Booting from CD

[AyJayEL]

Just how do you get windows xp to boot from CD. I know it should but I can't get it to do it. I tried hitting DEL on boot up and changing settings there but it was no good. I only seem to have options like this-
A, C, SCSI
CD, A, SCSI
E, A, C,

I have my hard drive partioned into Crograms Data E:Backup so my DVD drive is F: and my CD drive is G: Learn something new every day *:->*

 

[bgauntt]

What type of system are you running, and is your BIOS updated or does it even support booting from a CD?

 

[AyJayEL]

PIII 600Mhz. Not sure whether the BIOS is updated, I guess not. There is an option that says CD, A, C, as the places to look first and as it came as standard with the DVD player and CD I would have thought that would do it. I bought this PC second hand and it's about 21 months old. Learn something new every day *:->*

 

[AyJayEL]

Sorry didn't say XP Home Edition. Learn something new every day *:->*

 

[bgauntt]

If the CD is bootable and you have setup to read CD first, it should display a message saying Press any key to boot from CD... I would try another bootable CD to see if maybe it is something with the CD and not your computer.

 

[AyJayEL]

Hm.... How do I know if it is a bootable CD? Sorry to be thick here. Learn something new every day *:->*

 

[bgauntt]

You should have an autorun.inf file with contents like this on the CD:
[AutoRun]
open=setup.exe
icon=setup.exe,0

The BIOS sees that there is a CD in your drive and if it is bootable should ask you if you want to boot from the CD.

 

[AyJayEL]

Ah right I understand. I'm not sure that I have any CD's that do this. Plenty that run when I put the CD in but none that ask me if I want to boot from the CD including XP! Learn something new every day *:->*

 

[bgauntt]

I would think that the XP CD probably isn't bootable, most of the bootable CD's I have at work are recovery discs sent with the computer if you need to run a repair for W2K.

 

[Masterpjz9]

The XP cd is bootable. bgauntt...it is not the autorun.inf file that makes a cd bootable. That file makes the cd autorun when you stick it in the cd-rom drive while in windows. To make a cd bootable, you need a combination of cd drivers and other files.

 

[AyJayEL]

Thanks Masterpjz9. Would you expect if the xp cd was in the drive when you turn on the pc that it would automatically boot from it? The main problem I have is that I decided when I was installing xp originally I would do a new install instead of an upgrade. I chose NTFS and I thought that choosing these two options would result in a completely clean installation on my c: drive. Instead I have found old folders on my c: drive that were there before. I have trouble with the system freezing and then having to reboot. So I thought that if I forced a format of c: then install windows again it would be better. However I want to make sure that I will be able to boot from cd before I go ahead, but I can't seem to get it to do that.

Any ideas or suggestions? Learn something new every day *:->*

 

[paynenet]

Do you Have a win95, 98, 2000 Original CD that M$ used to allow to be shipped, they are all bootable CD's. Is the CD your using an 'opficcial' M$ CD then it also should be bootable. If not (A Copy ) do you know how it was created? If it was done image copy then Ok, it should still be bootable, if not (Drag and drop used) then it probably will not be bootable And you are stuck.

You could try copying the Cd Contents to a DOS accessable partition and re-boot using a floppy (Try

http://ramattack.mailru.com/

for Unerversal boot disk) And try installing from the HD Files or from the CD if the boot disk gives access. The installation first prepares the HD, copies the install files and reboots to the HD (so remember to remove the floppy) in the first 5-10 mins. Everything is then run from the HD but I think the CD or the HD copy will still be accessed so leave it in the drive (CD That is).

 

[AyJayEL]

Hey listen I am a good girl. All my software is 100% legal!

I do have a Windows 98 disk. Will this still work as I have formatted my hard drive to NTFS?

I'll take a look at ramatattack for a universal boot disk as you suggest but if it wants me to download anything I'll be stuck. :-( I can't get onto the internet at home (that's another story) and here at work we aren't allowed to download files!

Thanks for all your help. Learn something new every day *:->*

 

[paynenet]

The suggestion for Win 98 is to check your CD drive is setup to boot. If 98 disk will boot then you have a faulty WinXP disk If the Win 98 CD will not boot then you have a faulty (possibly) CD drive/motherboard.

Another Diag is to try the XP CD in another machine just to see if you get the booting from CD message.

One thing. Is the DVD SCSI or IDE ?? if it is IDE then you are choosing the right boot option, if it is SCSI it depends on you motherboard/SCSI you will need to read the manuals as to what SCSI id to set and you will have to pick the SCSI boot option in the BIOS settings.

BTW. you do Realy need to stare at the boot screen, CD boot waits approx 10 secs for you to press a key, and if you dont it just proceeds to the normal HD boot.

 

[AyJayEL]

Crikey - re your BTW perhaps that's what I've been doing wrong all along! I'll check it out when I get home. Learn something new every day *:->*

 

[bgauntt]

Just as a correction to my post earlier and to Masterpjz9 about what makes a CD bootable. It must contain a boot record in the last session of the CD which contains an absolute pointer to the boot catalog. This catalog allows the system to pick a proper boot image to boot from.

 

[Masterpjz9]

There are two ways that I can think of to do this. If you have about 6 floppy disks available goto A. If you only have two goto B.

A. You will have to download 4.3 MB for this, if you don't want to, go to B.

1. go to

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/searchdl.asp?

2. Change the product to Windows XP Home or XP Professional.
3. Change the OS to Windows XP
4. click on find it
5. near the bottom of the page, click NEXT
6. look for the download "Windows XP Pro (or Home) Setup Disks for Floppy boot Install" and click on it
7. Follow the directions and create to boot disks which include the format and partition tools on it and will run automatically.

B.

you could format a FAT32 partition on your computer and install windows xp. When in windows xp, go to start>run> and type convert c: /FS:ntfs

 

[AyJayEL]

Looks as though my PC is not bootable from CD. I watched it like a hawk last night and nothing. I have now got myself 6 floppy disks and will try to get the file suggested above.

To be continued..... Learn something new every day *:->*