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2/18/2018 What is the difference in "Boot with BIOS" and "Boot with UEFI" - Super User

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What is the difference in “Boot with BIOS” and “Boot with UEFI”

Now Windows 8 supports the UEFI bootloader and I have read that its different from the BIOS, but it's unclear to me after many searches
on the Google.

Some points in mind are below:-

As we all know, BIOS is an important part of accessing boot options. So UEFI will do that now? How?
How would I know that I'm booting with UEFI not with BIOS?
So what is the real difference in the "boot with BIOS" and "boot with UEFI"?

bios uefi

edited Jan 10 '17 at 10:25 asked Oct 30 '12 at 7:42


avirk
13.1k 13 51 92

3 Answers

As we all know that BIOS is important part for accessing boot option. So now UEFI will
do that? How?

BIOS boots by reading the first sector on a hard disk and executing it; this boot sector in turn
locates and runs additional code. The BIOS system is very limiting because of space
constraints and because BIOS runs 16-bit code, whereas modern computers use 32-bit or 64-
bit CPUs. By contrast, EFI (or UEFI, which is just EFI 2.x) boots by loading EFI program files
(with .efi filename extensions) from a partition on the hard disk, known as the EFI System
Partition (ESP). These EFI boot loader programs can take advantage of EFI boot services for
things like reading files from the hard disk.

As a practical matter, if you're using an OS like Linux that has complex BIOS-mode boot
loaders, EFI-mode booting is likely to be similar to BIOS-mode booting, since GRUB 2 (the
most popular BIOS-mode boot loader for Linux) has been ported to work under EFI, and many
Linux distributions install GRUB 2 by default on EFI systems. OTOH, you can replace or
supplement GRUB 2 with other EFI boot loaders. Indeed, the Linux kernel itself can be an EFI
boot loader; code was added to do this with the 3.3.0 kernel. Used in this way, the EFI itself
loads and runs the Linux kernel, or you can use a third-party boot manager like rEFInd or
gummiboot to let you select which OS or kernel to boot.

How would I know that I'm booting with UEFI not with BIOS?

As Root says, there are clues in the firmware's user interface; however, those are unreliable
and vary from one computer to another. The only way to be sure is to check to see how the
computer booted. In Linux, for instance, the presence of a directory called /sys/firmware/efi is
diagnostic. If it's present, you've booted in EFI mode; if it's not present, you've probably booted
in BIOS mode. (This directory can be absent on an EFI-mode boot under some circumstances,
though.) dmesg output that refers to EFI is also diagnostic of an EFI-mode boot. In Windows,
the partition table of the boot disk is diagnostic; if it's GPT, you booted in EFI mode, and if it's
MBR, you booted in BIOS mode.

https://superuser.com/questions/496026/what-is-the-difference-in-boot-with-bios-and-boot-with-uefi 1/4
2/18/2018 What is the difference in "Boot with BIOS" and "Boot with UEFI" - Super User

So what is the real different in the "boot with BIOS" and "boot with UEFI"?

EFI can be faster, but that's not certain. The biggest speed difference is in hardware
initialization early in the process. On my systems, this is a fraction of the total boot time, so a
reduction in the hardware initialization time, while good, doesn't make all that much difference.
It's not like I'm rebooting every ten minutes, after all.

UEFI supports a feature called Secure Boot that's intended, as the name suggests, to improve
security. It does this by requiring a digital "signature" of boot loaders, which in turn should
require signing of kernels, and so on up the chain. This should make it harder for malware
authors to insert their code into the pre-boot process, thus improving security. This sounds
good, but it also complicates dual-boot configurations, since code like GRUB and the Linux
kernel must be signed. The major Linux distribution vendors are working on ways to make
these requirements less of a burden for average Linux users, and they've got some preliminary
stuff ready. At the moment, though, disabling Secure Boot is the easiest way to deal with it.
This is a practical concern mainly for brand-new computers that ship with Windows 8, since
Microsoft is requiring Secure Boot be enabled to get Windows 8 certification. Some people
confuse UEFI and Secure Boot (the latter is just one feature of the former), but it deserves
mention as a difference between BIOS and UEFI because it's causing some problems for new
Windows 8 computers. If you've got an older system or are comfortable enough with firmware
setup utilities to disable Secure Boot, this need not be a real problem.

Microsoft ties the boot disk's partition table type to the firmware type (MBR to BIOS; GPT to
UEFI). Because MBR tops out at 2TiB (assuming standard sector sizes), this means that UEFI
is a practical necessity to boot Windows on over-2TiB disks. You can still use such big disks as
data disks under Windows, though, and you can boot some non-Microsoft OSes (such as
Linux and FreeBSD) on big disks using GPT under BIOS.

As a practical matter if you're concerned about or interested in UEFI, the biggest issue is
simply that UEFI is new enough that support for it is a bit spotty, particularly in some older and
more exotic OSes. UEFI itself is new enough that most of its implementations are buggy, and
those that aren't vary enough amongst themselves that it can be hard to describe things
generally. Thus, using UEFI can be a challenge. OTOH, UEFI is the future. It's got some
modest advantages, some of which will become more important in time (such as the 2TiB boot
disk limit of Windows). Switching to a UEFI boot will change a few details of the boot process,
but your overall computing experience won't change all that much once you overcome any
boot issues you may encounter.

EDIT:

Could you expand on the OpRom settings (Option Rom). They seem to allow you choose
between UEFI booting or "Legacy" booting and they apply to the Video card, Network card,
and various other PCI devices.

Many plug-in cards provide firmware that interfaces with the firmware on the motherboard. The
two types of firmware must be able to "talk" if the card's firmware is to do any good. This is
necessary to use the card before an OS boots -- for instance, to display your firmware's
options or a boot manager menu on a video card, to perform a network boot via a network
card, or to boot from a hard disk connected to a disk controller card.

Just as with boot loaders, the code in a plug-in device's firmware is written to interface with
either BIOS or EFI (although plug-in cards can support both, if I'm not mistaken). Some EFIs
provide options to enable or disable this support on a fine-grained basis, as you've observed.
In some cases, an EFI can use a card's BIOS-mode support to enable it to work in EFI mode,
by "translating" the calls. (This is common with video cards, for instance; you can often plug in
an old video card with nothing but BIOS support in its firmware and still use it to boot in EFI
mode.)

I don't know precisely what each of the settings you note does. For instance, I don't know if
"BIOS only" for one of these options would make the card work only in BIOS mode, "translate"
so that the EFI can use the BIOS-mode calls in EFI mode, or something else. In fact, given the
lack of standards in other EFI user interface areas, I would expect the details to differ from one
EFI to another, so you may need to consult your computer's documentation or experiment if
you need to know the details. I've seen some computers with very similar-sounding options in
two different menus, which further complicates matters.

edited Jan 25 '16 at 17:22 answered Nov 6 '12 at 23:17


Rod Smith
15.6k 2 18 37

If a harddisk has both a BIOS boot partition AND a EFI System Partition, does this mean that this
harddisk can be booted in BIOS mode and EFI mode? So then the harddisk is "boot mode" agnostic? I
saw on the gdisk tutorial, that it setup a BIOS Boot Partition and EFI System Partition. Also in other
cases, some have said that you may need /boot on a different partition, (mainly because I'm trying to

https://superuser.com/questions/496026/what-is-the-difference-in-boot-with-bios-and-boot-with-uefi 2/4
2/18/2018 What is the difference in "Boot with BIOS" and "Boot with UEFI" - Super User
use ZFS). How would one reconcile a RAIDED /boot with BIOS boot partition and EFI system
partition? – CMCDragonkai Jul 3 '14 at 0:49

A disk can have both an ESP and a BIOS Boot Partition. The latter is used only by GRUB, so a disk can
be bootable in both EFI and BIOS even without the latter, depending on what boot loader is used. A
separate Linux /boot partition normally exists outside of a RAID array. No matter the boot mode, the
boot loader must be able to read the kernel, and most boot loaders can't handle software RAID. (GRUB
can supposedly do it, but few people even try.) – Rod Smith Jul 3 '14 at 1:35

I need to use a soft RAID for /boot because ZFS cannot have /boot on it. I asked on the ZFS on
Linux mailing list. – CMCDragonkai Jul 3 '14 at 1:41

So if I do have a separate /boot partition on soft RAID, which one should be mounted on /boot ?
Should it be EFI System Partition or the RAID md0 ? – CMCDragonkai Jul 3 '14 at 2:43

CMCDragonkai: I recommend you ask a new question about your ZFS and /boot issue. – Rod Smith
Jul 3 '14 at 12:58

As we all know that BIOS is important part for accessing boot option. So now UEFI will
do that? How?

UEFI is a cross-platform firmware interface that replaces the x86-specific firmware standard
named BIOS. Many UEFI implementations also include a BIOS compatibility/"legacy" mode, to
enable booting from MBRs and presenting a BIOS-like interface to OSes; however, this is not
required by the standard.

How would I know that I'm booting with UEFI not with BIOS?

If you have a UEFI-compatible motherboard that offers compatibility/legacy BIOS booting, then
its firmware menu will provide choices such as setting a default boot mode or even booting
single devices in either UEFI or BIOS mode:

Otherwise, there might not be an easy way to tell, without e.g. probing the firmware using an
OS.

So what is the real different in the "boot with BIOS" and "boot with UEFI"?

There are many differences:

UEFI defines a similar OS-firmware interface like BIOS but is not specific to any processor
architecture. BIOS is specific to the Intel x86 processor architecture, as it relies on the 16-
bit "real mode" interface supported by x86 processors.
UEFI can be configured to expedite various parts of the booting process, for example,
UEFI on Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3 initializes in 11 seconds versus BIOS in 19 seconds.
UEFI mode may present different firmware/hardware features to the same installed OS
than BIOS mode would.

See more info about UEFI.

edited Sep 29 '15 at 22:32 answered Oct 30 '12 at 7:50


underscore_d Elmo

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2/18/2018 What is the difference in "Boot with BIOS" and "Boot with UEFI" - Super User
113 6 9,116 14 43 84

1 It's not always possible to tell what the actual boot mode is based on firmware settings alone, because
most EFIs rely on disk-based factors, as well as firmware settings, to determine the boot mode. Such
disk-based factors include the partition table type, "boot/active" flag settings in the MBR, the
presence/absence of the EFI System Partition or files within it, and so on. The only way to tell for sure is
to check for signs of an EFI-mode or a BIOS-mode boot in the OS you've booted, and those signs are
OS-specific. – Rod Smith Sep 7 '13 at 17:05

1 No, UEFI is not ever "implemented on top of a traditional BIOS". UEFI is a type of firmware that replaces
the older type named BIOS. It may include a compatibility/legacy mode that enables it to boot from a
BIOS-style MBR and present a BIOS-equivalent interface to OSes that want one, but that doesn't mean
it has BIOS underneath it whatsoever. – underscore_d Sep 29 '15 at 22:10

1 What does P0/P1/P2 mean in your image? – CMCDragonkai Jan 25 '16 at 8:21

The image link is broken – Dan Dascalescu Sep 3 '16 at 4:40

1 @underscore_d, there are EFI implementions that run on top of a traditional BIOS. I wrote about one,
the Gigabyte "hybrid EFI," here. My experience with it was quite negative. There are also Clover and
DUET, which run like boot loaders on standard BIOS-based computers to enable them to run EFI-mode
boot loaders and OSes. Clover and DUET aren't technically firmware, though, so I'm not sure they really
count. – Rod Smith Mar 14 '17 at 12:53

Q: As we all know, BIOS is an important part of accessing boot options. So now UEFI
will do that? How?

A: This is a confusion about the terms. E.g. “Enter the BIOS to change blabla.” The politically
correct term is “firmware setup utility” for that thing you enter. If you talk about “BIOS”
contrasting it with “UEFI”, it refers to something else, namely: the boot execution environment.

So if you mean that setup utility, then a) don’t call it UEFI and b) it is basically the same thing
as in former times.

How the setup-utility communicates with the hardware and it’s permanent storage is private to
the firmware. So nothing changed there, either.

Q: So what is the real different in the "boot with BIOS" and "boot with UEFI"?

A: The environment the boot-loaders find themselves in is different. And with UEFI, that
environment is clearer specified, way more modern and feature-rich.

edited Feb 4 at 14:03 answered Jul 28 '15 at 15:58


Robert Siemer
222 2 8

https://superuser.com/questions/496026/what-is-the-difference-in-boot-with-bios-and-boot-with-uefi 4/4

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