bios

[Guest]

I am trying to format my hard drive (C:/) and when I press F8 when booting
up, there is no listing for my cd drive (D:/) I want to boot from the windows
xp disc. There is a listing for my floppy drive (A:/) and my 2 hard drives
but no D:/.
Anybody help please?

 

[FrankV]

You should be able to access the BIOS with the DEL button (not F8) as it
starts to boot. There is a screen where you can change the order during boot
but if you are not familiar with the BIOS it is much safer not to touch it
yourself. You can easily destroy the computer.

Frank

 

[John Barnett MVP]

You won't et into the bios by pressing F8 (you will get into safe mode, but
not the bios). Usually you need to press the DEL key (or a similar key,
check your pc manual) in order to get access to the bios. Most modern PCs
automatically boot from the CD. Just put the Windows XP CD into the CD ROM
and restart your PC. Look carefully at the screen and see if you get a
message which says 'Press any key to boot from CD' If you get this message,
then quickly press any key (you only have about 5 seconds or so). Windows XP
should then start loading. If, on the other hand, you don't get this message
and the system simply boots to XP then it may be that the CD-ROM is not the
first boot option and will need to be changed.

Unfortunately, editing the bios is not for the faint hearted, so I'm hoping
that the message 'press any key to boot from cd' actually does come up on
your screen when you insert XP and reboot.

In the meantime here is some reading for you:

http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_enable_cdrom_support_i.htm

http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_format_my_hard_drive_us.htm

http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm

If you take a look at
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm. in step 2
you will see the 'press any key screen'. This will give you an idea of what
you are looking for.

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows - Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Guest]

Many thanks guys
All sorted now

You won't et into the bios by pressing F8 (you will get into safe mode, but
not the bios). Usually you need to press the DEL key (or a similar key,
check your pc manual) in order to get access to the bios. Most modern PCs
automatically boot from the CD. Just put the Windows XP CD into the CD ROM
and restart your PC. Look carefully at the screen and see if you get a
message which says 'Press any key to boot from CD' If you get this message,
then quickly press any key (you only have about 5 seconds or so). Windows XP
should then start loading. If, on the other hand, you don't get this message
and the system simply boots to XP then it may be that the CD-ROM is not the
first boot option and will need to be changed.

Unfortunately, editing the bios is not for the faint hearted, so I'm hoping
that the message 'press any key to boot from cd' actually does come up on
your screen when you insert XP and reboot.

In the meantime here is some reading for you:

http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_enable_cdrom_support_i.htm

http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_format_my_hard_drive_us.htm

http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm

If you take a look at
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm. in step 2
you will see the 'press any key screen'. This will give you an idea of what
you are looking for.

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows - Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[John Barnett MVP]

you're welcome

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows - Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..