Can you make your GPU compatible with Windows 8 "fast boot"?

[Dankk]

I upgraded to Windows 8 recently. While my PC boots up extremely fast as-is (about 10 seconds or so), it looks like there's a feature Win8 uses called "Fast Boot" or something like that, where it pretty much skips the BIOS POST altogether and initialize Windows almost instantly. Unless you buy a pre-built PC or laptop with Windows 8 already installed, I don't believe this feature is enabled by default.

So I upgraded the BIOS on my MSI 990FXA-GD65 motherboard, and sure enough, there's a new option called "Windows 8 feature" in my motherboard settings. After enabling this, another setting pops up called "Fast Boot", which is then enabled by default. I saved these settings and then rebooted.

It doesn't work. Basically what happens: After hitting "Save & Restart" in the BIOS, my computer hangs for a few moments before outputting some text, saying "We could not detect a Window 8 Logo graphics card. Windows 8 feature will be switched back off." (Or something like that.)

So what exactly does this mean? Do I need a special video card to support fast boot? Is there a BIOS upgrade for the video card that I need to flash? I have an MSI 7870, as detailed in my signature.

It's not a big deal really... but it would be cool if this feature actually worked, and my PC booted up as fast as possible. You know, for bragging rights. Thanks in advance.

 

[kbp]

TweakHound -
Windows 8 sort-of has the ability to start faster. Labeled as a gimmick by some, this setting really never shuts down the computer, “Essentially a Windows 8 shutdown consists of logging off all users and then hibernating.” Allow the Geek in me to rephrase, “With fast boot, when you restart Windows 8 all the crud normally removed at shutdown will be there when you restart.”
I understand some folks may find this feature helpful but I don’t. I want a lean, mean, fightin’ machine when I power up. I disable fast startup.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Personally I don't restart my PC unless I have to for driver installs so I never looked into any of this.

 

[0___________0]

Yeah, you need a GOP UEFI BIOS in order for it to work, your card should be able to accept one. This thread should get you started. I'm not certain, but I think that the OS needs to have been installed from UEFI media as well.

 

[gpse]

Yeah, you need a GOP UEFI BIOS in order for it to work, your card should be able to accept one. This thread should get you started. I'm not certain, but I think that the OS needs to have been installed from UEFI media as well.

X2, you need a Video Card with GOP UEFI Firmware installed, also Windows 8 needs to be installed in UEFI mode (boot the installer using UEFI)

 

[Dankk]

Thanks for the responses, guys. Looks like I will have to request a GOP / UEFI vBIOS from the guys on the MSI forums, flash my card, and re-install Windows 8 in UEFI mode. (I guess I didn't have the foresight to install in UEFI mode, so apparently I'm using Legacy mode right now.)

I'm doing my research and making sure I have everything I need to re-install Windows 8 properly in UEFI. Looks like I'll need to convert my SSD from an MBR partition to a GPT one. According to the internet, I can do this directly within the Windows 8 installer by using Shift+F10 to open a command prompt, and running diskpart from there. Is this correct?

If so, I have only one more question. Sorry to be off-topic; but if I have multiple drives in my computer when installing Windows 8 in UEFI mode, do all drives need to be partitioned into GPT? Or is the drive that Win8's being installed to the only one that needs to be changed? Thanks in advance.

 

[JAG87]

Or just sleep your computer.

 

[0___________0]

Yes, you need to use GPT, but you shouldn't have to use diskpart in order to create the partitions. When you're on the screen that prompts you to choose where to install the OS, delete all partitions and volumes on the drive you want to install the OS to so that it is just unallocated space. Then hit "New"->Apply->OK. It will then create 4 partitions, you have to install to partition 4. It might say that Windows can't be installed there but you can ignore that. There's actually two of those errors to my knowledge, one is given when you're in Legacy BIOS mode, and the other is just random and can be ignored.

The other drives can be left as MBR, you can have both GPT and MBR in one computer, but the OS has to be on the GPT one. And if I recall correctly there can be issues with RAID arrays when using both.

 

[Dankk]

Thanks for the advice!

Upside: I acquired an updated VBIOS for my graphics card, flashed it with ATI WinFlash, turned on Windows 8 functionality in my motherboard, and then completely re-installed Windows 8 in UEFI mode. Everything went extremely smoothly without a single hitch. One of the quickest and easiest installs of Windows I've ever done, including updates and everything.

Downside: Boot time has barely improved, if at all. I was under the impression that my PC would start up in half the amount of time. Instead, it's only improved by one or two seconds at most. Maybe I'm missing something... fast boot is turned on and everything, but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

Ah well. At least I now have a fancy UEFI install, with the extra features that come with it I guess.

 

[0___________0]

If fast boot is working properly you won't see the usual manufacturer POST screen, that will be completely skipped, you can't even enter your BIOS with fast boot enabled. It bypasses the few seconds spent where it checks for the key strokes.

There's a "fast boot" (called fast startup in settings) that is specific to Windows 8 as well, doesn't have anything to do with UEFI. It's similar to hibernate, except it only saves the kernel and device drivers to the disk. I believe it's enabled by default though, but you can check by: Control Panel->Power Options-> Right side Choose what the power buttons do->Change active plan settings-> There's a couple check boxes halfway down, one is fast startup.

 

[Obsoleet]

Interesting stuff and results. When I build a new desktop, all this stuff should be the default.. UEFI video card bios will be standard and UEFI will be a no brainer to set on the motherboard. Its hard to believe it would cut boot times down by more than a few seconds, but why not take what you can get.

 

[Dankk]

If fast boot is working properly you won't see the usual manufacturer POST screen, that will be completely skipped, you can't even enter your BIOS with fast boot enabled. It bypasses the few seconds spent where it checks for the key strokes.

Odd. While I have "Fast boot" enabled in the BIOS, I can still see my computer POSTing after I turn it on (if only for a few seconds). I can also enter into the BIOS with the usual Del keystroke.

So now that you mention it, I guess it's not really working as intended, huh? Maybe I'll go back into my BIOS settings and poke around a little more. If I can't figure it out then maybe I'll ask around on the MSI forums. Maybe, despite using the latest motherboard firmware, their Fast Boot option isn't yet fully functional or something?

 

[0___________0]

Odd. While I have "Fast boot" enabled in the BIOS, I can still see my computer POSTing after I turn it on (if only for a few seconds). I can also enter into the BIOS with the usual Del keystroke.

So now that you mention it, I guess it's not really working as intended, huh? Maybe I'll go back into my BIOS settings and poke around a little more. If I can't figure it out then maybe I'll ask around on the MSI forums. Maybe, despite using the latest motherboard firmware, their Fast Boot option isn't yet fully functional or something?

It's possible that you're still set to legacy BIOS boot mode. Look around in your settings and see if you can switch that to UEFI. Also, run "msinfo32", there's a row for which BIOS mode you're in, is it Legacy or UEFI?

It's also possible that you didn't get a UEFI installation.

You installed the OS from a UEFI bootable USB drive, correct? If you go to the advanced startup options from within Windows, then Troubleshoot->Advanced Options is there a "UEFI Firmware Settings" button?

And do you have secure boot enabled?

You'd have to ask MSI to find out if their implementation isn't completely operational; although I assume that it is. Check the downloads section for your mobo on their website, under utility, is there a fast boot one?

 

[Dankk]

It's possible that you're still set to legacy BIOS boot mode. Look around in your settings and see if you can switch that to UEFI. Also, run "msinfo32", there's a row for which BIOS mode you're in, is it Legacy or UEFI?

It's also possible that you didn't get a UEFI installation.

You installed the OS from a UEFI bootable USB drive, correct? If you go to the advanced startup options from within Windows, then Troubleshoot->Advanced Options is there a "UEFI Firmware Settings" button?

And do you have secure boot enabled?

You'd have to ask MSI to find out if their implementation isn't completely operational; although I assume that it is. Check the downloads section on their website, under utility, is there a fast boot one?

MSinfo32 confirms Windows 8 is in UEFI. I didn't install from a USB drive; rather, I installed from a DVD. During installation though, I booted from the disc drive in UEFI mode (listed as "UEFI: ASUS DVD/CD" in the boot options, or something like that). I also have the option of entering into the UEFI firmware from the Windows advanced options. By all accounts, I'm sure that Windows 8 has been installed with UEFI.

I'll have to wait until after I get home from work to check, but I'm 99% sure I have Secure Boot enabled. Under the Secure Boot settings in the motherboard firmware, I have the option of enabling it in "Standard" mode, or using custom settings. Maybe I'll take a look at what the custom settings involve.

.....

.....and after typing all that, I tried your last suggestion and looked at MSI's download page. There is indeed a "Fast Boot" download listed under Utilities. http://us.msi.com/product/mb/990FXA-GD65.html#/?div=Utility&os=Win8 64

That's probably what I'm looking for. I'll try those other things if I have to, but somehow I think this will probably fix it. I'll report back just to confirm.

 

[StinkyPinky]

How many hours have you spent trying to fix this problem? Now, if it only takes 10 second for your PC to boot anyway, instead of the 5 seconds it takes with this feature....is it worth it? I don't know about you but I only turn my pc on once a day anyway, so a 10 second boot time is pretty reasonable.

 

[Dankk]

Success. Installing the MSI Fast Boot utility from their website seems to have worked. My boot time is now a cool 5-6 seconds.

How many hours have you spent trying to fix this problem? Now, if it only takes 10 second for your PC to boot anyway, instead of the 5 seconds it takes with this feature....is it worth it? I don't know about you but I only turn my pc on once a day anyway, so a 10 second boot time is pretty reasonable.

An hour, maybe two. I enjoy tweaking and modding things to be as optimized as possible. Why not?

 

[blackened23]

Curious, were there any undesirable side effects from making a GPT UEFI based windows 8 installation?

I tried a GPT based Windows 7 x64 installation once. Without going into details, what a complete hassle. And my boot time from the same SSD with a GPT UEFI based installation took longer than a MBR non UEFI installation for some odd reason. That was windows 7 though. Did you have any issues with GPT and UEFI on your windows 8 install?

 

[Dankk]

Curious, were there any undesirable side effects from making a GPT UEFI based windows 8 installation?

I tried a GPT based Windows 7 x64 installation once. Without going into details, what a complete hassle. And my boot time from the same SSD with a GPT UEFI based installation took longer than a MBR non UEFI installation for some odd reason. That was windows 7 though. Did you have any issues with GPT and UEFI on your windows 8 install?

Absolutely no issues. Windows 8 is running as smoothly as I could have ever hoped for.

Although, when I enabled FastBoot and booted from the Windows install DVD in UEFI mode for the first time, I couldn't "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD..." as instructed at the very beginning. It was like my keyboard wasn't initializing before I had the chance to start the install process. I was, however, able to press F11 on boot and manually select my DVD drive. Then my keyboard worked. Everything was back to normal, and I could begin the Windows install. Probably just an odd quirk with my setup though.

That's it. That's literally the only problem I can think of. Granted, I've only been using it for a day now, but I have not encountered a single actual problem inside of Windows 8.

From my limited knowledge, I wouldn't recommend a GPT UEFI based installation of any Windows version other than 8. I don't see any benefit for Windows 7 users other than maybe proper support for 2TB+ drives.