By Michael | Last Updated
This document shows 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.
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.
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Step 3: When Boot Menu appears, choose USB Disk or UEFI: USB Disk to boot your computer. Tips: Boot Menu may show USB drive name as USB HDD or other name. If fail, please try again.
Tips: USB Disk and UEFI: USB Disk, both of them allow you to boot from iSunshare Password Reset disk.
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, press F9 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, press F12 to enter Boot Device Options, and then choose USB memory stick to boot from.
If you boot your compouter from USB drive in this way, a few more steps are needed to do. 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.
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.
Tips: How to Access UEFI BIOS Setup to Boot Windows 8/10 from USB/CD-ROM
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.
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.
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 press Enter.
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.
Related Document: How to set your computer to boot from CD/DVD
