Windows 7 & 10, BIOS vs. EUFI questions

pokeefe0001 · 27 Jul 2015

I've been reading about UEFI and and thoroughly confused. I am running Windows 7 on 3 platforms - 2 PCs and 1 laptop. At least 2 of these (and maybe all 3) have UEFI-capable motherboards+firmware (or whatever it is that determines UEFI capability) but all are booted with BIOS. And if I correctly understand what I've read, I would have to re-install Windows to change this. I'm not sure If I would gain anything from this except maybe a faster boot-up.

I assume the Windows 10 update is not going to change this - I will still be using BIOS after the update. Is that correct? But if I were currently using UEFI for Windows 7 I would still use UEFI after the update?

So may real question: Does UEFI buy me enough that I should plan on (somehow) forcing a UEFI installation? And would it be worth while to do this while I'm on Windows 7 in preparation for the update? (I don't plan on doing the update for several months so I'm not talking about any immediate action.)

gregrocker · 27 Jul 2015

You can't really know for sure until you compare the features of your UEFI firmware to the old legacy BIOS being phased out. To do this you'd enable all UEFI settings in BIOS, boot the Win7 installation disk as a UEFI device, delete all partitions to change the formatting to GPT, then Clean Reinstall Windows 7.

I believe UEFI may be more stable after working daily with it in thousands of cases since it was released. In the beginning I was skeptical, especially when we struggled to get it installed for several years until most UEFI firmware came of age. I see very few cases any more of this.

The benefits are mouse support, a more interactive firmware, slightly faster boot, greater security and stability. But this is different for every firmware. So if you want to know for sure then reinstall to UEFI either Windows 7 or Windows 10 after upgrading.

UEFI BIOS vs. Legacy BIOS - YouTube
UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums
UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows

ThrashZone · 27 Jul 2015

Hi,
Yea I wouldn't worry about it
Most uefi mother boards have a little feature = By default called ahci which is uefi compatibility mode install

You still have uefi bios with mouse support
The only thing you gain is 2 small system reserved partitions instead of 1 in legacy bios
Which these small partitions usually are way too small and get corrupt eventually

Win-10 installs "If" you make a partition to install 10 on that is smaller than the drive a much larger system reserved partition is installed
I believe last I remember it was 450mb instead of a 100mb

If you install on a formatted drive it does not nor does win-7 or 8 create these small system reserved partitions,

You get a fast start up on either install so rest assured you will not get a fast start up using a uefi install

You get the fastest possible start up by,
1) installing windows on a ssd.
2) keep your eye out during installing third party programs... from creating a start up folder = except for Security programs which is all you need to start up with windows.

If you want to see what is starting with windows simply hit the WinKey and type
msconfig in the search box,
If you have more that 3... items this is what dictates how fast windows will start not uefi installs

Windows 7 & 10, BIOS vs. EUFI questions

Windows 7 & 10, BIOS vs. UEFI questions