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<ol>

<li class="standalone">
  <p>Make sure that you have installed Tails using either:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>[[<i>Rufus</i> from Windows|install/windows#rufus]]</li>
    <li>[[<i>balenaEtcher</i> from macOS|install/mac#etcher]]</li>
    <li>[[<i>GNOME Disks</i> from Linux|install/linux#install]]</li>
    <li>[[the Linux command line|install/expert#install]]</li>
  </ul>
</li>

<li><p>Select the <b>Start [[!img lib/start.png alt="" class="symbolic" link="no"]]</b>
    button.</p></li>

<li><p>Press and hold the <b>Shift</b> key while you select the <b>Power</b>
    [[!img lib/system-shutdown.png alt="" class="symbolic" link="no"]] button
    and then <b>Restart</b>.</p>

    <p>Windows shuts down and restarts on the <b>Choose an option</b> screen.</p>

</li>

<li><p>In the <strong>Choose an option</strong> screen, choose <strong>Use
    a device</strong>.</p>

    [[!img install/inc/screenshots/choose_an_option.png class="screenshot" alt=""]]

    <div class="bug">
    <p>If the <strong>Choose an
    option</strong> screen or the <strong>Use a device</strong> option don't appear, refer to the [[instructions on
    starting Tails using the Boot Menu key|doc/first_steps/start/pc#boot-menu-key]].</p>
    </div>
</li>

<li><p>In the <b>Use a device</b> screen, select <b>USB HDD</b>.</p>

    <div class="windows upgrade-windows standalone">

    <p>Windows shuts down and the computer restarts on your Tails USB stick.</p>

    </div>

    <div class="attack upgrade">

    <p>
      <span class="windows upgrade-windows">In the future, we</span>
      <span class="standalone">We</span>
    recommend that you only plug in your Tails USB stick while Windows is shutting
    down. Otherwise, a virus in Windows could infect your Tails USB stick and
    break its security.</p>

    <p>Such an attack is possible in theory but very unlikely in
    practice. We don't know of any virus capable of infecting Tails.
    <span class="standalone">See our [[warning on plugging Tails in
    untrusted systems|doc/about/warnings/computer#software]].</span></p>

    </div>
</li>

<li><p>If the computer starts on Tails, the Boot Loader appears and Tails
    starts automatically after 4 seconds.</p>

    <p>[[!img install/inc/screenshots/grub.png class="screenshot" alt="Black screen ('GNU GRUB') with Tails
       logo and 3 options: 'Tails' and 'Tails (Troubleshooting Mode)' and 'Tails (External Hard Disk)'."]]</p>

    <ul>

    <li><p>The <b>Troubleshooting Mode</b> entry disables some features of the
        Linux kernel and might work better on some computers. You can try this option
        if you think you are experiencing hardware compatibility errors while
        starting Tails.</p></li>

    <li><p>The <b>External Hard Disk</b> entry makes it possible to [[start from an
        external hard disk|doc/advanced_topics/external_hard_disk]] and some
        [[problematic USB sticks|support/known_issues#problematic-usb-stick]].</p></li>

    </ul>

</ol>