How do I disable Secure Boot and Virtualization in the BIOS?

You have been told to disable Secure Boot and Virtualization before you run a loader, and the BIOS is not cooperating. The option is greyed out, there is no Security tab, there is nothing called Virtualization on an AMD board, or you keep landing on a Windows startup menu instead of the BIOS itself. Some people change the settings and then meet a BitLocker recovery screen instead of Windows. All of those come up in support chats.

Why this happens

The documentation does not explain a cause, so here is only what can be observed. BIOS menus differ from board to board, so the same two settings sit under different tabs and carry different names by manufacturer. Support does not trust the toggle either: a machine can still report Secure Boot as on in Windows after it looks changed, so the state is checked in Windows rather than assumed.

How to fix it

1. Search System Information in Windows and read the Secure Boot State line before you change anything.
2. Restart and press your motherboard's BIOS key as the PC powers on, usually DEL, F2 or F10. It is often shown briefly on the startup screen.
3. If the key never catches, or your keyboard has no function row, click Start, hold Shift and click Restart to reach the Advanced Startup menu.
4. Check you are actually in the BIOS. A screen offering Windows recovery style choices rather than BIOS tabs is the Windows advanced startup screen, and Secure Boot is not there. If you cannot tell which screen you are looking at, ask support for specifics before you change anything.
5. Find Secure Boot and set it to Disabled. On ASUS boards it usually sits under the Boot tab or a Security tab, sometimes named Secure Boot Control.
6. Do not settle for Custom. On at least one board, Custom still left Windows reporting Secure Boot as on.
7. Disable Virtualization in the BIOS, not in Windows settings. It usually sits under Advanced, CPU Configuration or CPU Features, and may be labelled VT-x, VT-d, or on AMD boards SVM Mode.
8. While you are there, set Fast Boot to Disabled under Boot or Advanced. Windows Fast Startup is turned off through Control Panel, then Power Options, then Choose what the power buttons do.
9. Save and exit, restart, then open System Information again and confirm Secure Boot State really reads off.
10. If Secure Boot is greyed out or missing, tell support your motherboard or PC brand, because where the option lives depends on the board.
11. If the loader crashes after the Secure Boot change, confirm your Windows installation still boots in UEFI mode, disable Fast Startup, then do a complete shutdown and restart. Contact support with your motherboard, CPU, Windows version and the exact error.

Two notes. A BitLocker recovery screen after the change is a Windows prompt, not a fault in the product. And if your game requires Secure Boot to be on before it will launch, that clashes with disabling it, so ask support rather than forcing either side.

Which products this applies to

Support treats both BIOS settings as a required step for Frost and Frost Pro on Rainbow Six Siege. Disabling Secure Boot is also called for on Inferno for Rainbow Six Siege; if you want to know whether Virtualization has to be off for Inferno as well, ask support for specifics. The same checks come up for loaders and spoofers on other games when a driver signature error or Secure Boot violation appears. For Frost on Fortnite there is no documented BIOS requirement, so raise it with support rather than assuming the R6 steps apply.

If you have worked through the list and it is still broken, open a chat at Arctic Cheats live support with your motherboard, CPU, Windows version and the exact error you see.