[ubuntu-uk] Windows 8 (a pox on it)

[Gareth France]

On 15/02/13 17:31, Rowan Berkeley wrote:
> On 15/02/13 16:44, Alan Pope wrote:
>> On 15/02/13 13:50, Rowan Berkeley wrote:
>>> "Windows 7 won't solve the problem, because it won't give you access to
>>> UEFI.
>>
>> What does that mean? UEFI is something which Windows 7, Windows 8,
>> 64-bit Ubuntu, Fedora and probably other Linux distros support. It's
>> baked into the machine just like the BIOS used to be.
>>
>>  > Windows 8 is not just software;
>>
>> That's exactly what Windows 8 is, software. UEFI is not part of Windows,
>> if it were, what would it be doing on a 3 year old Apple MacBook Pro I
>> have?
>>
>>> it is also the PROM chips that
>>> contain the start-up sequence, which is UEFI. You are stuck with those
>>> PROM chips permanently, so I think you will have to go for dual boot
>>> rather than replacing Windows 8 with Ubuntu, otherwise you'll never be
>>> able to get to the start-up settings, which are in UEFI and are only
>>> accessible from inside Windows 8. That's the way they've designed it.
>>>
>>
>> No. Windows 8 has a utility which makes it easy for you to get to the
>> UEFI settings, but that doesn't mean you can't get to them via other 
>> means.
>>
>>> Therefore, you must:
>>> (1) Reinstall Windows 8, and you shouldn't have to pay for this. There
>>> should be a disk or stick or even an online package to reinstall 
>>> Windows
>>> 8, where you just type in your license key number.
>>> (2) Learn how to access UEFI from inside Windows 8, following these
>>> instructions:
>>> http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-access-the-bios-on-a-windows-8-computer/ 
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Or just install Ubuntu 12.04.2 or 12.10 64-bit and don't install Windows
>> at all as per:-
>>
>> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI
>>
>> Noting specifically this section:-
>>
>> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI#SecureBoot
>
> Thanks for all that, Alan. So, concretely, let's take for instance the 
> Compaq machine which I successfully converted from Windows 8 to Ubuntu 
> 12.10 using a USB stick. Given that F2 no longer works, and that the 
> Windows 8 machinery for getting into UEFI us no longer there, how in 
> fact would I get into UEFI on that machine if for some reason I needed 
> to? The answer is, install Boot-Repair from repositories:
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair
>
I don't understand this whole 'F2 no longer works' thing. Bios was 
accessed through a wide array of keys depending on who made the machine. 
Del, CTRL+S, F1, F2, CTRL+ESC and the list goes on. Surely UEFI is 
accessed in exactly the same manner isn't it?