After Windows 8 installation I can't access BIOS settings anymore

Today I installed Windows 8 Consumer Preview on one of my notebook machines and I noticed that I can't access BIOS settings if I use the "Shut down" Windows option on Settings/Power menu. If I use the "Restart" option, my BIOS allow me to enter on it's settings over "F2" again.

Is this happening to someone else? I looked over Windows 8 oficial forum and couldn't find such event. Is this something foreseeable to the new Windows 8?

Solution 1:

This is an artifact of your BIOS is treating Hibernation (S4) Boot and Normal Boot (S5) differently in regards with access to the BIOS menus. The default in Windows 8 for shutdown is a Hybrid Boot (which appears to the firmware as a Hibernation), described at length here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/09/08/delivering-fast-boot-times-in-windows-8.aspx. They also describe methods to turn off this behavior, such as disabling hibernation altogether.

Solution 2:

Shortcut for anyone wishing to do a full shutdown in windows 8 (which will allow you to access the BIOS when powering on afterward). In a command prompt, run:

shutdown /s /t 0

...or just choose the restart option instead (which will do a full shutdown first).