for access to "BIOS" and other resources of a personal computer. (If you set a password here, it’s better to write it down on paper. Often you don’t need to go into the basic settings. Then you can forget it. And when you need to go into BIOS, it won’t work - there’s no password. It is much more difficult to reset it on a laptop than on a stationary system unit.)
- EXIT - options for exiting basic settings, in which changes can either be made to volatile memory or not written to it. (It is also possible to return all values to their original state.)
The ADVANCED section is recommended only for experienced and well-trained users. Incorrect settings can lead to complete inoperability of the computer. A similar situation can occur if you remove all the download sources in the BOOT section. This must be remembered and taken into account when working with the BIOS. Another problem point is the SECURITY section. After setting the password, it is better not to rely on memory and write it on paper. The next time you need to enter the BIOS, without it it is almost impossible to do. The remaining sections of the menu are not so critical, and everyone can work with them, including an inexperienced user who is just starting his acquaintance with electronic computer technology.
Manufacturers
The answer to such a question as entering BIOS on a laptop depends on the chip manufacturer. The main manufacturers of such products at the moment are:
- Award BIOS. (Until recently, it was the main manufacturer of these products. But now it has lost a significant position, and it was absorbed by another Phoenix BIOS developer . )
- AMI BIOS (The main supplier of such chips at the moment.)
- Phoenix BIOS.
You can meet the configuration of the manufacturers listed above mainly on stationary system units. But laptop manufacturers are trying to optimize the management of a mobile computer. As a result, each of the manufacturers develops its own order of entry into the BIOS with the menu. Moreover, in some cases, even for one manufacturer, but on different models, this procedure can differ significantly. In the process of loading, the first window appears in which there is information of interest to us. We are looking for text on it: Press ... to Setup. Instead of three points, there can be Del, and F2, and F10, etc. For these purposes, not only any of the function keys can be used, but also various combinations. In some cases, the information we are interested in may be hidden behind the logo of the device manufacturer. This option is set just in the "BIOS". In order to remove it, you must press Esc. In this case, it is important to remember one thing: you can make an entrance only at the start of loading and testing of equipment. With a running operating system, this is not possible.
HP
First, let's figure out how to enter the "BIOS" of an HP laptop. Until recently, this company held leading positions in this segment of computer technology. But now, in terms of the number of products sold, Chinese Lenovo has pushed it to second place. But the quality of the products of this brand is an order of magnitude better than that of the main competitor. The answer to how to enter the "BIOS" of an HP laptop is the F10 function key. It is she who is used on most devices of this manufacturer for these purposes. That is, at the start of the download, click it and get access to the "BIOS". But if you just need to change the priority of the boot order, then you can already press F9 at the same moment. A menu opens with a list of available devices. In it we find the device that interests us and press "Enter". To quickly return to the main menu, devices of this manufacturer use Esc.
Lenovo
At the next stage, we will figure out how to enter the “BIOS” of a Lenovo laptop. The products of this manufacturer are not as standardized as the previous one. Therefore, to give a definite answer to it is quite difficult. For these purposes, Del, F2 or F1 can be used. For each specific model, this information can be found in the instruction manual (if available), at the start of the download, or on the Internet. In an extreme case, everything can be determined by the selection method at the testing stage of a mobile personal computer. But each of the keys will require a separate download. Otherwise, it will be difficult to get an answer on how to enter the “BIOS” of Lenovo laptop. You can quickly click each of them and get access to the settings that interest us. But to say exactly which of them worked will be problematic. Well, do not forget that you can perform this operation only when starting or rebooting the PC. It’s impossible to get here during work.
Samsung
The hardest thing for those who have a Samsung laptop. There are three ways to enter BIOS, here it can be F2, F4 or F12. If there are no problems with the first two - they are on the keyboard, then there can be problems with the last. Not every mobile PC has a full keyboard. Some of them (in order to minimize) come with a cropped one. In this case, there is only F1 ... F10. But the last two of them - F11 and F12 - are connected to F9 and F10, respectively. All this greatly complicates the process of joining the "BIOS". On a Samsung laptop in this version, you need to press not one key, but a combination. Moreover, in the displayed message at the start of the download, there is information only about one of them - F12. Advanced users without problems in this situation should navigate and press the second to switch the input mode. But for beginners, we note: to activate F12 in this case, you need to press the Fn function key and, without releasing it, the second. It is usually located in the bottom row of the keyboard next to Win. Its main purpose is to switch keyboard layouts. In its depressed state, one input option works (its characters are in the upper right corner of each key), when pressed, the second one (right corner or center). For the convenience of the user, Fn and the layout activated by it have the same color (most often it is blue or red). So, let's summarize how to enter the “BIOS” of a Samsung laptop on different models. When you turn on the laptop and the message screen appears, we press that key or a combination of them, taking into account the previously stated comments, which is indicated in the corresponding message or in the manual for this device.
Sony
It’s not so easy to enter the basic settings on the devices of the Japanese company Sony. It all depends on how new your device is. On older models, F2 is most common, and on newer ones, F3. One of them is the answer to how to enter the “BIOS” of a Sony laptop. The rest of the order is similar. At the stage of testing the system, press the desired key and enter the settings. If it is not known which of the keys you want to use, then we study the documentation or at boot we look at the message: Press ... to Setup. Between the first and third words, the key of interest to us will be indicated. On some gadgets, the company logo is displayed at this stage. To remove it and see the information we are interested in, press Esc. If we have time to press it, then we will go into the BIOS. Otherwise, we reboot the system and when the manufacturer’s logo appears, press the enter key, which was previously clarified.
Acer
Now let's find out how to enter the BIOS of the Acer laptop. This manufacturer by default sets an option in the basic settings, which displays the logo of the manufacturer. This complicates the task. You need to press Esc. This will remove the screensaver. Then you need to have time to notice the conditions for entering the BIOS. Most often it is either F2 (on new devices), or Ctrl + Alt in combination with Esc (old models). Not always the first time it turns out to find out the combination and then press it. If you didn’t have time, nothing terrible happened. We reboot. When the logo of the device manufacturer appears, press the key or their combination, as explained previously. After that they should go into the BIOS without any problems.
Documentation
Studying the documentation is another way that allows you to go into the BIOS. Windows 7 (and not only) allows you to work with electronic documents. Usually, a CD is included with your mobile PC. In addition to drivers, it also has an instruction manual. It describes in detail the operating procedure of the device, including the algorithm for entering the basic settings that interest us, indicating the keys or their combinations. This information needs to be remembered or better written down for the future. Then we reboot the device and at the start of the download we perform the necessary actions, which were previously repeatedly stated.
the Internet
This method is the most universal. It allows you to enter the “BIOS” of a netbook, as well as a laptop or a stationary system unit. If you can’t find out the procedure for entering the settings by all the methods described above, and the documentation along with the CD is lost, then you can go to the official website of the device manufacturer and download its electronic version from there. Opening it, you can easily enter the BIOS. Windows 8, like other operating systems, requires additional installation for these purposes of a program such as Adobe Reader, for example. Its installation version can be downloaded from the official website of the developer on the Internet. Next, install it. Only after that we download the documentation on the mobile PC from the page on the global web and open it. We find the section of interest and study it. The most important points are best printed or written down on paper. Then we close everything and reboot the PC. At the device testing stage, we perform the necessary manipulations and go to the BIOS.
Summary
In the framework of this article, we described how to enter the BIOS on a laptop on the models of the most popular manufacturers. There is nothing complicated about it. A novice user can even easily cope with such a task. The main problem is the lack of unification. Each manufacturer has its own procedure for performing this operation. If you managed to do this once, then you need to record everything in detail and save. In the future, this information may still be useful. Although not so often, but periodically have to remember and puzzle over this problem (especially when reinstalling the operating system, well, you just can not do without it). Therefore, it is best to do just that. The main thing is then not to lose it. It will be enough only to find this record - and it will be possible to gain access to the "BIOS".