Support

The guides on this site walk through each procedure from start to finish, but the steps that generate the most questions are almost always the same: getting into the BIOS, finding the right boot menu key, understanding why Secure Boot blocks an installer, figuring out which Wi-Fi chipset a laptop has before committing to an operating system, and knowing what to back up when the stakes feel high. After more than a decade of fielding these questions while working on machines across every major manufacturer, I have found that most problems trace back to a small set of configuration checks that people either skip or do not know to look for. This support section exists to cover that gap - the pre-flight checks, the diagnostic steps, and the fallback options that keep a straightforward project from turning into a frustrating one. For the full installation walkthroughs, the guides section picks up where these checks leave off.

Below you will find BIOS and UEFI preparation guidance, storage diagnostics, boot menu behaviour references, Wi-Fi and graphics driver caveats, a backup checklist for anyone about to change their boot configuration, a troubleshooting flow for common failure points, and an FAQ covering the questions I hear most often. The downloads section has the installer notes and software packs that pair with these support resources.

Every OS installation or boot environment change starts in the firmware settings. On older machines with a traditional BIOS, the interface is simple - a blue or grey screen with keyboard-only navigation, usually accessed by pressing F2 or Delete during POST. On UEFI machines, the interface is often graphical and sometimes mouse- enabled, but the critical settings are the same: boot priority order, Secure Boot state, and the CSM/Legacy compatibility toggle.

The boot menu key varies by manufacturer. Lenovo typically uses F12, Dell uses F12, HP uses F9 or Esc, Acer uses F12, ASUS uses F8 or Esc, and Toshiba uses F12 or F2. These are the keys to reach the one-time boot menu, not the full BIOS setup - the boot menu is all you need for a USB installer if the settings are already correct. If you need to change Secure Boot or the boot mode, you will need the full BIOS setup, which is typically F2 or Delete.

Before installing a new operating system or cloning a drive, check the health of both the source and destination storage. A mechanical hard drive with reallocated sectors or a high read error rate will cause problems regardless of what operating system you put on it. An SSD with significant wear will still work for a while but may not be worth investing time in a fresh install if it is approaching end of life.

On Windows, CrystalDiskInfo reads SMART data and flags drives with warnings. Look specifically at Reallocated Sector Count, Current Pending Sector Count, and Uncorrectable Sector Count - any non-zero values on those three attributes indicate a drive that should be replaced rather than reformatted. On Linux, install smartmontools and run sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda for the same data. If the drive passes health checks, confirm that the BIOS is set to AHCI mode rather than IDE mode - IDE mode works but limits SSD performance and causes compatibility problems with some Linux kernels.

The one-time boot menu and the BIOS boot priority list are different things, and confusing them is a frequent source of frustration. The one-time boot menu lets you select a device to boot from for this startup only - it does not change the permanent boot order. The BIOS boot priority list determines the default sequence for every startup. If you want to boot from USB once to run an installer, use the one-time menu. If you want the machine to always check USB first, change the boot priority.

Some UEFI implementations show separate entries for the same USB stick - one labelled with the stick name and one prefixed with "UEFI:". The prefixed entry boots in UEFI mode; the other boots in Legacy/CSM mode. Choosing the wrong one will either fail to boot or boot into the wrong installer mode, which affects the partition table format written to the target drive. If you are installing on a UEFI machine with GPT partitioning, choose the UEFI-prefixed entry. If you are installing on a legacy BIOS machine or using MBR partitioning, choose the non-prefixed entry.

Wi-Fi is the single most common post-install surprise on older laptops. Intel wireless chipsets are almost universally supported out of the box on modern Linux kernels. Broadcom chipsets are a recurring problem - some models work with the open-source brcmfmac driver, others require the proprietary wl driver, and a few need firmware files that are not included in any distribution by default. Realtek USB Wi-Fi adapters are similarly inconsistent, with support depending on the exact chipset revision.

The practical safeguard is simple: have a wired connection available during your first boot. An ethernet cable, a USB-to-ethernet adapter, or USB tethering from a phone all work. With a network connection, installing missing Wi-Fi firmware is a two-minute package manager operation. Without one, you are stuck downloading packages on another machine and transferring them via USB - which works but is tedious and error-prone.

Graphics drivers are less likely to prevent a successful boot but can affect desktop performance. Older Intel integrated graphics work out of the box on every tested distribution. Older NVIDIA cards may default to the open-source nouveau driver, which handles desktop compositing but struggles with anything GPU-intensive. AMD/ATI integrated graphics from the 2012 to 2016 era generally work with the open-source amdgpu or radeon drivers without intervention. If the desktop feels sluggish after a clean install on a machine with dedicated graphics, checking which driver is loaded is the first diagnostic step.

• Wi-Fi and driver checklist - A per-chipset compatibility reference with the specific package names and install commands for each supported distribution.

Changing BIOS settings is non-destructive - resetting boot priority or toggling Secure Boot does not touch data on the drive. But changing boot settings is usually a step toward installing something new, and that is where data loss happens if the preparation is incomplete. The following checklist covers what to grab before you start any procedure that involves an installer or a partition change.

When something goes wrong during a boot environment change or OS install, the symptoms usually fall into one of these categories. Start with the one that matches what you are seeing and work through the checks in order.

Detailed references for specific support topics

Every troubleshooting step and checklist on this page comes from direct experience with the same failure points across hundreds of machines. The questions in the FAQ are the questions I actually get asked - not hypothetical scenarios padded out for word count. If your situation is not covered here, the specific support sub-pages for system requirements, Wi-Fi and drivers, and dual-boot safety go deeper on the topics that need more detail than a hub page can provide. The aim is to get you past the obstacle and back to the actual project - not to turn a simple BIOS change into an afternoon of research.