Bios setting for live usb

[ternor]

My apologies if this has been specified anywhere; I only managed to find general references.  I want to know whether my bios contains an appropriate setting to boot a live usb.

I have this option (among others): USB ZIP.  Will that do?  The other USB options relate to floppy and cdrom (USB FDD and USB CDROM).

I also have the options LS 120, Zip 100, Legacy LAN, Boot from other device, "Swap Floppy Drive" and "Back up floppy seek."

[johnmart]

If you give info about your motherboard it might help.
But it wouldn't help me cuz I don't know about m/b. 
But I'd suggest trying your usb options to see what works. 
Also, most bios gives you an option at boot time to choose boot options by pressing f12 or some other key. If your usb is plugged in at boot, your usb drive should be displayed as a boot option if your bios supports that option. Look at the bottom line of your screen when the bios message is displayed. In the meantime maybe a more knowledgeable m/b mind will drop in. 

[djohnston]

That sounds like an older BIOS. The Zip100 and LS120 are, most likely, referring to devices interfaced to the floppy drive controller on the motherboard. Have you tried any of the options with a bootable USB drive? I would try USB ZIP, (believe it or not) USB FDD and Boot from other device.

[Just18]

There are often two places to set the boot options in BIOS.

In one of them you set the priority of the options ... make sure that all options are allowed and that the internal HDD is the last one while testing.

Do you have an option to display boot options during first switch on?

It may be that your BIOS is set not to display them .....  I usually make sure that no graphic is displayed during POST (BIOS boot) and that the display  of options is allowed.

With those options set, insert a bootable USB drive and then power on the PC.

During the time before you get to the Grub page of your normal OS, pressing a 'special' key should bring up the boot options list.
This key is often the F12 key .......  but could be one of many .....  I have seen Del, Esc, F1, F2, F8 & F10 also used.

If your PC can be booted by USB drive it should show on the list ....  usually as the last entry.

If you know your motherboard and BIOS version it is also possible to get the info from a manual available on line.

[ternor]

Many thanks for the information.