How To Designate a Start-Up Drive

Every personal computer has what is known as a Basic Input/Output System or BIOS for short. This is a microchip that's built in to a computer's motherboard and contains fundamental data on how the computer should initially set up and operate. The programs stored in BIOS execute independent of and prior to the operating system. One of the things that BIOS controls is which drive on the computer will be considered as the start-up drive. The start-up drive is the disk that contains boot information.

1. Be familiar with the basic functions of BIOS. Designating a start-up drive involves changing some settings in BIOS. It is important then to be familiar with this essential component of the computer. One of the operations that BIOS performs is the Power On Self Test (POST). In this procedure, the computer is able to figure out if all the necessary hardware from CPU to hard drives is present and functioning properly. If POST goes well, BIOS will then locate the operating system and transfer control to it. This is what is commonly known as the boot process. It is at this point that some basic drivers - the software that helps the operating system interface with the hardware, as well as the operating system itself are loaded. When BIOS searches for the operating system, it initially looks for boot information. This could be in the hard disk (usually labeled C:), in an optical disk inserted in the CD or DVD drive (usually labeled D:) or even in a floppy disk inserted in a floppy disk drive (usually labeled A:).
2. Access BIOS' configuration screen. The procedures that BIOS enacts when the computer is turned on occur automatically. We simply wait until the whole boot process ends and the desktop is finally displayed. But to change the designated start-up drive, we will need to interrupt BIOS' procedures. This is done by pressing the DEL (delete) key within eight to ten seconds after BIOS begins POST. Doing so will pull up BIOS' configuration screen. In that program, the user can alter several basic system configurations. This program's user interface will look different for each kind of BIOS as manufacturers write their own programs. But the system configurations available for modification are more or less the same for majority of BIOS.
3. Navigate to the section labeled Boot Sequence. Take note that the mouse is not yet functional at this point, so finding your way in BIOS involves using the keyboard's arrow keys. The Page Up/ Page Down buttons are usually used to cycle through the choice of settings for a particular item. In any case there would usually be a legend located below the screen that will inform the user which keys will execute which commands.
4. Assign the Start-Up drive. In the Boot Sequence section of BIOS the computer's available drives will be listed (using the letter labels). The drive on top of that list is the designated Start-Up drive. If BIOS fails to find any boot information on that drive, it will move down to the next drive on the list. Simply highlight the top item on this list and cycle through the available choices of drives. Afterward, remember to press the key assigned to execute the Save and Exit command. This will save the changes made, close the configuration screen and restart the computer.

One of the uses of changing the previously designated start-up drive is to hasten the boot process. By telling BIOS to go directly to the hard disk (which is where the operating system is located), the boot process will begin immediately and the other drives will be bypassed. In cases where troubleshooting needs to be done, one might prefer the start-up drive to be the CD or DVD drive as the boot disk/operating system installer disk that will be placed there will also contain maintenance programs.