How to Enable Secure Boot in Legacy BIOS?

By Piyusha Last updated May 15, 2023

Safety is the most important thing in our fast-paced world. More and more people try to do bad things and hack computers, so you should always keep your computer safe. Turning on Secure Boot in Legacy BIOS is one way to do this. This post will tell you all you need to know about Secure Boot and how to turn it on in Legacy BIOS.

Table of Contents

What is Legacy BIOS?

Before we talk about how to turn on Secure Boot in Legacy BIOS, it’s important to understand what Legacy BIOS is. Basic Input/Output System is what BIOS stands for. It is a piece of software that comes with the hardware of a computer. It gets the hardware running and lets the operating system talk to the hardware.

Before UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), most computers used Legacy BIOS, which is an older form of BIOS. Legacy BIOS was made for 16-bit systems and only had a small amount of memory, which limited how it could be used. But many computers still use Legacy BIOS, and in Legacy BIOS, it’s important to turn on Secure Boot.

What is Secure Boot?

A security function called “Secure Boot” was added to UEFI software. It makes sure that the boot process only loads known software. This way, malware can’t get into the computer. Secure Boot works by checking the software’s digital signature as it loads during the booting process. Secure Boot will stop it from running if the signature is not valid or if the software is not known.

If you’re using a Gigabyte motherboard, you may want to explore specific instructions for enabling Secure Boot in your Gigabyte system. For a detailed guide on how to enable Secure Boot specifically in Gigabyte motherboards, you can refer to our article on “Enable Secure Boot in Gigabyte.” This guide is tailored specifically to Gigabyte users, providing step-by-step instructions on accessing the BIOS interface and enabling Secure Boot. By clicking on the provided link, you’ll be redirected to the article, where you can learn more about configuring Secure Boot settings in your Gigabyte motherboard. Ensure that you follow the instructions carefully to enhance the security of your system effectively. Once you have successfully enabled Secure Boot in your Gigabyte motherboard, you can continue following the steps outlined in this article on “How to Enable Secure Boot in Legacy BIOS” to complete the process.

Enabling Secure Boot in Legacy BIOS

In Legacy BIOS, Secure Boot can be turned on in a few easy steps. What you have to do is:

Step 1: Change the Settings in the BIOS

To get into the BIOS setup utility, where the BIOS options are, you have to restart your machine and press the right key. Depending on who made your computer, you can get to the BIOS options by pressing any of the following keys:

Step 2: Find the Secure Boot option and Click on it

Once you’re in the BIOS settings, you need to find the Secure Boot choice. Depending on who made your computer, the Secure Boot choice is usually in either the Boot or Security tabs. You must turn on Secure Boot once you find the choice to do so.

Step 3: Enable the Secure Boot

To turn on Secure Boot, go to “Secure Boot” and change it to “Enabled.” You may also have to choose either Standard or Custom Secure Boot mode. Most people should use the Standard mode, which gives a high level of security without any extra settings.

Step 4: Save and Exit the BIOS Settings

Once Secure Boot is turned on, you must save your changes and leave the BIOS settings. Go to the Exit tab and click Save Changes and Exit to do this. Your changes will stay, and your computer will start up again.

How to Check Secure Boot State on Windows 10?

To find out where Windows 10 is with Secure Boot, do the following:

Also Read: Ways to Fix Error 0xc1900101 Occur During Windows 11 Installation

Open Start.
Find “System Information,” then click on the first link to open the app.
On the left, click on System Summary.
Find out what you need to know about the “Secure Boot State”:

“On” means the function is being used.
When it is “off,” it doesn’t work or isn’t on.

Check to see if Windows 10 is using Secure Boot.

Learn as much as you can about “BIOS Mode”:
This means that Secure Boot for UEFI can be turned on.
Legacy (BIOS): This means that you can turn on the feature, but you’ll have to do more.
If “Secure Boot State” is off and BIOS Mode is UEFI when you finish the steps, you can use the steps below to make the system safer and make sure it meets the standards for Windows 11.
If “Secure Boot State” is set to “Off” and “BIOS Mode” is set to “Legacy,” you should back up your computer, follow the steps below to change the system from MBR to GPT, and then continue with the steps to turn on Secure Boot.

What Might Be the Benefits of Enabling Secure Boot in Legacy BIOS?

You can get a lot of benefits from turning on Secure Boot in an old BIOS, especially in terms of security and defense from bad software. Here are some of the best one.

Attempts to use a bootkit or a rootkit are stopped: Secure Boot makes sure that only known software is run during the booting process. This makes it hard for bootkits and rootkits to take over the computer.

Also Read: Intel Xeon W-3400 Processors: Features of All New Intel Xeon W-3400

Malware protection: During start-up, Secure start checks the digital signatures of the boot loader and operating system kernel to make sure that malware isn’t running.

Secure Boot makes sure that only allowed software is loaded: This makes the system more stable. This stops software from starting that isn’t safe or doesn’t belong.

Protection of sensitive data: Secure Boot can help protect the very sensitive data by making sure that only a trusted software is running on the system and by preventing unauthorized entry to the system.

Compliance with industry standards: To meet security requirements, many industry standards, such as the UEFI Secure Boot standard, demand that Secure Boot be turned on.

Increased trust in the system: Secure Boot can also help increase trust in the system and reduce the risk of security breaches by making sure that only trusted software is loaded and running on the system.

In general, putting on Secure Boot in an old BIOS can help with security, stability, and meeting industry standards. People who care about the safety and security of their system may find that the extra work is well worth it.

Conclusion

In Legacy BIOS, it’s easy to turn on Secure Boot, which makes your computer much safer. Make sure that only known software runs during the boot process. This will keep your data safe and stop malware from getting into your system.

Also Read: Windows 11 Fails After Restart: What is Black Screen of Death in Windows 11?

We hope this post has helped you figure out how to turn on Secure Boot in Legacy BIOS. Don’t be afraid to get in touch with us if you have any questions or need more help.