How to install windows 10 in UEFI mode

[Deleted member 1267329]

So I realised that my BIOS mode is in legacy.. I heard it should be in UEFI mode as its safer and faster. So how do I change it to UEFI and do I need to reinstall windows completely, if yes, how?

 

[photonboy]

1) see motherboard manual. it can be confusing, but basically in the compatibility section it may state UEFI or Legacy, or UEFI only etc so change everything to UEFI I guess.

2) not every motherboard has Secure Boot so it may not be any safer, and depending on the hardware may not be much faster either.

3) if you have secure boot then google for how to verify it's enabled (If it's not you have to reinstall Windows with UEFI enabled properly in the BIOS)

4) so, yes you'd have to reinstall Windows. It MAY be possible to change from legacy to UEFI, then boot to a W10 install media to do a REPAIR of some sorts but I can't confirm that.

I saw a few seconds improvement to the time Windows starts to boot (I had legacy and switched to UEFI when I reinstalled), but after that the motherboard isn't involved. My time also kept increasing due to Windows software.

By the time everything loads properly it's almost a MINUTE, and I gained about two seconds with UEFI though others will gain more.

I have an i7-3770K + GTX680 (BIOS flashed to UEFI), and secure boot capability for my UEFI. The BIOS is frankly very confusing. I also wish Windows install would say "hey, you aren't in UEFI mode so did you want to enable that before I install?".

 

[Deleted member 1267329]

1) see motherboard manual. it can be confusing, but basically in the compatibility section it may state UEFI or Legacy, or UEFI only etc so change everything to UEFI I guess.

2) not every motherboard has Secure Boot so it may not be any safer, and depending on the hardware may not be much faster either.

3) if you have secure boot then google for how to verify it's enabled (If it's not you have to reinstall Windows with UEFI enabled properly in the BIOS)

4) so, yes you'd have to reinstall Windows. It MAY be possible to change from legacy to UEFI, then boot to a W10 install media to do a REPAIR of some sorts but I can't confirm that.

I saw a few seconds improvement to the time Windows starts to boot (I had legacy and switched to UEFI when I reinstalled), but after that the motherboard isn't involved. My time also kept increasing due to Windows software.

By the time everything loads properly it's almost a MINUTE, and I gained about two seconds with UEFI though others will gain more.

Is it only the boot time that is faster with UEFI or is the pc faster in terms of gaming etc?

 

[photonboy]

The UEFI has zero impact on Windows performance.

The BIOS environment first does a POST (Power On Self Test) to check the basic hardware works, then at some point it starts Windows booting up.

Once that's done your gaming performance is usually limited by one of the following:
1) GPU
2) CPU
3) System memory
4) game SSD/HDD (for loading levels)

Usually in that order with GPU bottlenecks being common though CPU bottlenecks exist. If you have really slow memory then the CPU is left waiting so that's a memory bottleneck.

File transfer etc has nothing to do with the UEFI/BIOS in the context of this discussion.

 

[Deleted member 1267329]

The UEFI has zero impact on Windows performance.

The BIOS environment first does a POST (Power On Self Test) to check the basic hardware works, then at some point it starts Windows booting up.

Once that's done your gaming performance is usually limited by one of the following:
1) GPU
2) CPU
3) System memory
4) game SSD/HDD (for loading levels)

Usually in that order with GPU bottlenecks being common though CPU bottlenecks exist. If you have really slow memory then the CPU is left waiting so that's a memory bottleneck.

File transfer etc has nothing to do with the UEFI/BIOS in the context of this discussion.

So basically I'm good with the LEGACY mode and I dont have to do clean windows reinstall?