UEFI firmware associated with Windows 8

[nikos]

I bought a Lenovo
It has an UEFI firmware associated with Windows 8 OS protecting it by secure Boot feature.
When i boot in recovery mode i could see an option saying about UEFI software/hardware.

I used GParted and deleted ALL its partitions.
I installed 8 again with my partitonign.
No UEFI present there and no option on the recovery menu as before.
How can i re-associate UEFI firmware with Win8 OS as it was when i bough it?


What's the reason of UEFI existance anyway? In what ways can it be usefull?

 

[cluberti]

To have the options to enable Secure Boot, you need to do a UEFI install from UEFI-capable media (DVD, FAT32-formatted USB key, UEFI-compatible PXE network boot) onto a machine with UEFI enabled. If you installed from media that wasn't a DVD, FAT32 USB key, or a PXE boot from a UEFI-capable boot server, you actually installed in BIOS mode (the Compatibility Support Module, or CSM, is activated in the UEFI OS to allow this). Also, your partitions need to be GPT partitions, not MBR, so if you created MBR partitions during the installation (even if you installed from proper media and selected the UEFI boot option to do so) you still won't have a UEFI install.

From what you're seeing, you have a BIOS CSM install, not a UEFI install, so you've done something wrong (you might need to boot to a boot option menu on the Lenovo to select a "UEFI" boot option versus a normal one, for instance). And there are a lot of benefits to UEFI over BIOS (security being only one of them), and most of them relate to boot and runtime performance of certain components and drivers.

 

[theog]

How to clean install with a uEFI /BIOS firmware:
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...e-firmware-interface-install-windows-8-a.html

You must boot the DVD in uEFI mode.

 

[nikos]

Veru nice tutorila thank you very mich,

I reas all the links associated woth it.

I just cant initiate the process because i dont know which F key my Lenovo uses to bring up the motheroard's Boot menu so to select UEFI from there?

 

[nikos]

a) Signed Boot Loader = An OS installation in UEFI Mode so a system can boot safely only from that and no other OS or ISO Image?


b) I tried to use GParted via a bootable USB drive and UEFI didn't allow that.
Can i tell somehow UEFI to let that usb drive boot without disablign the SecureBoot feature? As in a a signed Boot Application?


Is UEFI something like a whitelist of OSes and Applications tat are allowed by the UEFI firmware to load on a specific machine?
Much like a Firmware Firewall to allow/dis-allow Boot stuff?

This is what its been designed for?

 

[theog]

Veru nice tutorila thank you very mich,

I reas all the links associated woth it.

I just cant initiate the process because i dont know which F key my Lenovo uses to bring up the motheroard's Boot menu so to select UEFI from there?

From the Lenovo G480 manual.

Start the computer. When the Lenovo logo comes up, immediately press F12;
on the boot sequence menu, select the optical drive as the first boot-up device.

 

[theog]

b) I tried to use GParted via a bootable USB drive and UEFI didn't allow that.
Can i tell somehow UEFI to let that usb drive boot without disablign the SecureBoot feature? As in a a signed Boot Application?

I would look for a 3rd party Partitioning,Backup & Cloning software, which fully supports Windows 8, uEFI, GPT & Secure Boot.
Which is signed by Microsoft.


The only 3rd party software that I know of, that fully supports Windows 8 is PARAGON 12, which has been signed by Microsoft.

All the partitioning can done in Windows.

 

[nikos]

Veru nice tutorila thank you very mich,

I reas all the links associated woth it.

I just cant initiate the process because i dont know which F key my Lenovo uses to bring up the motheroard's Boot menu so to select UEFI from there?

From the Lenovo G480 manual.

Start the computer. When the Lenovo logo comes up, immediately press F12;
on the boot sequence menu, select the optical drive as the first boot-up device.

F12 is for Boot Selection media
F12 doesn't present an image of UEFI OS Win8 DVD Setup like Theog's picture in post No3.

 

[nikos]

b) I tried to use GParted via a bootable USB drive and UEFI didn't allow that.
Can i tell somehow UEFI to let that usb drive boot without disablign the SecureBoot feature? As in a a signed Boot Application?

I would look for a 3rd party Partitioning,Backup & Cloning software, which fully supports Windows 8, uEFI, GPT & Secure Boot.
Which is signed by Microsoft.


The only 3rd party software that I know of, that fully supports Windows 8 is PARAGON 12, which has been signed by Microsoft.

All the partitioning can done in Windows.

And if i was compelled to use GParted which i very much like for partitioning?

How could i load it via usb as an acceptable signed application?

And to take it further, how to let any Bootable USB ISO run without disabling SecureBoot but instead tell SecureBoot to let it be as a trusted Boot Application?

 

[theog]

F12 is for Boot Selection media
F12 doesn't present an image of UEFI OS Windows 8 DVD Setup like Theog's picture in post No3.

Where do you buy your x64 DVD from?

And if i was compelled to use GParted which i very much like for partitioning?

How could i load it via usb as an acceptable signed application?

And to take it further, how to let any Bootable USB ISO run without disabling SecureBoot but instead tell SecureBoot to let it be as a trusted Boot Application?

The software manufacturer would need to have the software signed by Microsoft.

 

[nikos]

"Where do you buy your x64 DVD from?"

I downloaded Win8 from MSDN.
F12 is boot selection like asking you if you want to boot from DVD or USB or HDD or Network Boot.
There is no UEFI option in F12, there must be another <F> for UEFI OS Setup maybe.....


"The software manufacturer would need to have the software signed by Microsoft"

I dont follow, please elaborate.

 

[theog]

"Where do you buy your x64 DVD from?"

I downloaded Windows 8 from MSDN.
F12 is boot selection like asking you if you want to boot from DVD or USB or HDD or Network Boot.
There is no UEFI option in F12, there must be another <F> for UEFI OS Setup maybe.....

Redownload from your account

"The software manufacturer would need to have the software signed by Microsoft"

I dont follow, please elaborate.

Digitally Signed Software

 

[nikos]

You are implying that UEFI's SecureBoot have an embedded list of allowed boot loaders?

If that was the case then why we make 'UEFI Specific OS Setup' for? There shouln't ne a need for it since by intrinsic information it would by default check the current boot loader against its database of allowed boot loaders.

We are making progress but that doesnt make very much sense.
I think UEFI doesnt have a built-in boot loader whitelist but instead it learns to allow a new boot loader to run if an UEFI OS Setup prior got installed.

Won't you agree?

 

[nikos]

Redownload from your account

Why?
Whay can't i see a similar image to the one you posted on post No3 as iam now?

 

[theog]

You are implying that UEFI's SecureBoot have an embedded list of allowed boot loaders?

If that was the case then why we make 'UEFI Specific OS Setup' for? There shouln't ne a need for it since by intrinsic information it would by default check the current boot loader against its database of allowed boot loaders.

We are making progress but that doesnt make very much sense.
I think UEFI doesnt have a built-in boot loader whitelist but instead it learns to allow a new boot loader to run if an UEFI OS Setup prior got installed.

Won't you agree?

Only if the OS software is signed by Microsoft

 

[theog]

Redownload from your account

Why?
Whay can't i see a similar image to the one you posted on post No3 as iam now?

Most likely a bad download.

 

[nikos]

You are implying that UEFI's SecureBoot have an embedded list of allowed boot loaders?

If that was the case then why we make 'UEFI Specific OS Setup' for? There shouln't ne a need for it since by intrinsic information it would by default check the current boot loader against its database of allowed boot loaders.

We are making progress but that doesnt make very much sense.
I think UEFI doesnt have a built-in boot loader whitelist but instead it learns to allow a new boot loader to run if an UEFI OS Setup prior got installed.

Won't you agree?

Only if the OS software is signed by Microsoft

Ubuntu 12.1 isn't signed by MS, but a UEFI Linux Setup can be installed and SecureBoot will allow it.

Or perhaps although Linux isnt an MS product still MS signs it?

And what about other Boot ISO's ? What happend to them? We might want to boot other ISO images that MS isnt aware of, and we also dont want to disbale secure Boot.

 

[nikos]

Redownload from your account

Why?
Whay can't i see a similar image to the one you posted on post No3 as iam now?

Most likely a bad download.

Give me a Win8 Pro 64bit appropriate valid link please to use.

 

[theog]

I downloaded Windows 8 from MSDN.
F12 is boot selection like asking you if you want to boot from DVD or USB or HDD or Network Boot.
There is no UEFI option in F12, there must be another <F> for UEFI OS Setup maybe.....

Redownload from your account

 

[nikos]

Actually its slipstremed and i didnt want to metnion it.

I download oit form a greek torrent site and it containes

Win8 Base
Win8
Win8 Pro
Win8 with Media Center

both x32 & x64 archs UNTOUCHED as it where from MSDN where they got downloaded from.

I use that DVD because i have 8 different Win for ALL needs.

I still dont understand though what this slipstream version has to do with the <F12> Boot Selection Menu.

Please explain.