Basic BIOS/UEFI Settings for Beginners

How to Access BIOS/UEFI

During startup, press the appropriate key for your brand: usually F1/F2 (Lenovo ThinkPad), F2/F12 (Dell Latitude), F10/Esc (HP EliteBook/ProBook). The key should be pressed immediately after powering on, before the Windows logo appears.

Settings Safe for Beginners

• Boot Order — if you need to boot from a USB drive to reinstall the system.
• Date and Time — if they've reset after replacing the CMOS battery.
• System Information — viewing the model, serial number, installed memory (safe viewing, changes nothing).

What's Best Left Untouched Without Understanding the Consequences

Voltage/overclocking settings, advanced processor power management parameters — can cause unstable operation if changed without understanding their purpose.

TPM and Secure Boot

These settings are covered in more detail in a separate article — important for Windows 11 compatibility.

If Something Goes Wrong

Most BIOS have a "Load Default Settings" / "Restore Defaults" option — this reverts all settings to factory defaults without data loss on the disk.