is UEFI important?

[Deleted member 1267329]

Is UEFI a must or is it just for slightly faster boot time?

 

[photonboy]

there are several changes including (on some motherboards) a secure mode to prevent malware infections or hacking at the unprotected boot period.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface

Note that you must have UEFI enabled or you will boot in legacy mode which won't have Secure Boot enabled if you have this function. It can also be a hassle for dual-boot as both most be UEFI or legacy otherwise you need to keep changing the BIOS setting when switching the OS.

 

[Deleted member 1267329]

there are several changes including (on some motherboards) a secure mode to prevent malware infections or hacking at the unprotected boot period.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface

Note that you must have UEFI enabled or you will boot in legacy mode which won't have Secure Boot enabled if you have this function. It can also be a hassle for dual-boot as both most be UEFI or legacy otherwise you need to keep changing the BIOS setting when switching the OS.

I just realised that my newly installed windows 10 BIOS mode is LEGACY. Is it a disadvantage or should I try to get UEFI mode? And if so , how?

 

[wpgwpg]

It's a feature of your motherboard. It either comes with it or it doesn't. All the newer PCs are shipping with it. It does not give you a faster boot. In fact if you have the secure boot feature turned on, it takes about a minute longer. It's a security feature.

 

[Math Geek]

i use legacy mode for win 7 and win 10 and have no issues. no reason to worry about changing it now. if you ever have to do a fresh install, then feel free to change it then but for now, it's not an issue and won't bother the system at all.

 

[MeanMachine41]

Yes UEFI mode is best and in many ways and Legacy mode can be a disadvantage especially if your OS is on an SSD.
As you have only recently installed windows, wipe the drive (back up anything of importance) and reinstall Windows for UEFI to ensure your Disk is partitioned correctly.
Go into your Bios and ensure the Advanced Host Controller Interface AHCI is set for your SATA configuration and storage performance.

A method to convert Legacy to UEFI in Windows without loosing data
Go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1eXD30Fox4

 

[Deleted member 1267329]

It's a feature of your motherboard. It either comes with it or it doesn't. All the newer PCs are shipping with it. It does not give you a faster boot. In fact if you have the secure boot feature turned on, it takes about a minute longer. It's a security feature.

Well I had UEFI before but after reinstalling windows its Legacy. So its not entirely true?

 

[Deleted member 1267329]

i use legacy mode for win 7 and win 10 and have no issues. no reason to worry about changing it now. if you ever have to do a fresh install, then feel free to change it then but for now, it's not an issue and won't bother the system at all.

But how do I change it to UEFI?

 

[Math Geek]

changing it back means reformatting the drive completely and changing it before doing a fresh install or windows. i personally do not think it is worth the effort if everything else is working fine but if it bothers you, it is not hard to do just gonna be time consuming to do the fresh install.

i see a few entries around the web of how to do it without a fresh install but my experience has been this is very hit or miss with more misses than hits. you could try if it bothers you to know it is in legacy mode. again i personally don't see a reason to worry about it but .....

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/14286.converting-windows-bios-installation-to-uefi.aspx


i take no responsibility for how any of these methods may work out for you (or not work out for you). if you try it, keep in mind a fresh install may be needed anyway if something goes wrong. these methods include deleting the MBR and then trying to rebuild it with EUFI while leaving the windows install intact. sounds just as tricky as it actually is with a lot of ways for it to go wrong. follow any guide you decide to use to the letter and cross your fingers

 

[photonboy]

It's a feature of your motherboard. It either comes with it or it doesn't. All the newer PCs are shipping with it. It does not give you a faster boot. In fact if you have the secure boot feature turned on, it takes about a minute longer. It's a security feature.

Secure Boot does not take a minute. Where did you get that information?

My Legacy time until Windows starts to boot is about 20 seconds and UEFI with secure boot was roughly the same give or take two seconds. I did time it but it was four years ago.

I know secure boot was enabled because I checked with the Command Prompt.

And UEFI can absolutely give a faster boot but it depends on how the system has been setup. THIS explains it quite well:
http://www.tested.com/tech/pcs/2894-what-you-should-know-about-uefi-and-windows-boot-times/