Cannot boot xp pro from cd

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael Chung
  • Start date Start date
M

Michael Chung

I have an XP pro cd (I believe it is bootable but I dont
know how to tell) but no boot disk floppies. I have setup
my bios to boot from cdrom then to hard drive. When I
start the computer up with the xp pro cd in the drive it
doesnt seem to access the cd and instead boots from the
hard drive. The problem is the hard drive is blank and
partitionless. Also my computer has no floppy drive, only
a cd drive.

Is there any way to get my computer to boot from cd? What
is causing the problem, is it because my cdrom doesnt
support booting or something?

Any help would be greatly apprectiated. Please give me an
email.
 
Michael said:
I have an XP pro cd (I believe it is bootable but I dont
know how to tell) but no boot disk floppies. I have setup
my bios to boot from cdrom then to hard drive. When I
start the computer up with the xp pro cd in the drive it
doesnt seem to access the cd and instead boots from the
hard drive. The problem is the hard drive is blank and
partitionless. Also my computer has no floppy drive, only
a cd drive.

Is there any way to get my computer to boot from cd? What
is causing the problem, is it because my cdrom doesnt
support booting or something?

Any help would be greatly apprectiated. Please give me an
email.
Click to expand...

If you set the bios to boot from cd before hard drive, you should see
activity and the message to press any key you boot from CD.
Is this a new system you built, and have you checked the cabling connections
to make sure they are making a good connection. Do you have another CD drive
you can swap out with? The CD is a retail or OEM XP cd, and not burned from
your original?
Can you post your computer specs.
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
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Len said:
To add to Michael's reply:
- As Michael said, it asks you to hit any key to boot from CD, if you ignore
that message then it will NOT boot from CD but continue to boot from HDD!

If you turn away from the computer while it is booting and miss this
message, it could result in the problem you are describing. Been there and
done that myself.
Click to expand...

But my computer doesn't have an 'any' key! ;o)

Sorry, it's late, it's hot (85°) and I couldn't resist.
 
I hear you!

I used to have a few of those ("Any" key) as "stick on" keys. Perfect for
the newbie <vbg>.
 
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