Secure Boot

Hello everyone;

I have a Dell XPS-8700, now running Windows 10 after a recent installation.

I also have what is called a Fixme Stick that removes viruses that happen to get past my Norton 360 anti-virus software. The issue is, it (the Fixme Stick) will not boot with Secure Boot enabled.

Can anyone tell me if I really need to have the Secur Boot enabled? I don't do anything extra fancy with my computer, as I just use it as a normal everyday computer. It's actually already far more computer than I really need but I like to keep current as much as possible.

Thank you for any help you can offer in this regard.

Bud

Not really. It basically prevents viruses from replacing the Windows boot loader, blocks unknown operating systems, and blocks hardware that is unknown in case it is fake and designed to infect your PC or something like that. Usually, you don't have to worry about hardware installing spyware, and your AV should prevent viruses from replacing the boot loader, and Windows is a safe OS. If you want to keep it enabled, just temporarily disable Secure Boot when you are using the Fixme Stick. I'm not sure if this is a very good analogy, but it's like blocking every tire from being installed in your car except for a Goodyear. Other brands may be safe, too, but it's better to have a tire that you know is safe. In essence, disabling Secure Boot is not like disabling your antivirus. It won't affect your security status that much. In fact, operating systems like Windows 7 don't even support it, but you don't see everybody with a Windows 7 machine complaining about viruses like someone who doesn't have an antivirus would.

Hi;

Thank you for the kind reply. That makes me feel a lot better and your analogy makes sense. Disabling it temporarily seems like a good way to go.

There seems to be two way to disable it though and I don't know which is the best, or the correct way. Is it alright to simply enter the BUIOS at bootup and disable it there, or do I have to go to this UEFI thing (I think that's what it's called)? The trouble is, I'm not very tech savvy and I wouldn't have any ide how to disable it using the UEFI method.

Thanks again for the terrific reply, it was very helpful.

Bud

You said:

Not really. It basically prevents viruses from replacing the Windows boot loader, blocks unknown operating systems, and blocks hardware that is unknown in case it is fake and designed to infect your PC or something like that. Usually, you don't have to worry about hardware installing spyware, and your AV should prevent viruses from replacing the boot loader, and Windows is a safe OS. If you want to keep it enabled, just temporarily disable Secure Boot when you are using the Fixme Stick. I'm not sure if this is a very good analogy, but it's like blocking every tire from being installed in your car except for a Goodyear. Other brands may be safe, too, but it's better to have a tire that you know is safe. In essence, disabling Secure Boot is not like disabling your antivirus. It won't affect your security status that much. In fact, operating systems like Windows 7 don't even support it, but you don't see everybody with a Windows 7 machine complaining about viruses like someone who doesn't have an antivirus would.

Thanks for the reply.

I took my FixMeStick back to Costco and bought the latest one online and it works perfctly without having to disable the Fast Boot or Secure Boot.

After the FixmeStci reboots the computer, just watch for the options to appear in the top left hand corner of the black screen and press ENTER when you see the cursor on the top option, which is FixmeStick. After hitting ENTER, just let it run and all is well.

It will run and clean your computer as it always has in the past.

Thanks for all the replies and help with this.

Regards

Bud

simrick said:

The UEFI feature is usually disabled in the BIOS.
As @You says, the best thing is to disable it only when you need to use the stick.

Also, it's interesting to note, that starting with W10, MS have made the UEFI disable function "optional", so that the OEMs will not have to provide it on future systems which come with W10 pre-intalled. So, if your FixmeStick is not updated to support UEFI, it will likely become obsolete. This will also be a problem for people who like to dual-boot with other operating systems which don't support UEFI (Linux comes to mind).