Command BIOS query doesn't work

[teckneeculler]

I've been trying to establish, without booting into the BIOS, if a machine's BIOS was set at UEFI or BIOS.
I found a command online - wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion - but my (Administrator) query said the command wasn't correct.
My elderly version of Powershell said the same thing.
I've also tried entering 'msinfo32' in a search box but the two BIOS-related entries say only:
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 2209, 8/06/2022
SMBIOS Version 3.1
Is there a command that can retrieve that information?

 

[dg1261]

Wouldn't it be easier to just look in Disk Management? UEFI requires an "EFI System" partition and a GPT boot disk, while BIOS/MBR requires a "System" partition and a Legacy/MBR boot disk.

So look in Disk Management and see if you have a partition labeled "EFI System" or just "System".

You can also look at the map of partitions and right click on the "Disk x" block (on the left end of the map) corresponding to your boot disk. If the popup context menu has a "Convert to GPT disk", that means that disk is Legacy/MBR. If you instead see a "Convert to MBR disk" (regardless of whether it is grayed out or not), the disk is GPT.

Either test will definitively tell you whether the system booted via UEFI or Legacy/MBR.

 

[teckneeculler]

dg1261: Thanks. But I wasn't referring to the disks, rather the BIOS setup itself. My main W7 machine runs 3 MBR disks and 3 GPT..

 

[dg1261]

But you can infer the UEFI/BIOS mode from the boot disk. You don't have to look at the BIOS directly. The UEFI/BIOS mode and the boot disk GPT-vs-MBR conditions are mutually exclusive.

If you have an "EFI System" partition and a GPT boot disk, you know the BIOS is set to UEFI mode. The BIOS cannot be Legacy/MBR mode or the system will not have booted.

Likewise, if you have a "System" partition and a MBR boot disk, the BIOS must be set to Legacy/MBR mode and cannot possibly be UEFI mode.

My main W7 machine runs 3 MBR disks and 3 GPT

But only one will be your boot disk. Examine that particular disk in Disk Management and it will definitively tell you how your UEFI/BIOS must be set in order for the system to have booted at all.

The status (GPT or MBR) of the unbooted disks will be irrelevant. It's only the boot disk that matters, and that has to be consistent with the UEFI/BIOS mode.

 

[Malneb]

I've been trying to establish, without booting into the BIOS, if a machine's BIOS was set at UEFI or BIOS.
I found a command online - wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion - but my (Administrator) query said the command wasn't correct.
My elderly version of Powershell said the same thing.
I've also tried entering 'msinfo32' in a search box but the two BIOS-related entries say only:
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 2209, 8/06/2022
SMBIOS Version 3.1
Is there a command that can retrieve that information?

wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion This command works in 7 but you probably missing an update. It only tells you what msinfo32 would tell you anyway and that is the bios revision. Pretty sure the BIOS mode entry in msinfo32 will be windows 10 on wards.

What the other person said you can check the partition table and if its GPT disk then it will be UEFI, it does not matter that you have a mix of both because if that is the case you will be 100% UEFI and those other disks will be in legacy compatibility mode.

You can also check bcedit in cmd

If the path is \Windows\System32\winload.efi, means you're using UEFI.

else If its \Windows\System32\winload.exe, will mean you're using Legacy BIOS.

You already said you have some GPT and some legacy disks on the computer so none of this matters you will be in UEFI mode still.

 

[teckneeculler]

dg1261: Thanks again, got it now

Malneb: Thanks also for the extra info. If that command works in an up-to-date W7, it definitely won't work in my rig. It hasn't been updated for years lol.
Actually, this would be the first issue I've had that relates to lack of updates. Tho it's not really an issue.
BTW, my boot disk is MBR and that's for a specific reason, namely D A Z

PS: For the benefit of anyone else trying to find the path to bcedit, the command is bcdedit (note the added 'd')
And on mine the path is winload.exe, so it's legacy.

Great tips, thanks guys.

Edit. WARNING! Be very careful with the 'bcdedit' command. Using it incorrectly could make the computer unbootable. Research first!