UEFI Installation Media Format and default boot behavior
This section describes the installation media formats and default boot behavior for UEFI platforms.
Media Format for x64, x86, or ARM-based PCs
The following guidelines apply for installation media on x64 platforms:
Windows installation media supports boot on both BIOS and UEFI platforms by taking advantage of multi-entry El Torito boot catalog support.
The default El Torito boot entry is a BIOS entry that includes the 80x86 Platform ID, which is defined as “0x00” in hexadecimal.
The second El Torito boot entry is an EFI entry that includes the Platform ID as “0xEF” in hexadecimal. The entry references a FAT partition that contains the bootable EFI application at \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI.
Media Format for IA64 Platform
The following guideline applies for installation media on IA64 platforms:
- The media contains a single El Torito boot entry that defines the Platform ID as “0xEF” in hexadecimal. The entry references a FAT partition that contains the bootable EFI application at \EFI\BOOT\BOOTIA64.EFI.
Default Boot Behavior
Firmware vendors must ensure that the following conditions exist:
The BIOS ignores boot entries that do not have the 80x86 Platform ID, which is defined as “0x00” in hexadecimal. Failure to ignore other boot entries results in the display of a confusing boot menu to the end user.
The BIOS boots based on the BIOS entry without prompt.
The UEFI boot manager ignores boot entries that do not have the “0xEF” Platform ID.
The UEFI boot manager boots based on the EFI entry without prompt.
To support the ability to boot from DVD media, the Windows installation DVD contains many El Torito boot entries that enable boot from either BIOS or UEFI. The default El Torito boot entry is for BIOS.
Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008 include support for the “Non-removable Media Boot Behavior” section that was added to the UEFI 2.3 specification. These versions of Windows copy the Windows boot application from \efi\microsoft \boot\bootmgfw.efi to \efi\boot\boot*{arch}*.efi on the EFI system partition during initial installation and when updates are required for bootmgfw.efi. This copy enables a default boot option for Windows if a nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM) boot entry is not available, such as when a hard disk is moved from one platform to another.
Other Media Information
The following additional guidelines apply for boot media:
Windows supports both CD and DVD boot from the Universal Disk Format (UDF) file system. Windows installation media also uses El Torito and is built by using the UDF bridge format to support both ISO 9660 and UDF version 1.02 file systems.
The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) includes an updated version of Oscdimg.exe that supports the creation of a multi-entry El Torito boot catalog.
See Also
Tasks
Boot to UEFI Mode or Legacy BIOS mode
WinPE: Boot in UEFI or legacy BIOS mode