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  • Updated on Feb 6, 2026
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SecureDoc Boot Loaders And How They Are Used

The SecureDoc boot loaders are intended to load and launch one of SecureDoc boot logon environment and are intended to authenticate user locally or remotely (by providing user id and password, using smart card, using network etc), unlock internal media and launch the OS. 

There are two boot loaders:

  1. One for legacy devices - SecureDoc Legacy Boot Loader or PBU
  2. One for UEFI based systems. - SecureDoc UEFI Boot Loader or PBLU

SecureDoc Legacy Boot Loader Or PBU

SecureDoc installed on legacy devices supports two boot environments: v4 and v5 (aka PBL) and four different boot configurations

  1. v5 only
  2. default v5 with option to use v4
  3. default v4 with option to use v5
  4. v4 only

In 1-3 the SecureDoc legacy boot loader is involved into the process. In case of #4 (v4 only) v4 preboot environment is launched directly from the MBR.

When the device starts starts, SecureDoc legacy boot loader displays the following message,

"WinMagic SecureDoc BootLoader vx.x.xx"

At this time user can press the following hot keys,

  • 'a' - to launch an alternative boot environment i.e if v4 is the default, pressing the 'a' key will launch the v5(PBL) boot environment
  • 'b' - bypass the preboot environment(boot logon) and launch the Windows loader. Note that this is possible only on software encrypted drives if system is not encrypted
  • 'h' - waits for 3 sec expecting 'c' key to enter the "SecureDoc boot configuration" screen. This screen allows changing different boot parameters, including PBL kernel parameters, SUSAM and others

 

SecureDoc UEFI Boot Loader Or PBLU

SecureDoc UEFI Boot Loader also known as PBLU (Preboot Linux for UEFI) is to support SecureDoc on UEFI devices. It has the following advantages over PBU: 

  • Broad support of various hardware including Wireless NICs
  • Support for WPA-Enterprise over Wireless/Wired connections
  • All network protocols are supported
  • Support for Touch/Pen inputs
  • Ability to use Linux-based third-party libraries and tools
  • SmartCard support

As more and more customers move to UEFI Systems, we expect this to be the more widely used boot loader for SecureDoc. 

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