How to start a laptop from a bootable USB flash drive. How to make Windows boot from a flash drive. We boot the computer from a flash drive. Using the Boot Menu to boot from a flash drive

Let's look at how to boot from a flash drive to install Windows or restore the system.

Insert the bootable USB flash drive into the USB port and restart your computer. Your main task at this stage is to change the boot priority so that the flash drive starts first, not the hard drive. This is done in two ways:

1. Selecting a device through the Boot Menu (called by pressing the F8, F11, F2 or Esc key pressed immediately after starting the computer).
2. Changing the boot priority in BIOS BIOS is a program built into the motherboard that allows you to change some hardware parameters (for example, disk boot priority) at the hardware level..

The first method is much more convenient, since it does not require subsequent rebooting from the hard drive. You only need to select a device (DVD or USB) from the list to start loading it and press Enter. It looks something like this:

Press F10 and get to the boot menu:

However, on some older computers the Boot Menu does not start, so just in case, let's take a closer look at how to change the boot priority through the BIOS. Open the Start menu and restart your computer. When the logo appears, you must press a certain key.

On some models of motherboards, to enter the BIOS, not Delete is used, but another key - F1, Esc, F10, Ctrl + Alt + S. A reasonable question arises - how to find out the right button? There are several ways:

• Find information on the Internet about entering the BIOS for your motherboard.
• Read the instructions from the motherboard manufacturer.
• Pay attention to the message that appears immediately after turning on the computer. This message looks like “Press…. to run setup". Instead of an ellipsis, a specific key (Del, F1, Esc) will be indicated, pressing which launches the BIOS.

Keys to enter BIOS

Here is a table of keys to enter the BIOS for most motherboard manufacturers:

By the way, you need to press the button many times until the BIOS window appears, otherwise you may skip the stage of launching it.

Examples

Attention!

Depending on the manufacturer, the BIOS interface differs significantly. However, this should not scare you: the procedure remains the same in all versions.

Unfortunately, the mouse does not work in the BIOS, so navigation is carried out only using the keyboard: arrows are used to move, and the Enter key is used to select a specific option. To better understand how the BIOS works, let's see how to change the boot priority in two different interfaces.

If you have an old BIOS interface, then to change the boot priority you need to go to the section "Advanced BIOS Features".

1. Find the line "Hard Disk Boot Priority" or "First Boot Device".
2. Press Enter and use the arrows to select a value "USB-Flash"(“Removable”, “USB-HDD0”, “Name of flash drive”).
3. To save settings click "Safe and exit SETUP" in the main menu.

After successfully installing Windows, you will need to repeat this operation, returning the HDD (boot from hard disk) to first place.

Newer computers have a BIOS version from AMI installed (although more and more often motherboard manufacturers are installing BIOSes of their own design).

The operating principle remains the same:

1. Go to the tab "Boot" on the top panel.
2. Open section "Boot Device Priority".
3. Get on the line "1st Boot Device" and press Enter.
4. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to set the value "USB"(or "CDROM", if you are installing from disk. There is no CD/DVD-ROM in the picture above because it is not on that computer at all).
5. Click F10 and select an option "OK" to save changes and exit BIOS.

Do not be alarmed if you have a BIOS with a different interface and do not have the names of tabs and sections described above. Just find a tab that has the word "Boot" in its name. Inside it, you will definitely find the boot priority, which can be changed by installing a USB flash device with a Windows distribution in first place.

Today I will tell you how to enable booting from a flash drive in the BIOS of various manufacturers. No matter what version you have, the order of body movements will be as follows:

1. We insert our bootable USB flash drive into the USB connector of your computer. I recommend inserting it into a port located directly on the motherboard, i.e. from the back of the system unit.

2. Turn on the computer and press the key Delete(or F2) to get into the BIOS. Depending on the manufacturer and BIOS version, other keys (Esc, F1, Tab) may be used, so you need to carefully read the prompts on the screen.

In Bios, we can only navigate between tabs using the keyboard.
Below I will describe this process in detail using the most commonly used BIOS versions as an example.

Attention! Keep in mind that if you are installing the operating system from a flash drive or CD and have selected the boot device in the BIOS rather than in the boot menu, then after the first automatic reboot of Windows you will need to enter the BIOS again and return booting from the hard drive. If this is not done, autoboot from a flash drive or CD will work again, and Windows will begin the first stage of the procedure again installations.

Setting up Award Bios to boot from a flash drive

Award Bios:

First, let's check if the USB controller is enabled. Let's go to “Integrated Peripherals”. Use the arrow on the keyboard to move down to the “USB Controller” item. Press the “Enter” key and select “Enable” in the window that appears (also using “Enter”). Opposite “USB Controller 2.0” there should also be “Enable”.

Exit this tab by pressing “Esc”.

Then we go to “Advanced BIOS Features” – “Hard Disk Boot Priority”.Now in my example the hard drive comes first, but the flash drive should be there.

We stand on the line with the name of our flash drive (Patriot Memory) and raise it to the very top using the “+” key on the keyboard.

We leave here by pressing “Esc”.

Setting up AMI Bios to boot from a flash drive

If, after entering Bios, you see such a screen, it means you have AMI Bios:

First, let's check if the USB controller is enabled. Go to the “Advanced” – “USB Configuration” tab.

Opposite the items “USB Function” and “USB 2.0 Controller” should be “Enabled”.

If this is not the case, go to this line and press the “Enter” key. From the list that appears, select “Enabled” (also using “Enter”).
Then exit this tab by pressing “Esc”.

Let's go to the tab “Boot” – “Hard Disk Drives”.

Now my hard drive is in first place, but I need to put a flash drive here. We go to the first line, press “Enter” and in the window that appears, select our Patriot Memory flash drive.

It should be like this:

We leave here via “Esc”.

Select “Boot Device Priority”. Here, the first boot device must be a flash drive.

Press Esc.

Then we exit the Bios, saving all the settings made. To do this, go to “Exit” – “Exit & Save Changes” – “OK”.

Setting up Phoenix-Award Bios to boot from a flash drive

If, after entering Bios, you see such a screen, it means you have Phoenix-Award BIOS :

First, let's check if the USB controller is enabled. Go to the “Peripherals” tab – opposite the “USB Controller” and “USB 2.0 Controller” items there should be “Enabled”.

Then go to the “Advanced” tab and opposite “First Boot Device” set “USB-HDD”.

After that, exit the Bios, saving the changes. To do this, go to “Exit” – “Save & Exit Setup” – press the “Y” – “Enter” key

That's practically everything you need to know in order to boot from a flash drive. In my article, I described the process of setting up the BIOS of the most popular versions: Award And AMI. The third example presents Phoenix-Award Bios, which is much less common.
The described procedure may differ slightly in different BIOS versions. But the main thing is that you understand the principle of setting itself.

By the way, I would also like to add: in order to choose which device to boot your computer from, it is not necessary to change the settings in the BIOS. You can immediately call up a special menu after turning on the computer to select boot devices (this can be done by pressing the F8, F10, F11, F12 or Esc key). In order not to guess with the keys, look carefully at the monitor immediately after turning it on. We need to have time to see an inscription like this: “Press Esc to selest boot device.” In my case, it was necessary to press “Esc”.

The article describes the ability to install USB boot from the device BIOS, even if the motherboard BIOS does not support USB boot.

The ability to install an operating system on a flash drive or have an image of a system (or even more than one) always at hand, without carrying around tablets with disks, has been appreciated by many for a long time. However, there is one rarely encountered but unpleasant point at this point: sometimes you have to deal with computers of previous generations whose motherboard BIOS simply does not support booting from USB. Hard drive, CDROM, anachronism in the form of a flop... But there is no USB support. So, we turn around and leave. No matter how it is.

To install USB support in the BIOS, we will need:

• working ports USB and working OS (for Method 1), working CDROM(for Method 2)
• program (Windows version must be at least Vista)
• and a flash drive with the necessary files, of course...

Install USB boot from BIOS: EasyBCD program

The program's functions never cease to amaze me for a long time, and, as you already understood, it can do much more than just change the names, order and way of loading operating systems. We have successfully used this more than once when:

Now we will try to install support for booting from USB in the BIOS, even if such an item does not exist in the BIOS menu of the motherboard.

• We log into Windows of the problem computer and install the program EasyBCD
• In the program menu that opens, click on the button Add new entry (Add new entry)
• At the bottom of the screen, scroll the window items to the right if necessary. Portable/External Media to BIOS Extensions ( BIOS Extender):

• and now all that remains is to install USB support by clicking on the button Install PLoP. A corresponding message should appear at the bottom of the window indicating the successful installation of the virtual bootloader:

• go to the list of menu items by clicking on the button Edit menu downloads ( Edit boot menu) and we see that the boot menu has been diluted with the inscription EasyBCD BIOS Extender:

• Let's check by rebooting. And here it is:

Select and click. We are greeted by a new window with a choice of download sources. These include USB devices:

Set USB boot from BIOS: external bootloader

You can do the same thing, only without the EasyBCD program. We'll have to take a more difficult route and download(and then write down to disk) a special bootloader, and go through the same installation path. Here the conditions are slightly different: Windows may be faulty, but the drive should work. The bootloader image can be downloaded from:

Not every user has a DVD drive; moreover, recently rare PCs have been equipped with them. But you still need to install the system, and for this it is most convenient to use a bootable USB flash drive. Let's figure out how to install Windows 7 from a flash drive - after all, you won't buy a DVD for this purpose.

Before proceeding with the installation, carefully study this article: various difficulties may arise during the process, which can be solved using one of the methods described below.

The installation process itself can be divided into the following stages:

• downloading the installation image;
• computer preparation;
• creating a bootable flash drive;
• setting up PC BIOS;
• Windows 7 installation.

Let's look at each stage in more detail.

Before you burn the image to a flash drive and install the system from it, you need to download it. Today there are a huge number of ready-made operating system builds, which are equipped with many applications and functions.

Very often in such distributions the default theme or sound scheme is changed. But not all users like such innovations. You only need to download original images created by Microsoft. A huge headquarters of the world's leading programmers does their job better than some artisanal modifier.

A little lower you will find a button where you can download a torrent file to download the Russian version of Windows 7 with 32 or 64-bit architecture. The file was taken from the official Microsoft website and is completely original. Proceed with the download, and when the download is complete, move on to the next step.

After the file is downloaded, open it using a torrent client. If you don't know how to work with such programs, follow our step-by-step instructions.

1. First, download the torrent client itself. This will be the qBittoorent application.
2. Install the program and use it to open the previously downloaded torrent file.

1. Select the version of Windows 7 (in our case it is professional 64 bit) and click “OK”.

1. After this, the operating system will begin loading at the maximum available speed.

Getting ready to install Windows 7

First of all, we need to copy to a safe place all the information that is important to us, located on drive C. Each user stores data in their own way, so each user has their own choice of folders for backup. Most often these are folders: “Downloads”, “Desktop”, etc.

You can save files to another logical drive (the one on which the system will not be installed) or to an external drive. You can also use cloud storage if there is not too much data. For example, the Mail.ru cloud provides 100 GB of free space.

With an eye to the future, remember: while using your PC, you need to store your data on a disk other than the one on which the system is installed. Divide the physical disk into partitions and store your files on any of them except the system one. To install Windows 7, a comfortable volume of 70–100 GB will be (depending on the type and amount of software used).

Another important point that should be taken into account before the installation begins is the drivers for our network card. If, after installing Windows 7, it turns out that there is no driver for the network card, additional difficulties will arise that will have to be solved using a second computer by transferring files from it via a flash drive.

If you just bought a computer, there is not and cannot be any valuable information on it, feel free to move on to the next section, without copying the data.

Create a bootable USB flash drive

In order to create bootable media and begin the operating system installation procedure, we will need:

• USB flash drive with a capacity of 8 GB or more. Instead of a USB flash drive, you can use a simple memory card with a card reader;
• "Seven" installation distribution with .iso extension;
• a utility with which we will write an image to a flash drive;

Attention! Before you start creating installation media, remember that all data on it will be irretrievably destroyed.

Making installation media using Ultra ISO

A well-known disk imaging program can create bootable media. Let's look at the algorithm for recording Windows 7 to a USB device.

1. Download and install the Ultra ISO program from the link.
2. Run the resulting file and check the “I accept the license agreement” checkbox. Proceed to the next step by clicking “Next”.

1. Using the “Browse” button, select the installation path, then click “Next”.

1. We don’t change anything here and just move on.

1. The program is being installed, we are waiting for it to finish.

The Ultra ISO installation is complete, you can run it and go straight to creating a flash drive for installing Windows 7.

1. The Ultra ISO program can be launched in trial mode, so its functionality will not suffer at all. Click on the button marked in the picture.

1. Go to the “File” menu and click on the “Open” item.

1. Select the Windows 7 image we downloaded, and then “Open”.

1. Go to the “Startup” section and click on the item that we marked in the screenshot.

1. We make sure that the media we need is displayed in the devices at the top of the window and click on the “Format” button.

Attention! This will destroy all your data beyond recovery. If you have the files you need on your USB drive, save them first.

1. In the next window, simply click “Start”.

1. Ultra ISO will once again warn us that all information from the flash drive will be erased. Click "OK".

1. After formatting is completed, click on “Burn”.

1. The process of recording “Seven” onto a flash drive has begun. It will take about 5-10 minutes depending on the speed of the drive and the selected OS version.

The recording is complete, our media can be used.

Let's look at a few more options for creating bootable media with Windows 7.

Rufus

This is another program that can create a bootable USB flash drive with “Seven”. Let's get started.

The application, unlike Ultra ISO, does not require installation, so you can run the downloaded file and immediately proceed to the process of burning the OS to a USB device. To do this we do the following:

1. Select the recording device. This will be our flash drive, in this case – 16 GB. Then click on the disk icon.

1. Select the distribution we downloaded in the PC folder.

1. We begin the recording process with the “Start” button.

1. Rufus will notify us that all files will be deleted from the flash drive. If you have already created a backup copy or there was no important information on the media, click “OK”.

As a result, Windows 7 will begin recording onto the USB flash drive, after which you will have a full-fledged installation media at your disposal.

Attention! Before you begin the process of writing the system to a flash drive, be sure to save all the data on it - otherwise they will be irretrievably lost.

As you can see, this method turned out to be much simpler than the previous one, but we will not dwell on this and will consider several more options for recording Windows 7 to a USB drive.

Making a bootable USB flash drive using WinSetupFromUSB

Another application focused solely on writing operating system files to an external drive. Let's take a look at the utility and look at the process of working with it.

1. Select the path where the program will be unpacked (click on the button with the image of three dots) and click “Extract”.

1. We are waiting for all the necessary files to be unzipped.

1. We open the directory into which the unpacking was carried out and launch the program depending on the architecture on which your operating system is built. For us it is 64 bit, so we click on the marked file.

1. We insert our flash drive into the USB port and make sure that it appears in WinSetupFromUSB. Next, check the box indicated by the number “2” in the screenshot. When the bird is placed, click on the icon with the image of three dots, marked with the number “3”.

1. Select the image of our operating system and click on “Open”.

1. All that remains is to press the “GO” key and Windows 7 recording will begin.

Windows 7 is being written to an external drive. Once the process is completed, the flash drive can be used to install the system.

We will not stop at WinSetupFromUSB and will tell you how to burn the OS to media via Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from Microsoft.

Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

This is an official application from Microsoft, so it should, in theory, do the best job of writing Windows 7 to a flash drive. Let's get started with the program.

1. First, download the utility using . Then we launch it and click on the “Next” button.

1. We are waiting for the program to install.

1. We complete the installation process by clicking on the “Finish” button.

1. Let's move on to working with the program. Initially, we need to specify the file that we will record. To do this, click the “Browse” button.

1. After the path to the image file is registered, you can proceed to the next step - click “Next”.

1. Here we should select the type of media on which we will install the “Seven”. Since this is a flash drive, we click on “USB device”.

1. We make sure that our drive is displayed in the field marked with the number “1” and click on the “Begin copying” button.

1. After this, we will be warned that all information from the media will be erased and, after confirmation, the process of transferring Windows 7 to a USB drive will begin.

Upon completion, we will receive a bootable USB flash drive, with which it is easy to install the OS on your computer.

The program requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 library. If you do not have it, then download the program from the official Microsoft website.

We use the UNetBootin program

The UNetBootin utility is completely free. you can download it without registering or sending SMS. The program does not need to be installed - it works immediately after downloading. An application was created not only for recording to a Windows flash drive, but also for other operating systems, such as Linux or Mac OS.

Let's move on to the instructions for using the application.

1. First of all, check the “Disk Image” box and click on the button with the ellipsis. In the window that opens, we need a Windows distribution.

1. In the drop-down list indicated by the number “1”, select a USB device, indicate our flash drive and click “OK”.

1. The application will warn us that all data that is already on the flash drive will be irretrievably lost. If we don’t need them, click “Yes to All”.

The distribution package is being written to a USB device. Once it is completed, the flash drive can be used to install the OS.

Command line

You can create bootable media with “Seven” without using any programs using the system itself. For this we will use the command line.

The entire process is described in the form of detailed step-by-step instructions, each stage of which is accompanied by a screenshot for clarity.

1. Initially, launch the command line. This must be done exclusively as an administrator. We will create bootable media using Windows 10 as an example, but you can get the same result on Windows 7 – 8. Press the Win + R button combination and press the “Browse” key in the window that appears.

1. We follow the path indicated in the screenshot with the number “1” and find the cmd application. We right-click on it with our manipulator and select “Run as administrator.”

1. Write the command diskpart on the command line and press Enter.

1. To start recording to a disk, you must initially select it, and take this choice responsibly, because all data from it will be deleted. You can view a list of disks using the operators: “list disk”, “list volume” or “list partition”. The first two show a list of disks, the third displays the number of partitions and their names. Insert the flash drive into the USB port and enter the “list disk” command in DISKPART. Next press Enter. You will see a list of all drives currently installed in the PC.

1. Select the disk that we need. To do this, enter select disk disk_number. The disk number can be viewed in the previous step; for us it is “1” since its size is 14 GB, which corresponds to our flash drive.

1. We remove the disk with the clean command. Once again, make sure that you have made the right choice - all data on the media will be completely deleted.

1. Now we need to create the main partition for the flash drive, from which we will boot in the future. Enter the command create partition primary and press Enter.

1. We set the drive letter using the assign letter=drive_letter operator. Let's do that. We know that our PC has drives C, D and E - therefore, we specify F. The final command will look like this: assign letter=F.

1. You can also specify the partition size. If you skip this step, it will take up all the free space. You can set the size of a logical disk using the create partition primary size=disk_size command. The size must be specified in megabytes.

1. Select our disk using the select partition 1 command (indicate your disk number) and press Enter.

1. Now we need to make our section active. To do this, use the active operator.

1. All that remains is to format the flash drive - write a command like this: format fs=fat32 quick.

1. Exit DISKPART using the exit command. Now you need to prepare the files for recording. We unpack our Windows 7 image using any archiver (we will use the usual WinRAR) and extract all the files to our flash drive.

The installation media is ready and you can use it.

We use the WinToFlash program

Let us describe the process of working with another program for recording Windows 7 and other operating systems on a USB drive. To get started, download the utility from the link from the official website.

1. Install and run it. In the window that opens, select the item marked with a red frame.

1. At the very top, select “Windows”, then indicate Windows 7 and press the button indicated in the screenshot with the number “3”.

1. We indicate the path to the Windows 7 image that we downloaded. To do this, click the “Select” button.

1. Click on “Add”.

1. We make sure that the flash drive we need is indicated as the target, and click “Run”.

After this, the process of creating bootable media with Windows 7 will begin, after which the device will be ready for use.

Burn a bootable USB flash drive using WinToBootic

This application is one of the simplest tools for recording operating systems to external media. To work with the utility, you do not need to install it, nor do you need administrator rights. You can work with both Windows files and its images. The interface here is simple, and the speed of the program is pleasing.

To burn Windows 7 to a USB flash drive via WinToBootic, do the following:

1. First, download the program and launch it. Check the box next to “Quick Format” and click “Do It!”

1. We answer the request for formatting in the affirmative.

1. We are again notified that all data on the flash drive will be deleted. Don’t forget to save important information from the media, if it is there, and click “OK”.

1. The preparation of the flash drive is completed, click “Thanks!”

1. Next, select the files that will be written to our flash drive. To do this, click the icon indicated in the screenshot and select the image we need.

1. Click the button to start the process again.

Windows 7 will begin recording to the USB flash drive. When it is finished, the device can be used to install the system.

How to boot from a flash drive

To successfully install Windows 7 from a flash drive, it is not enough for us to simply write the operating system onto the media; we also need to force the PC to boot not from the hard drive, but from a USB drive. This can be done in two ways: either by modifying the BIOS, or through a special boot menu.

Regarding the Boot Menu, we can say that it is launched using different keys, depending on the model of the computer or laptop. You can see which button is responsible for this on your device in the instructions for it. We provide a list of combinations for the main brands of computers and laptops:

Launching Boot Menu on PC:

Launching Boot Menu on a laptop:

Below is a list of keys that launch the BIOS on different computers and laptops:

For clarity, we will show the process of installing a flash drive as the first boot device using the example of our PC with an Asus motherboard:

1. We turn off or restart the computer and after it starts, press the button to go to the BIOS (for us it’s Del).

1. This is what the BIOS itself looks like.

1. Go to the Boot tab.

1. We install our USB drive as the first device.

The process is similar on different computers, although the names of the tabs and items may differ. In order to understand how to enter the BIOS of your PC, read the instructions for it.

Installing Windows 7 from a USB flash drive

After the BIOS has been configured, you can proceed directly to installing Windows 7 from a flash drive. Let's get started.

1. Immediately after the system starts, you will see the following window (data for installing Windows 7 is being preloaded).

1. Set regional parameters. Select your system language, region of residence, and keyboard layout. If desired, all this data can be specified after Windows starts. When the setup is complete, click on “Next”.

1. At the next stage, simply click “Install”.

1. All you have to do is accept the license agreement and the installation will begin. Check the box as shown in the screenshot and click “Next”.

1. We select the full installation mode - this is the so-called clean option, when all old data on the system partition is deleted.

1. We are in the section settings menu. Click on the entry outlined in red.

1. If your disk is not partitioned, you can do this here (for Windows 7, it would be best to use about 100 GB of free space, the rest will become drive D). Don't forget to format your system partition before installing Windows on it. When the operation is completed, click on the “Next” button.

1. Finally the Windows installation began. We are waiting for the process to be completed.

1. Next, the system will reboot and we will be greeted with the Windows startup screen

1. Initial optimization is underway. The system prepares all the necessary files.

1. System services begin to start.

1. After which we proceed to complete the Windows installation

1. We are again informed that we need to restart the computer. Before doing this, be sure to remove the flash drive when restarting the PC.

1. The system will check how productive our video card is.

1. Now we need to provide our details. We write an arbitrary name and computer name. Then click “Next”.

1. If necessary, you can set a password that the system will request upon startup. We skip this step since the computer will be at home.

1. If you have a Windows 7 key, you can enter it here, however, you can do this even after the system starts. We skip this step.

1. We choose the system protection option depending on our personal preferences. We will be installing another antivirus, so the regular one will not be needed.

1. Enter the time and time zone. Then click “Next”.

1. We decide on the type of network. This is a rather important step, since if we specify a home network, but are connected to a public one, our security will suffer greatly.

1. The settings are applied and the network is automatically configured.

1. Last minute of optimization before our Windows 7 launches.

As a result, we installed Windows 7 from a flash drive, the creation of which was described above.

Instead of an afterword

We looked at a lot of different programs and Windows tools in order to answer the question: how to install Windows 7 from a flash drive. However, these are not all options. There are a lot of such programs on the Internet. They differ in their convenience and functionality. Some utilities are better suited for ordinary users, while others are better suited for professionals.

Which method to choose and how to write Windows 7 to a flash drive should be determined based on purely personal preferences. Use the option that you like, and if you have any questions, ask us in the comments. We undertake to give a comprehensive answer as soon as possible.

Most often, we think about the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) only when we need to reinstall the operating system and need to somehow set it to boot from a disk or flash drive. I often wrote about this in articles such as:, and others. Now I want to put it together and refer only to this article when necessary. This article will be useful for all BIOS versions and for different companies. A kind of single reference book

The first thing you need to know is that BIOS is divided by manufacturer and version.

To change boot method in BIOS- You must first enter it.
You can, of course, find out what version and manufacturer of your BIOS is from the manual that came with your computer.
You can also find out by looking at the line at the top of the black screen when loading (the manufacturer will be indicated there).
Well, then enter the BIOS, knowing what it is for you.

Some BIOS versions do not have such a screen showing lines. There’s just a logo there and at the bottom it says something like “Press F2 to enter SETUP,” which means press F2. If there is just a logo and there are no inscriptions, press ESC, and then del or f2

Here is a small list of manufacturers and keyboard shortcuts for entering BIOS:

AMI BIOS -> DEL or F2

AWARD BIOS -> DEL

AWARD BIOS (old versions) -> Ctrl+Alt+Esc

Phoenix BIOS -> F1 or F2

DELL BIOS -> F2

Microid Research Bios -> ESC

IBM -> F1

IBM Lenovo ThikPad -> Press and hold the blue ThinkVantage key

Toshiba (laptops) -> ESC then F1

HP/Compaq -> F10

Also at the bottom of the black screen there are keys for entering the BIOS and for displaying a list that contains available devices for booting and so that you can boot from it. But more about him at the end of the article.

As you can see, most often you need to press the key F2 or Del.

Now you need to load a flash drive or disk.
Let's look at a few examples that differ from the BIOS manufacturer.

Setting up Award Bios to boot from a flash drive or disk:
The main window looks like this, in which we need the second item:

Further depends on the firmware version. In one case, you will need to go to an item similar to “Boot Seq & Floppy Setup”

in another case, you don’t need to go anywhere - everything will be right before your eyes

Clicks on First Boot Device(First boot device), click Enter and a window like this will appear

in which you need to select the disk or flash drive that will launch first. You can specify a Second boot device, for example, but usually the BIOS itself fills in this data.

On a note:

First Boot Device - the device from which the computer will boot first

Second Boot Device – the second device from which the computer will boot if the “First Boot Device” turns out to be non-bootable or inoperable.

Third Boot Device – the third device from which the computer will boot if the “Second Boot Device” is not bootable

If you select a flash drive, then, among other things, you also need to go to the “Hard Disk Boot Priority” item and move our flash drive to the very top using the “+” and “-” or “PageUp” and “PageDown” buttons:

It is also worth remembering that In order for the BIOS to see the flash drive, it must be connected before turning it on or before rebooting

Then press “F10” (see the exact key in the hint at the bottom of the screen called “Save”, “Exit”) or go to the main BIOS menu and select “Save and Exit Setup”. In the red window, select “Yes” using the “Y” button on the keyboard and press “Enter”

The computer will reboot and when booting from the Windows installation disk, the following request may appear for a few seconds: “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD...”

Which translates to “Press any button to boot from a CD or DVD.”
This means that if you do not press any button on the keyboard at this moment, the computer will continue to boot from the next device on the list.

Another version of this BIOS:

I've only seen this on old computers from ten years ago, before 2003. The main menu looks like this:

To configure the boot order, you need to go to the menu BIOS FEATURES SETUP:

At this point, use the PageUp and PageDown buttons (or Enter and arrows) to select what to put first - CDROM or flash drive. DO NOT forget about the second and third device

And further:

How to choose what to boot from in AMI BIOS
If, after entering the Bios, you see such a screen, it means you have AMI BIOS:

Use the right arrow button on the keyboard to move to the Boot tab:

Go to "Hard Disk Drives" and in the line "1st Drive" (may be called "First Drive") select a disk or flash drive:

Next, go to "Boot Device Priority", go to "1st Boot Device" and select from the list what you selected in the previous tab (i.e. if you selected a flash drive in Hard Disk Drives, then you need to specify it here too. This is important! )

To boot from a CD/DVD disk, you need to select “ATAPI CD-ROM” (or simply “CDROM”) in this menu; there is no need to go to the previous “Hard Disk Drives” menu.
Now we save the results with the “F10” button or go to the BIOS “Exit” section and select “Exit Saving Changes”.

Another AMI BIOS, but everything is clear here:

Setting up Phoenix-Award Bios to boot from a flash drive
If, after entering the Bios, you see a screen like this, then you have a Phoenix-Award BIOS:

Go to the “Advanced” tab and opposite “First Boot Device” set what you need (flash drive or disk):

Save with F10 key

Setting up EFI (UEFI) Bios with a graphical interface for booting from a flash drive
Now this won’t surprise anyone. Almost all new computers are equipped with a similar shell. You can read more about it in the article.
When loading, at the bottom of the screen there is a “Boot Priority” section, where you can use the mouse (by dragging) the pictures to set the desired boot order.
You can also click the “Exit/Advanced mode” button in the upper right corner and select Advanced mode in the window that appears.

Next, go to the “Boot” tab and in the section Boot Option Priorities in the “Boot Option #1” field, set the default boot device to be a flash drive, DVD-ROM, hard drive or other available device.

How to boot from a flash drive or disk without entering BIOS
This is what I wrote about almost at the very beginning of the article.
This is when you need to press a key once and a window will appear with a boot selection. This method does not change the BIOS settings.
Usually Award BIOS prompts you to press "F9" to bring up the boot menu, and AMI asks you to press "F8". On laptops this may be the “F12” key.
In general, look at the bottom line and look for items like “Press F8 for BBS POPUP” or “Press F9 to Select Booting Device after POST”.

Why can't I boot from a flash drive into BIOS?

Possible reasons:

On older computers there is no way to boot from USB flash drives at all. If a newer BIOS does not exist, then the project may help.
1) Download the latest version of "Plop Boot Manager" from the link above and unpack it.
2) The archive contains the following files: plpbt.img – an image for a floppy disk, and plpbt.iso – an image for a CD.
3) Write the image to disk and boot from it (or from a floppy disk).
4) A menu will appear in which we select our flash drive and boot from it.

A small explanation of disk designations when selecting:

USB HDD is a flash drive or external hard drive

ATAPI CD is a CD or DVD-ROM

ATA HDD or simply HDD is a hard drive

USB FDD is an external floppy disk drive

USB CD is an external disk drive

Do not forget, after you have done what you wanted (namely, why you changed the boot in the BIOS) - return the boot settings back so that the computer boots from the hard drive.