XHCI Hand-Off in BIOS refers to the transition of USB 3.0 controller management from the BIOS to the operating system. XHCI stands for eXtensible Host Controller Interface, which is the standard interface for USB 3.0 controllers. The Hand-Off setting in BIOS determines whether the BIOS or the operating system controls USB 3.0 ports during boot.
Now, we must note that not every computer comes with the XHCI Hand Off feature. If you check your BIOS and fail to find it, you should not worry, as this is a common occurrence.
Let us discuss XHCI Hand Off in more detail and determine whether you should enable or disable it.
What is XHCI Hand-Off in BIOS of Windows 11/10?
XHCI Hand-Off is a feature that controls how your USB 3.0 port works on your computer. You see, when the XHCI Hand-Off mode is enabled and operational, your USB 3.0 ports will function as standard USB 3.0 ports. However, if the feature is disabled then the USB 3.0 ports will effectively transform into USB 2.0 ports.
This means that whenever you attempt to transfer data, the speed will be similar to that of a USB 2.0 port, which is quite impressive, if you ask us.
We should note that for computers running Windows 11/10, the XHCI Hand-Off feature is automatically enabled. However, if you choose to downgrade to Windows 7, 8, or even Vista, then the feature will be disabled by default. It will then be up to you to manually enable it from the BIOS settings.
From our understanding, the majority of motherboards currently available tend to have more than one SHCI handoff mode, which depends on the availability of the driver and the overall motherboard functionality.
As stated, there are several modes, but we want to discuss the two most popular of the bunch, and they are as follows:
- Auto XHCI handoff: When it comes down to auto mode, your USB ports will act as USB 2.0 ports until the correct USB 3.0 drivers are installed in the BIOS. Once the driver is installed, you must reboot the computer to establish USB 3.0 as the default setting going forward.
- XHCI handoff smart mode: In terms of smart mode, it is very similar to auto mode in some respects. You see, it works the same way as auto mode when booting a Windows computer. However, we should note that when a restart occurs, the BIOS records the reboot and retains the relevant drivers in system memory. This ensures that the USB 3.0 ports will never downgrade to USB 2.0 on boot, and that’s a great addition from our point of view.
XHCI vs EHCI
There aren’t many differences between the two technologies, except for the USB version they support. You see, XHCI is linked with USB 3.0, while EHCI supports USB 2.0. So, as it stands, XHCI is more advanced, as it supports a higher version of USB, but not for anything else.
It is worth noting that XHCI is primarily found on 100-series motherboards and higher, which correlates significantly with Intel processors from the 6th generation and higher.
READ: How to fix USB 3.0 slow transfer speed in Windows
Should xHCI Hand Off be enabled?
Enabling XHCI Hand Off depends on what you want for your computer. If you require USB 3.0 functionality, you may enable it, especially if you are using Windows 11 or Windows 10. However, if you are using an older operating system, you should disable it to achieve faster input.
READ: USB Composite Device is an older USB device and might not work with USB 3.0
How do I turn off XHCI on an HP computer?
For those who want to disable XHCI on an HP-branded computer, please shut down the device. Press the power button, then click the F10 key to enter the Setup area. From there, select Advanced, then Device Options. Finally, you must enable USB EHCI to debug to disable the XHCI controller.
