cant boot from cdrom

surfshack66 · 04-17-2008, 01:55 AM

even after changing my bios, i cannot get my dell to boot from cdrom, its a dimension 8400 and im reintalling windows xp cause it cant take vista that well

PC eye · 04-17-2008, 05:19 AM

If the system there lacks an optional boot device menu and you have to set the cd rom as the first boot device simply disable anything else and remember to press any key when that comes up on the screen following the initial post tests. That will force the system to look to the optical drive for boot information and should see the installer load unless the drive or drive cable has a problem.

surfshack66 · 04-17-2008, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PC eye

If the system there lacks an optional boot device menu and you have to set the cd rom as the first boot device simply disable anything else and remember to press any key when that comes up on the screen following the initial post tests. That will force the system to look to the optical drive for boot information and should see the installer load unless the drive or drive cable has a problem.

thanks for the response..unfortunately i have tried disabling everything else and it just says unable to boot from device..or similiar...so what do you suggest i do or fix

PC eye · 04-17-2008, 11:15 PM

Here I will occasionally see a stubborn drive when needing to boot with the dvd burner for things like redoing the Vista mbr due to multibooting with XP and Linux. I may have to hit the reset button a few times or shut the system off then on again to see the disk suddenly booted from.

Another thing to look at is the actual disk for any scratches and smudge marks from handling that could cause a loading problem when it simply isn't being read fully. The merhod mentioned before is a simple way to force boot from any optical drive installed without seeing any hard drive, floppy, or other type of device available.

If your drive needs a good lens cleaning, the lazer went, or the cable is now no good these are the other common causes to consider. Bad cables besides a possibly bad drive are the usual headache. I've been there enough times trying cheap round cables to replace problems seen with soon to go bad flat ribbon!

dznutz · 04-18-2008, 05:06 AM

is the disc bootable?

surfshack66 · 04-18-2008, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dznutz

is the disc bootable?

yes it is..my concern is that when i try to boot from the windows xp disc to reinstall windows..i cant get it to boot from cdrom..and when i do by inserting the floppy discs i made from microsoft.i am unable to format the drive..however i cannot get to that point anymore because nltdr is missing so the floppys wont work anymore..so now i need to boot from cdrom drive to install windows and i cant

g25racer · 04-18-2008, 08:47 PM

When the bios appears it should say "boot menu". Click the key a bunch of times that is desired for the boot menu. When the menu appears just highlight the cd drive and click enter.

PC eye · 04-19-2008, 01:49 AM

That will be different on various board if available. On an Asus board that would be simply pressing the F8 key right when the first post screen is seen right next to the press Del now to enter bios setup.

On a board by another manufacturer that could be the press F12 or F1 button instead. Many won't even see that option where a manual setting change has to be made in the boot order while in the bios setup.

04-17-2008, 01:55 AM	#1 (permalink)
surfshack66 New Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 5	cant boot from cdrom even after changing my bios, i cannot get my dell to boot from cdrom, its a dimension 8400 and im reintalling windows xp cause it cant take vista that well

04-17-2008, 05:19 AM	#2 (permalink)
PC eye Diamond Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Inside a pc Posts: 19,005	If the system there lacks an optional boot device menu and you have to set the cd rom as the first boot device simply disable anything else and remember to press any key when that comes up on the screen following the initial post tests. That will force the system to look to the optical drive for boot information and should see the installer load unless the drive or drive cable has a problem. __________________ Youtube falls short of Google's expectations http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Ahe...ory?id=5336532 Congress studies how people track your online use http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Ahe...ory?id=5337932

04-17-2008, 11:15 PM	#4 (permalink)
PC eye Diamond Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Inside a pc Posts: 19,005	Here I will occasionally see a stubborn drive when needing to boot with the dvd burner for things like redoing the Vista mbr due to multibooting with XP and Linux. I may have to hit the reset button a few times or shut the system off then on again to see the disk suddenly booted from. Another thing to look at is the actual disk for any scratches and smudge marks from handling that could cause a loading problem when it simply isn't being read fully. The merhod mentioned before is a simple way to force boot from any optical drive installed without seeing any hard drive, floppy, or other type of device available. If your drive needs a good lens cleaning, the lazer went, or the cable is now no good these are the other common causes to consider. Bad cables besides a possibly bad drive are the usual headache. I've been there enough times trying cheap round cables to replace problems seen with soon to go bad flat ribbon! __________________ Youtube falls short of Google's expectations http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Ahe...ory?id=5336532 Congress studies how people track your online use http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Ahe...ory?id=5337932

04-18-2008, 05:06 AM	#5 (permalink)
dznutz Platinum Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: california Age: 28 Posts: 539	is the disc bootable? __________________ ANTEC 900 COOLERMASTER EXTREME 500w MSI NEO-F p35 INTEL E4500 EVGA geforce 7300gs 2gb CORSAIR XMS2 SAMSUNG SH-203N SATA SEAGATE BARRACUDA 1Tb SATA AIRLINK 101 300n pci XP PRO 32 bit, VISTA ULTIMATE 64 bit

04-18-2008, 08:47 PM	#7 (permalink)
g25racer Diamond Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 3,583	When the bios appears it should say "boot menu". Click the key a bunch of times that is desired for the boot menu. When the menu appears just highlight the cd drive and click enter. __________________ CPU - AMD Athlon 64x2 5200+ @ 2.6ghz Ram - 2GB Stock clock HD - 320gb seagate & Samsung 750gb 32mb cache GPU - XFX 8600GT XXX Zalman @ 680 or 700mhz PSU - Ultra X-finity 600watt OS - Vista Home Premium(32) & XP Pro and Vista Audio - JVC 460watts Control - Logitech G25 Wheel & Logitech Rumblepad 2 Games - GTR2 and LFS -- Race Sim's for Life --

04-19-2008, 01:49 AM	#8 (permalink)
PC eye Diamond Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Inside a pc Posts: 19,005	That will be different on various board if available. On an Asus board that would be simply pressing the F8 key right when the first post screen is seen right next to the press Del now to enter bios setup. On a board by another manufacturer that could be the press F12 or F1 button instead. Many won't even see that option where a manual setting change has to be made in the boot order while in the bios setup. __________________ Youtube falls short of Google's expectations http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Ahe...ory?id=5336532 Congress studies how people track your online use http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Ahe...ory?id=5337932

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Changed boot order in BIOS, now I need to hit F1 to boot windows, what did I do wrong	Joyce P	Desktop Computers	9	04-17-2008 02:19 PM
NTLDR is missing	biggy	Desktop Computers	6	02-09-2008 06:31 AM
help!!! boot from cdrom	bmsallen	General Computer Chat	1	12-19-2007 11:19 PM
Won't boot from CDROM.......	bumblebee_tuna	Desktop Computers	2	11-04-2006 09:50 PM
Boot record not found on IDE-0 (dual-boot system)	mhodgins	Computer Memory and Hard Drives	4	10-09-2004 11:39 PM