Unable to boot from cd drive

Iconic

I am trying to reinstall Xp on a Dell Optiplex GX150 but cannot get it to boot from the cd drive.

The drive is shown in the BIOS and the boot sequence is Floppy/CD ROM/Hard Disc although I have tried various sequences without any luck.

After switching the machine on it finds the CD drive and you get 'press any key to boot from cd drive'. When I press a key it loads the previous version of XP. The cd drive is showing in My Computer and if you click on it it shows the contents of the installation disc.

I have changed the coms battery and tried to update the BIOS but I am having a similar problem with the floopy drive.The contents of the floopy are shown via My Computer but when I try to boot from the floopy I get 'remove discs or other media.... Press any key to restart' and the machine locks up!

scheming_gypsy

what happens if you disconnect your hard drive and try and boot from CD?

Iconic

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

what happens if you disconnect your hard drive and try and boot from CD?

Many thanks. It loads and starts Windows Setup!!

But what do I do now? It starting loading the files but then found there was no hard drive. If I quit setup, shut the computer down and then refit the hdd will the same thing will happen again?

scheming_gypsy

it shouldn't do, it sounds as though it might not be recognising the key press so it isn't being told to boot from CD..

santer_2

Sometimes if you keep tapping the enter key when it says press any key, it boots from the CD

SteveJH200

Make sure the BIOS is set to default level and that today's date is entered. Go to the boot sequence and place CD/RW as the first boot device. Disable the floppy and HDD for now. Place the disc in the CD/RW drive and you should be able to boot from any key.

If your computer has a specific Boot order key - sometimes it's F12 then you can often change the first boot device there.

I assume this is a fresh install and you don't want to keep anything currently on the HDD. When it prompts you, format the HDD and carry on with the install. I tend to format the HDD first before I install so everything is clean in the first place.

Iconic

Thanks for the replies.

I have tried everything suggested except I don't seem to be able to set the BIOS to default level. The funny thing was I set the boot sequence to cd rom and disabled the other two. It still booted from the hdd when I pressed any key to boot from the cd!!

santer_2

Is it listed as fail safe defaults?

Iconic

santer wrote: »

Is it listed as fail safe defaults?

No.

It's got..
System Date.
Diskette Primary and Secondary Drive info.
Boot Sequence.
Memory Info.CPU Info.
Integrated Devices.
PCI IRQ Assignment.
IRQ Reservations.
System Security.
Keyboard Numlock.
Report Keyboard errors.
Auto Power On.
Remote Wake UP.
AC Power Recovery.
Fast Boot.
Suspend Mode.
System Event Log.

pcombo

Press F12 soon as the machine turns on keep hitting till u get menu and select cd rom.

Iconic

I have sorted it. Many thanks to everyone for your help.

It was the keyboard. I had a look at the system event log (I only found out it was there when I typed the above) and the keyboard was mentioned a couple of times so I changed it and everything now works!

Thanks again.