Time was when you could easily go into your computer’s BIOS settings and set your computer to boot from a boot CD. Well, times change. Now booting from a CD or DVD is far less common then using a bootable USB flash drive and many computers no longer use BIOS instead relying on UEFI.
Many new computers don’t have BIOS firmware, and instead depend on UEFI for the interface between the operating system and firmware. Somewhere along the way, setting your computer to boot from device other than your hard drive got a lot harder.
Someone at Microsoft must have recognized the need to reliably and easily set your computer to boot from a boot CD/DVD or USB flash drive because Windows 10 makes it easy to set your computer boot device on restart. Below are step-by-step instructions for setting your Windows 10 computer to boot from your choice of available boot devices.
1. Use Windows 10 start button to open Settings. Search for Settings and select Settings – Trusted Windows Store app.
Settings
2. Next select Update & security – Windows Update, recovery, backup option.
3. Choose the Recovery option, and then Restart. Warning: this will restart your computer. So before selecting Restart – record steps 4-6 below.
4. After selecting Restart the spinning busy indicator displays, and prepares to display restart options.
5. In Choose an option dialog select Use a device – Use a USB drive, network connection, or Windows recovery DVD. (see below)
6. Use a device displays and now you select your boot device. In the example below- I only have a CDROM drive, but if I had a bootable USB flash drive it would be listed too.
Once you select your boot device, Windows restarts and your computer boots from the device you selected.
You can use these instructions to set your Windows 10 computer to boot from any available boot device without directly entering the UEFI settings. Remember some boot options may require you to press a key to boot from the CD/DVD. So, during the restart- monitor the computer startup and be mindful of messages that display before Windows starting message.