Boot Sequence - PLEASE HELP

[mike_uk]

Hi guys,

I have checked the BIOS and my system is set to boot from CD/DVD first (then
floppy and lastly hard drive). I have never had a problem booting from CD
before.

My problem is that when I try to boot from cd/dvd, I now get taken to a PC
DOS menu with the following options:

1. Continue loading without any drivers.
2. Load CD Drives (IDE and SCSI).
3. Load USB1 Drives
4. Load USB2 Drives
5. Load Firewire Drives.

This has never happened before and I don't want to mess up my PC. Can anyone
help with this? Thanks, Mike.

 

[mike_uk]

Hi guys,

I have checked the BIOS and my system is set to boot from CD/DVD first (then
floppy and lastly hard drive). I have never had a problem booting from CD
before.

ps: the cd/dvd drive is functioning normally.

 

[Ken Blake]

Hi guys,

I have checked the BIOS and my system is set to boot from CD/DVD first
(then
floppy and lastly hard drive). I have never had a problem booting from CD
before.

I don't have a solution to your problem, but I wanted to comment on your
boot order. I recommend *not* keeping that as you boot order. I think the
hard drive should be kept first, and you should change to the CD/DVD or
floppy *only* in situations when you need to, then change back to the hard
drive.

The problem with keeping the boot order the way you have it is that if you
acccidentally leave a CD, DVD, or floppy ion its drive it will boot (or try
to boot) from it. Boot sector viruses aren't as common as they used to be,
but they are still around. Your boot order exposes you to them
unnecessarily.

 

[mike_uk]

Thanks for the reply Ken.

I understand what you're saying but in this case I need to reboot from the
CD drive as I want to restore a backup with Norton Ghost.

I forgot to mention that at the bottom of the PC DOS screen it also says:

Press F5 to bypass startup files
Press F8 to confirm each line of autoexec.bat and config.sys

Any further ideas please?

 

[philo]

Thanks for the reply Ken.

I understand what you're saying but in this case I need to reboot from the
CD drive as I want to restore a backup with Norton Ghost.

I forgot to mention that at the bottom of the PC DOS screen it also says:

Press F5 to bypass startup files
Press F8 to confirm each line of autoexec.bat and config.sys

Any further ideas please?

If you are getting that, then it is not booting from the CD rom.
It was bypassed.

So either the CD rom is defective
or perhaps the cd itself is dirty or scratched

 

[Ken Blake]

Thanks for the reply Ken.

I understand what you're saying but in this case I need to reboot from the
CD drive as I want to restore a backup with Norton Ghost.

Yes, I understand. My comment wasn't about this case, but about your keeping
that boot order all the time.

I forgot to mention that at the bottom of the PC DOS screen it also says:

Press F5 to bypass startup files
Press F8 to confirm each line of autoexec.bat and config.sys

Then it would seem that you are *not* booting from the CD. Are you getting
and ignoring a message telling you to press any key to boot from CD?

If not, one of four things is wrong:

1. Your boot order does not have the CD before the hard drive
2. Your CD is not bootable
3. Your CD is damaged
4. There's something wrong with your CD drive.

 

[db.·.. >]

perhaps, you can try a
couple of things:

firstly, i would disconnect
the floppy drive completely,
unless you actually use it
on a regular basis.

otherwise you may be cycling
the floppy drive to death.

when your ready to use it
then re connect it.

but for now, during your
analysis i would suggest
to disconnect its cabling.

secondly, i would also
disconnect the cd drive
temporarily and leave the
hard disk connected only.

then see if you can boot
directly with it; as the only
drive connected to the drive.

the above suggestions are
simple and may provide
further enlightenment towards
discovering the underlying
issue.

---------

it might be that eventhough
your bios is registering the
devices, perhaps the power
to them is inadequate.

--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces

 

[Twayne]

Thanks for the reply Ken.

I understand what you're saying but in this case I need to reboot
from the CD drive as I want to restore a backup with Norton Ghost.

I forgot to mention that at the bottom of the PC DOS screen it also
says:

Press F5 to bypass startup files
Press F8 to confirm each line of autoexec.bat and config.sys

Is this winXP or win98? I didn't think XP had those options but perhaps
setup has a lot to do with it.

That would indicate you are not booting from the CD, too.

If this is your Ghost Recovery ISO CD, you do know that the ISO has to
be properly burned to another CD to make it useful, right? If all
that's on the CD is the .iso file, then it is not prepared for use. ISO
is sort of like a zipped file; it has to be managed to become a useful
set of files. So, you have to have a program that will "burn" the ISO
to disk properly, not just copy it. Check your CD burner for something
about "burning ISO files".

You may find these helpful if what you are trying to boot to is the .iso
file:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_image
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_image_software

Regards,

Twayne

 

[Olórin]

perhaps, you can try a
couple of things:

firstly, i would disconnect
the floppy drive completely,
unless you actually use it
on a regular basis.

otherwise you may be cycling
the floppy drive to death.

when your ready to use it
then re connect it.

but for now, during your
analysis i would suggest
to disconnect its cabling.

secondly, i would also
disconnect the cd drive
temporarily and leave the
hard disk connected only.

then see if you can boot
directly with it; as the only
drive connected to the drive.

the above suggestions are
simple and may provide
further enlightenment towards
discovering the underlying
issue.

---------

it might be that eventhough
your bios is registering the
devices, perhaps the power
to them is inadequate.

--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces

Just curious: why do you format your posts to look as if you're writing a
newspaper column, 4-5 words per line?

 

[John John (MVP)]

Just curious: why do you format your posts to look as if you're writing a
newspaper column, 4-5 words per line?

He's a retired court stenographer, they gave him his stenotype machine
as a parting gift...

John