How To Manage EFI/UEFI Boot Options with DiskGenius Free from Windows?

Table of Contents

• Freeware to manage EFI/UEFI boot options
• Guide 1: How to create / delete an UEFI boot entry?
• Guide 2: How to backup / restore an UEFI boot entry?
• Guide 3: How to change UEFI boot sequence?
• Guide 4: How to boot into UEFI BIOS directly from Windows?
• Guide 5: How to set a one-time UEFI boot entry?
• Conclusion

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is the new standard used by all latest computers and it is designed to replace the traditional BIOS. UEFI can boot from drives larger than 2TB and it enables Windows PC to boot faster. Moreover, it supports Secure Boot, making sure the boot process is not tampered by malware. Although you can enter UEFI interface by way of pressing required keys when computer boots, there is an easier way to access and manage UEFI boot entries in Windows.

Freeware to manage EFI/UEFI boot options

When it comes to freeware of managing EFI/UEFI boot options in Windows, DiskGenius Free edition should be the best choice. Functions of EFI/UEFI boot option management is available for DiskGenius Free edition. With this freeware, you can easily edit, create, delete, restore, backup EFI/UEFI boot entries, change EFI boot sequence, etc. in Windows. These functions are designed in a user-friendly interface, so that you can easily perform various tasks under Windows without rebooting to UEFI firmware settings UI.

• Create, delete, edit, backup, restore, disable and enable EFI/UEFI boot options.
• Configure a one-time boot option for next restart.
• Modify EFI/UEFI boot sequence.
• Set to boot into UEFI BIOS setup UI from inside Windows.
• Create WinPE-based bootable USB disk with which you can boot computer from USB when Windows crashes.
• Manage ESP partition (EFI system partition), such as create, delete, backup, restore ESP drive.

Besides, DiskGenius Free edition comes with various useful functions for disk & partition management, data backup, such as resize partition, convert GPT/MBR, wipe hard drive, migrate Windows OS to SSD/HDD, clone disk/partition, image partition, check and repair bad sectors, permanently delete files, view HDD S.M.A.R.T. information, manage virtual disk, etc. Besides, it provides trial functions for file recovery, RAW drive recovery, lost partition recovery, etc. DiskGenius is Windows software and it is compatible with all Windows versions, both 32-bit and 64-bit.

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Guide 1: How to create / delete an UEFI boot entry?

With DiskGenius Free edition, you can easily create or delete EFI/UEFI boot entries in Windows without rebooting into UEFI BIOS.

Step 1   Launch DiskGenius in UEFI-based Windows, and click Tools > Set UEFI BIOS boot entries, as follows.

Step 2   On the pop-up window, click Add button

Step 3   Browse your computer to locate the boot option you want to add and click Open.

It is equally simple to delete a boot entry: select the boot entry you want to remove and click Delete button.

Guide 2: How to backup / restore an UEFI boot entry?

When you turn on a UEFI-based computer, the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware will load boot files stored in ESP partition so as to start Windows system. In general, ESP partition holds boot loader software for the installed Windows OS. If the partition or boot files gets lost or corrupted, Windows system may not be able to boot normally. Hence, you can create a backup for boot entries. DiskGenius provides an easy method to backup UEFI boot entries.

Step 1   Start DiskGenius Free edition on your UEFI-based computer, and choose Tools > Set UEFI BIOS boot entries, as picture below.

Step 2   Select the boot entry you want to backup and click Backup button.

Step 3   Name the backup file and set a location to store it and click Save button.

When you need to restore the boot entry, you can simple click Restore button, as follows:

Find the backup file and click Open button. After that the boot entry will be restored.

Guide 3: How to change UEFI boot sequence?

How to modify UEFI boot order in Windows? In many cases, computers boot so quickly, and the boot-up process do not want to slow down to wait and check if users press a key. Moreover, many users are not very familiar with operation in UEFI BIOS. Therefore, it will be convenient if there is a way to change UEFI boot sequence in Windows instead of rebooting to UEFI BIOS firmware settings. The free UEFI boot manager software DiskGenius enables users to change UEFI boot order in Windows rather than pressing a key during computer boots up. Let's take a closer look at how this works.

Step 1   Install and run DiskGenius Free edition on your UEFI-based PC and choose Tools > Set UEFI BIOS boot entries.

Step 2   Select the boot entry you want to change its sequence in the boot order list and click Up or Down button to move it to desired position.

Guide 4: How to boot into UEFI BIOS directly from Windows?

The traditional method to enter UEFI BIOS setup is quickly pressing the specific key or a combination of keys on keyboard during system boots such as ESC, DEL, F10, F2, or whatever depending on the motherboard. The splash screen shows the key you need to press, and yet it is not easy for beginners. If you are not an experienced computer user and find it difficult to access the UEFI BIOS firmware, you can refer to the following guide which shows how to boot into UEFI BIOS directly from Windows. Thus, you don't have to press the required key as rapidly as possible during system booting.

Step 1   Download, install and run DiskGenius Free, and select Set UEFI BIOS boot entries under Tools menu.

Step 2   From the pop-up window, select "Enter UEFI BIOS configuration interface directly only at next boot time" and click OK button. Then click Restart now button, and computer will restart at once.

Computer is restarting.

UEFI BIOS boot manager is launched, and you can change boot sequence or enter boot maintenance manager to configure other settings.

Guide 5: How to set a one-time UEFI boot entry?

Usually, your computer boots form its main hard drive/SSD which installs Windows system. However, sometimes, you may need to boot from other devices such as bootable USB flash drive. To so this, you need to tell your computer's BIOS to load system from a different device instead of the predefined hard drive/SSD. In this case, you can set a one-time boot in DiskGenius Free. The one-time boot option will be the first boot option on the next boot and only the next boot. After the boot option is performed, the original boot order will be used again.

Step 1   Launch DiskGenius Free edition on your UEFI-based computer, and click Tools menu to choose Set UEFI BIOS boot entries, as follows:

Step 2   Locate the boot entry you want to set from the boot order list, select Boot this entry only next time and click Save Current boot entry button.

If you cannot find the boot entry you want to configure in the boot order list, you can click Add button to add it to the list.

Step 3   Click Restart now button and your computer will restart at once and boot from the specified entry.

Conclusion

DiskGenius Free is a useful and easy-to-use tool for users who want to manage boot entries for UEFI-based system. This free tool can be used to change boot sequence, edit, create, delete, backup and restore boot entries, specify a one-time boot entry for next restart, boot into UEFI BIOS setup from Windows. Besides, this tool can also create WinPE-based bootable USB disk, manage ESP partitions for you.