HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation - Manual (Page 140)

14 MultiBoot
About the boot device order
As the computer starts, the system attempts to boot from enabled boot devices. The MultiBoot utility,
which is enabled at the factory, controls the order in which the system selects a boot device. Boot devices
can include optical drives, diskette drives, a network interface card (NIC), hard drives, and USB devices.
Boot devices contain bootable media or files that the computer needs to start and operate properly.
NOTE: Some boot devices must be enabled in Computer Setup before they can be included in the
boot order.
The factory setting is for the computer to select the boot device by searching enabled boot devices and
drive bay locations in the following order:
NOTE: Some of the boot devices and drive bay locations listed may not be supported on your
computer.
● Notebook upgrade bay
● Notebook hard drive
● USB diskette drive
● USB CD-ROM drive
● USB hard drive
● Notebook Ethernet
● Secure Digital (SD) Memory Card
● Docking station upgrade bay
● External SATA drive
You can change the order in which the computer searches for a boot device by changing the boot order
in Computer Setup. You can also press
esc while the “Press the ESC key for Startup Menu” message
is displayed at the bottom of the screen, and then press f9 . Pressing f9 displays a menu that shows the
current boot devices and allows you to select a boot device. Or, you can use MultiBoot Express to set
the computer to prompt you for a boot location each time the computer turns on or restarts.
If MultiBoot is disabled, the computer uses a fixed boot order that consists of first searching for a drive
A boot device. If none is found, the computer looks for a drive C boot device. Drive A boot devices
include optical drives and diskette drives. Drive C boot devices include optical drives and hard drives.
The NIC does not have an assigned drive letter.
NOTE: An optical drive (such as a CD-ROM drive) can boot either as drive A or drive C, depending
on the format of the boot CD.
Enabling boot devices in Computer Setup
The computer will boot to a USB device or a NIC device only if the device has first been enabled in
Computer Setup.
128 Chapter 14 MultiBoot