12 March 2023

UEFI Vs Legacy | Difference | Comparison

You have probably heard of UEFI and legacy it you have ever experimented with operating systems, hardware, or overclocking. Understanding what the acronyms mean and what they stand for is not sufficient, you also need to understand what they do and how they operate. This article will explain what UEFI and Legacy are, why one is preferable in certain situations, and their difference.

What is UEFI?

UEFI stands for unified extensible firmware interface. This new type is the most common in modern motherboards. In comparison to BIOS, it offers more benefits. The most crucial feature is that it offers a user-friendly graphical user interface(GUI). A blue color screen with options is provided by BIOS. Large storage drives cannot be recognized by a standard BIOS. This problem can be solved well with UEFI, which also supports large storage drives.

Learn more about the Disadvantages of UEFI

What is Legacy?

The BIOS firmware's default boot procedure is called legacy. According to a programmable order of priority, it keeps a list of all installed bootable storage devices, such as optical drives, hard drives, and floppy drives. The BIOS runs a power-on self-test when the computer is turned on. Then, to signal that the booting up is normal, a brief single beep is produced by the internal speaker. The beep code aids in both code recognition and subsequent troubleshooting.

UEFI Vs Legacy | Difference between UEFI and Legacy

  • UEFI provides a better User interface. Legacy boot mode is traditional and very basic.
  • UEFI is more user-friendly, whereas Legacy is less user-friendly.
  • UEFI uses the GPT partitioning scheme but legacy uses the MBR partition scheme.
  • UEFI uses the GPT partitioning scheme, it can support up to 9 zettabytes of storage devices. While MBR portioning scheme used by legacy only supports up to 2 TB storage devices.
  • UEFI provides a faster boot time, and Legacy is slower compared to UEFI.
  • The 32-bit and 64-bit versions of UEFI support mouse and touch navigation. Legacy only supports keyboard navigation when it is operating in 16-bit mode.
  • UEFI has an easier update process and Legacy is more complex compared to UEFI.
  • UEFI allows a secure boot that prevents the loading of unauthorized applications. It may also hinder dual boot because it treats operating systems as applications. On the other hand, Legacy does not offer a secure boot option, this makes dual booting possible by allowing the loading of unauthorized applications.
  • UEFI makes use of UEFI firmware, which keeps track of a list of authorized boot volumes known as EFI service partitions. The BIOS firmware is used for the boot process in legacy.
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