How can I configure the BIOS to boot from DVD/USB on ASUS notebook with Windows 8?
 

I just purchased a new ASUS R510D notebook with Windows 8 pre-installed. My purpose for the new notebook is to install and learn different Linux OS's. I found out right away that Windows 8 will not let you boot from the DVD or the USB. After some research, I figured out how to get into the startup menu by holding down <SHIFT> then clicking on restart, then scrolling through various menus. Once I am in the startup menu, there is no obvious way to configure booting from the USB or DVD. A link in this thread http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...-a-4175492883/ gave some helpful tips like Disabling "Secure Boot Control," and Enabling "Legacy USB Support" under "USB support". The computer still won't boot from external devices. There is a tab in the BIOS that says "BOOT" and has "Add New Boot Option" as an option, but it requires you to enter a path? Any help would be appreciated. The bios is American Megatrends, version 207.

Yes, it is possible to boot to the dvd and usb.

To save you some un-needed learning, might I suggest that you consider using a free virtual machine to run windows 8 and linux at the same time. In fact, depending on your resources and model, you may be able to run quite a number of OS's at the same time. It also simplifies hardware issues. To the VM client, all it ever see's is the VM software. It almost never has any interaction with the host system so you can easily use usb's and network cards and such by the way the VM connects to host.

Thank you for the advice, Jefro. I don't have much experience with virtual machines, but I will look into that.

I did find out a few things. It looks like if you buy a new PC with Windows 8 pre-installed, there is no way to generate an OS disk that you can use to completely install Windows 8 from, in the event you have to install on a blank (or crashed) hard drive. Previous when playing with Linux, I could just reload the original Windows OS from a DVD when I ran into things like black screens.

You can generate a Windows 8 "recovery disk", but only on a USB stick. I thought the USB stick would function just like an OS disk, but it doesn't. I haven't found a way to recover the Windows 8 OS from the "recovery" USB stick yet. I'm still researching.

You need to change the settings in the BIOS, not through the Win8 > power > shift+click restart. To do that, you need to turn off the laptop, then turn it on. Immediately after you press the power button, start spamming the BIOS boot order key (see below). ou should see a "menu" allowing you to boot from whatever device you select.

Boot order key- Some common keys are F1, F2, F10, F11, F12, ESC, DELETE. When it boots, it usually shows the keys to press in one of the corners. However, I know that some laptops don't do that anymore, in which case you'll be stuck with trial and error.

But if all you want to do is to try the OS, not use it full-time, you can use a virtual machine (VM) like jefro suggested above. I use VirtualBox, but there are other options out there too.

Depending on the OEM, you might be able to create or buy disc's to recover it. Not all provide an easy way. Some make you buy the disc's.

You need to learn how to backup your system and in a way that can recover from disaster if you ever need windows.

Most new systems can be booted to linux after some very difficult work by developers and purchasing of technology. Some boot choices may need the most modern linux distro's and some may need you to select the correct boot device. In fact you may see something that seems to be odd like two cd/dvd drive choices or it may be an odd name on the correct choice and normal dvd name on the other.

You will need to be careful since you can wipe out your windows. This has been true for decades. You don't know how many times I borked a system.

A free virtual machine like VMPlayer, Virtualbox, or virtualPC are simply one of the safest choices a new user can try.
Steps tend to be install VM.
Download an ISO image or pre-made virtual machine. (some call it appliance)
Configure a new VM client using a gui screen with menu choices.
Boot the client.