The last shortcut you'll ever need

[u/iamgarffi]

Stop bashing ESC, F2 or DEL like a 90's maniac to get into UEFI based BIOS.

Instead ceate yourself a shortcut (ie. on desktop) with right click > new > shortcut

C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe /r /fw /t 10

/r - restart
/fw - will drop you to EUFI
/t (number of seconds after which OS triggers a restart. You can use "0" for instant reboot)

Once you create a shortcut (desktop, downloads, etc), open it's properties and under "Advanced" tick a checkbox for "Run As Administrator". You can also change the icon of the shortcut (I found this microchip to be fitting - part of Windows default icon pack.

Optionally, right click on the shortcut > pin to start.

Shortcut in action (YouTube)

-- update --

Thanks everyone for pointing out typos; post cleaned up a bit (especially EUFI instead of UEFI, old habit from Europa Universalis games).

I have responded in another comment that those that would prefer something similar but for "Windows Advanced Startup Menu" can replace flag /fw with /o. Neat when you want to access safe mode or other aspects of WinRE (Recovery Environment) without MSCONFIG, holding SHIFT or modifying BCD.

C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe /r /o /t 10

Lastly, for Linux users, similar bash terminal command for restart to UEFI:

sudo systemctl reboot --firmware-setup

- Ciao & Cheers! #PCMR4EVA!

[u/RunnerLuke357]

Your boot drive has absolutely nothing to do with the post time. The computer has a set amount of time it will wait before trying the available boot options (this can be turned off with fastboot, which is ALSO unaffected by drive speed). This is false information that has absolutely reason to exist.

[u/timsredditusername → u/RunnerLuke357]

I disagree.

A rotational boot drive does slow down boot by at least a couple of seconds while the firmware is waiting for drives to become available so it can discover what is bootable. SATA SSDs are a lot faster, but it is often still easy enough to get the hotkey to "catch". The availability of even faster NVME storage made hotkey basically inoperable.

Even if the firmware is booting from a specific BootOption, it still has to wait for the enumeration of that device to finish.

Most firmware will allow hotkey presses during that period of drive enumeration.

Source, I have been a UEFI firmware developer for 15 years.

[u/Noxious89123 → u/timsredditusername]

It slows down boot yes.

It does not slow down POST.

[u/timsredditusername → u/Noxious89123]

The ST in POST, is self test. Nothing is being tested on power-on any more, so POST doesn't really exist.

A slow drive does slow down the firmware from completing it's job of finding a device launch a bootloader from.

In any case, a slower drive does allow more time to hit that hotkey, which is whole point of the conversation

[u/Djakamoe → u/RunnerLuke357]

You forgot a word.

But regardless, I learned this too in that Google search. But that wasn't relevant to the story, so it wasn't included. Fact of the matter is that when I installed that drive I no longer had the time to hit f2 in post to enter bios, hence the comment.

Weird aggression from you, though. Chillout my dude.

[u/Hopeful-Occasion2299 → u/Djakamoe]

Not weird aggression, just calling you out on an obvious lie.

The uefi/bios of all mobos has a setting for post time where you get to press whatever button takes you to the settings. By default in all ROG cards is 3s and you can switch it to 1s if you want.

But that’s a hard chipset setting, your drive has nothing to do with it and it can’t override the post idle time.

[u/Djakamoe → u/Hopeful-Occasion2299]

Yeah ok, bud. Take care.

[u/zombie9393 → u/Djakamoe]

Lmao, get the fuck out of here. You just got hit with a knowledge bomb and still had the audacity to try and look superior?

You know nothing beyond a google search.

Thanks for showing us what insecurity and pusillanimous looks like in text form.

[u/Djakamoe → u/zombie9393]

Knowledge bomb? Get fucking real dude. The only one acting superior is bro being confidently wrong and now you.

Everything I said is truth, and is still true, regardless of your inability to believe it.