SSD going so fast you can't get to the BIOS in Win7?

[renegade44]

Then try this tool located in the Windows 8 download section for the ASrock Extreme4 board. Or whatever Asrock Board you have.

Restart to UEFI

It works for me. I have WIn7 with the UEFI startup partition so if you have a different file system it may not work.

If some other brave souls would like to try this we can get any idea how it works for other rigs

Not responsible for any failures that result if you try this of course.

Big Thanks to Parsec for the suggestion!!!

[parsec]

Thanks for that, so it did work for you, great! You have a UEFI booting, GPT partitioned OS drive, correct? CSM disabled? I don't know if that is required for this utility to work, I've never tried it with Windows 7 and regular BIOS booting.

Are you using the Fast Boot option? I assume the Ultra Fast setting does not work for you, due to using a video card. Video cards need a GOP compatible Vbios, which the Intel IGP graphics has, but most video card don't.

Actually, if I have Fast Boot disabled, and UEFI booting Windows 8 from a SSD, I can still get into the UEFI with my keyboard. I must be quick, since from a cold start I'm at the desktop in ten seconds. Some keyboards take time to wake up, and you K330 may be waiting for the SetPoint software to start. What I mean is the keyboard is not awake fast enough for the system to catch the Del/F2 key entry. That is just a guess. Also, if you use a USB 3.0 port for the connection, wired or wireless, that may not start up as fast as a USB 2.0 port does. Again, not sure if this is what causes your keyboard to apparently not get seen when the PC first starts, if that is what really happens.

With Windows 8 and UEFI booting, with Ultra Fast boot enabled, you simply cannot get into the UEFI at all when starting the PC. That is the reason that Restart to UEFI utility exists (never had a problem with it, BTW.) Windows 8 itself has a feature to restart to the UEFI, somewhat buried but it's there. I wonder is some of these tablet or smaller ultrabook PCs even have a BIOS/UEFI interface at all.

[renegade44]

I have a UEFI booting, GPT partitioned OS drive. From what I can tell it is a two partition GPT drive not a three. Not sure about CSM. Where would I check? And yes fast boot is enabled

I've never been very good at banging the delete key at the right time even with a HDD so I think I'll take a pass on using the keyboard unless its the only option.

[chris2u]

Can confirm that the Restart to UEFI utility works OK for me..

Windows 7 x64 , FM2A75 Pro4 , With A10-5800k Apu, An SSD OS drive but no GPT.

Fast boot does not always work, but at least now I can get into UEFI when I need to.

[parsec]

Good, it is a convenient option that should have been in Windows before Windows 8.

Frankly renegade, it sounds like you are not really UEFI booting, if you don't have CSM disabled (Advanced options, ACPI, at the bottom), and you don't see three partitions in Disk Management, and you are using a video card, you can't be. A new Nvidia 600 series card I have won't work with UEFI booting, since its Vbios does not support GOP, needed for UEFI booting. Fast boot does speed things up considerably, so that could explain it.

[Nux Vomica]

Try holding down the delete key as soon as you power on and don't take your finger off of it until you get into the BIOS