Reference number: CH000217

How to or can't boot from a CD or DVD.

Issue:

How to or can't boot from a CD or DVD.

Cause:

If you are unable to boot from a CD or DVD it's possible you may be encountering one or more of the below situations.

1. Need to press a key to boot to the CD or DVD
2. CD or DVD is not bootable.
3. Not setup properly in CMOS.
4. Bad CD / DVD disc.
5. Jumpers not set properly.
6. Cables or other drive related issues.
7. Bad CD drive.

Solution:

To boot from the computer simply place the bootable CD or DVD into the CD-ROM drive, reboot the computer, and the computer should detect the bootable CD and boot from the disc. If the computer is loading to an error message when attempting to boot to the CD or loads into Windows, you may be encountering any of the below situations.

Need to press a key to boot to CD or DVD

Some bootable CD's such as the Microsoft Windows XP CD will actually prompt a user to press a key to boot from the CD. If no key is pressed then the computer will continue to boot normal and not load the CD. Make sure to pay close attention to the screen as the computer is starting and press a key if prompted.

CD or DVD is not bootable

Not all CDs and DVDs are bootable; in order to boot from a CD you must have a CD that is stated to be bootable. Keep in mind that Windows 95 CDs are not bootable; however, Windows 98 ME, XP and later CDs are bootable.

Not setup properly in CMOS

If the CMOS setup is not properly setup the computer may ignore or not look at the CD-ROM / DVD as a bootable option. Verify in the CMOS that your settings are properly set to boot from the CD-ROM drive. Additional information and help with getting into CMOS setup can be found on document CH00192.

Generally, these settings will be under the boot options. We suggest that you have your boot options setup similar to the below example. If all else fails make your CD-ROM or ATAPI CD-ROM the first bootable option.

1 - Floppy / LS120
2 - CD-ROM / DVD
3 - Network (if available)
4 - Hard Disk Drive

If CD-ROM is listed after a device that is bootable it will boot from the other device before the CD-ROM. Verify that the devices before CD-ROM, such as floppy, do not have bootable media in them. This includes your hard disk drive or HDD, which unless empty will always be bootable.

Bad CD / DVD disc

Verify either in the computer you are using or another computer that the CD / DVD is readable. It's possible that the CD / DVD is bad or not readable. If you determine the CD is getting errors when being read, try first cleaning the CD before looking for a replacement. Additional information about how to clean your CD disc and CD-ROM drive can be found on our cleaning page.

Jumpers not set properly

Not all disc drives will boot properly if the jumpers are not set properly; verify that the CD-ROM / DVD drive has the jumpers set properly. We generally recommend that you have the CD-ROM set as master on the secondary controller. This rule also applies to portable computers.

Additional information on CD-ROM connections can be found on document CH000213.

Cables or other drive related issues

Some computers today have multiple disc drives, e.g. a DVD drive and another CD / CD-RW drive. If your computer has multiple disc drives consider disconnecting one of the drives while trying to boot from the disc if you're encountering problems.

With some IDE / ATA disc drives if the drive is not connected as the the first drive (first connection on the cable) it can prevent the drive from properly booting. If you've never been able to boot from a CD or DVD with this computer consider checking to verify that the drive is the fist drive on the cable.

Bad CD / DVD drive

Verify other CD / DVD discs work in the drive. If the drive is a bad drive it will be unable to boot from the disc because it cannot read from the disc. If the drive is bad, additional information about replacing the drive can be found on our buying tips section, additional information about installing a CD / DVD drive can be found on document CHADD.