- Insert the USB drive in an available USB port on your PC or laptop. Turn the power on.
- When you start your PC, you will want to immediately enter your boot settings menu and set the primary boot device to boot from the USB drive. Important: you will be booting from this USB and it runs separate from Windows. If you boot Windows on your hard-drive first, you did not boot from the USB and need to re-try the steps. When you correctly boot into the USB, you should see a picture of the Earth at night.
Different computer types have variations of ways to enter the boot menu. Please note, for different computer brands, there are different keys for triggering the boot medium: Here are some general brand-specific commands to enter the boot menu.
Some of the main keys you might press for entering the boot menu when you first start the computer: here is the list of common brands and the corresponding boot menu keys: Your computer might have a different key to press to enter the boot menu so you might have to Google “how to enter boot menu for…..” There is plenty of information on almost all computer types on how to enter the boot menu.
- ACER: Esc, F9, F12
- Apple: Option / Alt key
- ASUS: Esc, F8
- COMPAQ: Esc, F9
- DELL: F12
- EMACHINES: F12
- HP: Esc, F9
- INTEL: F10
- IBM LENOVO: F12 (or Fn+F12), F10, F8
- NEC: F5
- PACKARD BELL: F8
- SAMSUNG: Esc, F12
- SONY: F10, F11
- TOSHIBA: F12
When you enter the primary boot menu, select the USB drive to boot from. Remember, you want to boot from the USB, not the hard drive. Once you select USB to boot from, it will load and you will see the Zapper initial startup and loading menu.
NOTE: Each USB is individually tested before shipping. If the USB is not booting, try it on another computer first before assuming the USB is defective. It is exceedingly rare to have a defective USB and it is most likely a configuration problem on the computer.
TROUBLESHOOTING THE USB NOT BOOTING
If you have any problems booting the USB drive, try the following: Sometimes To successfully boot from the USB, especially on older computers, you may need to go into your BIOS settings and try a couple things to get it to boot properly.
To enter the BIOS: Usually entering the BIOS is similar to entering the boot menu except there are more options in the BIOS. Each computer brand has different keys to press in order to enter the BIOS. One of the most widely used ways is by repeatedly pressing the DEL key for F when starting the computer. Many times, your computer will pop up with a list of keys and might say which key to press to enter the BIOS. If you cant figure out how enter the BIOS, Google “how to enter BIOS for ‘your computer brand here'” and it should have instructions. Once you are in the BIOS try the following one at a time.
- Disable “Secure Boot” mode in the BIOS. To do this, you will enter the BIOS and find the “Secure Boot” option you will disable this option, save settings and reboot. What is secure boot? Many PC manufacturers use a feature known as “Secure Boot” which blocks computers and laptops from booting from external media such as bootable USB sticks or CDs and DVDs. If the USB doesn’t boot, you have to turn this off. The “Secure Boot” option is usually found in the BIOS under “Security” or “Boot” menus. Here is a link to an article with more information on this subject. https://neosmart.net/wiki/disabling-secure-boot/
- Reset the BIOS to factory defaults. To do this, go into the BIOS and find the option to reset BIOS to factory defaults. Save the settings and exit. Try booting from the device again. Sometimes, over the years, the BIOS will get changed by users of the computer and by resetting to defaults, it should fix most problems and the USB should boot.
- Change boot order: When you are in the BIOS, you can select the USB flash drive as the first boot device so it boots before the hard drive. This will make the USB as the first boot device when the computer starts.
If you are still experiencing problems booting the USB, please contact tech support.