PC wont boot from CDROM

Adam18290 · 6 May 2007 at 16:40

Went to format my PC earlier on, went to bios to change boot sequence (CDROM 1st priority). However it was already set to boot from CDROM, then hdd. So I RR comp with genuine XP HOME CD in my drive, however it just loaded into windows like normal, and the message at the bottom, "Press any key to boot from CD" did not appear.

So i tried changing the boot sequence with different combinations but still cant seem to boot from CD. The CD is genuine and loads up correctly when on my desktop.

Suggestions appreciated..

Chunk

stickroad · 6 May 2007 at 17:17

When you load into windows is their a CD-Rom in my computer if not its most likely your IDE cable is loose.

Did you edit your message? didn't see the bottom bit. lol

Usher · 6 May 2007 at 17:25

disable your hardrive, it worked for me when I had the same problem by removing the power imput, this forced the CD to run tho you have to plug it back in once the CD is giving you options & it worked straight away for me

MarcLister · 6 May 2007 at 17:29

Well the CD drive must be working if he can run the CD in Windows. I assume you've only the one CD drive? If you have another one (actually in the PC, not a spare) then obviously try that to see if the CD drive is perhaps borked in DOS.

stickroad · 6 May 2007 at 17:31

Ignore.

MarcLister · 6 May 2007 at 17:31

stickroad said:
He didnt say he ran it in windows though.

But he did say "The CD is genuine and loads up correctly when on my desktop." which I take to mean that it does.

stickroad · 6 May 2007 at 17:32

MarcLister said:
But he did say "The CD is genuine and loads up correctly when on my desktop." which I take to mean that it does.

Yeah sorry i missed the bottom bit.

Adam18290 · 6 May 2007 at 17:46

No i dont have another cd drive installed.

So i should try unplugging the power to the hdd, then trying to boot from cd. At what point do i put the power molex back in?

Chunk

MarcLister · 6 May 2007 at 17:48

Adam18290 said:
No i dont have another cd drive installed.

So i should try unplugging the power to the hdd, then trying to boot from cd. At what point do i put the power molex back in?

Chunk

Erm just before the install process starts to look at the HDD. Or just after the CD has booted, if it does. That might be a better bet that.

stickroad said:
Yeah sorry i missed the bottom bit.

No probs. I winz though.

MarcLister 1 - 0 stickroad

chex · 6 May 2007 at 17:55

dont unplug the hdd, just set the cd rom as the *only* boot device

MarcLister · 6 May 2007 at 17:57

chex said:
dont unplug the hdd, just set the cd rom as the *only* boot device

I can see the logic behind removing the HDD as a boot device but surely it won't make any difference? If the CD-ROM doesn't work it'll go to the HDD. So it'll only go to the HDD if the CD-ROM won't work.

Usher · 6 May 2007 at 17:58

best switch off to unplug the drive, plug it in as soon as you have passed the
'press any key to continue' bit

NathanE · 6 May 2007 at 18:03

You need to set the boot sequence in the BIOS so that the CDROM drive is *before* the hard drive(s).

PhillyDee · 6 May 2007 at 18:16

And disable 'Boot Other Devices', as this may not be helping.

Adam18290 · 6 May 2007 at 18:49

Right, I set CDROM to the first boot device, disabled everything else and still no luck.

http://may06c.imghost.us/OGLl.jpg

However I did get some error message when i restarted pc,

http://may06c.imghost.us/Bwox.jpg

I then kept it the same except added my hdd to the 2nd boot device, still didnt work.

MarcLister · 6 May 2007 at 20:22

Right so you're pretty confident that the CD-ROM drive works OK in Windows? Are you able to download a Linux Live CD and burn that to a disk and see if your PC detects that and boots into Linux? I reckon the Linux Live CD shouldn't work but its just to see how the CD drive works. It might be getting its knickers in a twist in the DOS but sorts them out by the time Windows loads up.

Adam18290 · 6 May 2007 at 20:30

yea the cd rom works fine when in windows. Any other ways around it apart from dl'ing linux to a disk?

MarcLister · 6 May 2007 at 20:33

Adam18290 said:
yea the cd rom works fine when in windows. Any other ways around it apart from dl'ing linux to a disk?

Nah the Linux isn't a fix. I just want to see if the computer detects the Linux OS and boots up. If it doesn't then we've eliminated the CD as the problem and identified the CD as being screwed perhaps.

If the Linux CD does indeed boot up then perhaps the CD has a scratch on it somewhere that prevents the CD drive from running it as an installer but Windows can see the CD as it looks at another part of the CD to open it in Windows.

Adam18290 · 6 May 2007 at 20:39

Ok, so what exactly u want me to do now? Btw could reseting cmos help me?

MarcLister · 6 May 2007 at 20:42

Adam18290 said:
Ok, so what exactly u want me to do now?

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

Download Ubuntu from that page. Burn it to a CD/DVD then reset your PC and see if the PC boots into the Linux CD. If it doesn't, just like it doesn't with your Windows CD, then it sounds like the CD drive isn't working before Windows loads.

If it does boot into Linux then perhaps your Windows CD is damaged in some way that stops the CD drive being able to boot from it.