I know that UEFI is not part of A+ yet.
But can you talk about UEFI?
The differences with Legacy BIOS and UEFI.
"BIOS was designed with the earliest computers as instructions to make sure the hardware had some abilities to
boot the system. It has worked well and continues to work well until start working with systems that need to
boot from 3TeraByte or larger drives, this is something that BIOS wasn't ever really designed to do. This has
to do with the fact that >3TB Hard Disk Drives a newer low-level format (4KB SECTORS rather than 512byte
SECTORS)" There are many other differences but think about it in terms of new hardware requirements
essentially demand more than BIOS can do at boot so UEFI is needed.
"Why UEFI?"
#1
The UEFI at boot, depending on the hardware, can possibly provide web access and loading of games without
having to boot the OS! At the same time, it gives the same options that allow you to boot up the computer in
the standard way.
#2
Better security against bios attacks (bootkits)
#3
Faster startup times and resumption from hiberation
#4
Support for >3TB hard drives
#5
Support for 64 bit firmware device drives that use massive amounts of memory during startup
#6
Support for GPT (GUID Partition Tables) that will allow you to create more than the basic 4 partitions on a
single drive.
there's probably more...
How to deal with UEFI problems?
"Problems in booting with UEFI and Windows."
If you're running an OS that supports secure-boot, normally installing windows 8, for example, it shouldn't be
problematic at all. If you're trying to run an operating system that is not UEFI aware per se, then you may
have to enter setup and disable the fancy features and let it use a BIOS legacy startup.
"Problems with hardware issues when booting with UEFI."
The only real problems are with older hardware that may not recognize the UEFI. I'm sure there are a myriad of
other issues but they all relate to the this common fact.
"And how to deal with UEFI problems with Linux."
The big issue is the boot issue, In UEFI systems, it expects the HDDs to be GPT (GUID Partition Table) style
and not MBR (Master Boot Record). In BIOS systems, it expect the HDDs to be MBR. When you try to install
some Linux Distros (I must emphasize SOME), GRUB doesn't load on to the GPT drives. You can convert the GPT
Drives into MBR to help with the issues, or you can find some of the newer distros that may have overcome
this...but I'm not sure which ones.
Cordially,
Ronnie Wong
Host, ITProTV
ps. don't forget to up vote...Don and I are in a contest! :)