I just built a new computer for someone. My problem is that I want to run the Windows XP Pro Boot Disks. I can't find anywhere in the BIOS that will load the disk drive upon startup. I found the boot#1, boot#2 and boot#3 options. I haven't been able to find any disk boot.

Here is the screen that has boot order:

http://img28.exs.cx/img28/9141/Boot1.jpg


And then I have the place that shows that it detects the disk drive.

http://img106.exs.cx/img106/3033/Boot2.jpg



I can't find where to set the disk to load on startup.

Well looks like your screwed.

Best option is to burn it to CD.

I think what he means is he has it on CD but can't load it on startup. Lol.. that's scary to say the least. Hopefully you can return/exchange it at the very least.

Try pressing one of the F keys on startup and cross your fingers. Also check the web for info on your BIOS. Maybe if you provided BIOS info we could help in your search.

I think what he means is he has it on CD but can't load it on startup. Lol.. that's scary to say the least. That can't be what he means, because the DVD drive is one of the boot options.....

Lets analyse it like this. From the screen outputs you've got it rigged:

A: Floppy Drive [1.44MB 3 1/2"]
B: Disabled
C: Hard-drive [PM-Maxtor 6Y060L0]
D: DVD-ROM [SM-HL-DT-STDVD-ROM GDR8161B]

If you are booting from a CD in the DVD-ROM from BIOS then you will need:

1st Boot Device SM-HL-DT-STDVD-ROM GDR8161B
2nd Boot Device PM-Maxtor 6Y060L0
3rd Boot Device Disabled

If you have installed the system, you can still use the above Boot settings
however it will mean that the DVD-ROM is checked first before attempting to
boot by Harddrive, sometimes this is not a great idea for security purposes.
In that case just change the 1st Boot to equal the Harddrive and the 2nd to
equal the DVD-ROM.

[Note I left the 3rd Boot Disabled since you only need a Network Card boot
if your system is pulling a DHCP setting directly from a DHCP server which
most normal people don't have. They are found in LAN setups with multiple
machines that have to Dynamically syncronise with a network and would be
added as 1st or 2nd in those cases.]

If you are trying to boot from a Floppy Disk, you might find it in the 2nd
boot setting if the 1st is set to Harddrive, otherwise perhaps it will
automatically check floppy first.

A: Floppy Drive [1.44MB 3 1/2"]
B: Disabled
C: Hard-drive [PM-Maxtor 6Y060L0]
D: DVD-ROM [SM-HL-DT-STDVD-ROM GDR8161B]You're missing the point... floppy isn't an option.

If he wanted to boot from CD, it would work the way he has it. If he wants to boot from floppy, well then he is screwed.

are you saying he is trying to boot from floppy? Oh.. I thought he said "disk" as in "disc". Sorry..

Has he checked the connection on floppy drive and IDE cables to make sure?

I have never installed XP from floppy disks. I've always just set it to boot from the optical drive (as yours is) dropped in the XP CD, and away it goes. Unless there is something you haven't told us, you ought to be able to do that as well.

I want to install Winjdows XP from floppy disks. My XP CD isn't bootable. It's strange that a floppy drive is not an option on the boot order.

how do I make a bootable CD for windows XP?

What I would do is use a win98 Disc in the CD-ROM, boot it up so that it loads the drivers for the CD-ROM, then before you start installing win98 or run a harddrive check etc. Just switch the CD with the XP CD and run the install from the disc.

Otherwise you'll have to install 98 first and then use Upgrade from the XP disc.

Also heres some instructions on how to make a Bootable CD if you have a CD-burner at hand.
http://www.bootdisk.com/nero.htm

how can your xp cd not be bootable? is it not legit? even then it still should be bootable.

how can your xp cd not be bootable? is it not legit? even then it still should be bootable.

Only reason I can think of is it might be an OEM CD. Or an upgrade maybe?

Have you tried having the floppy in the drive? The Try Other Boot Device option should cover the floppy drive. It should look for a bootable drive until it finds it.

even if it was from the manufacturer, they still provide some way of booting since not an OS install disk without that feature is useless.

stryderunknown's link should help though.

Windows 98 requires the use of a floppy drive for installation. And I think (but I'm not sure) that some OEMs have XP install in the same way. One of the many reasons I hate everything about OEM computers.

how can your xp cd not be bootable? is it not legit? even then it still should be bootable.

It's not legit :rolleyes:

Have you tried having the floppy in the drive? The Try Other Boot Device option should cover the floppy drive. It should look for a bootable drive until it finds it.

I've tried booting my computer in many many ways.

even if it was from the manufacturer, they still provide some way of booting since not an OS install disk without that feature is useless.

that's why something isn't making sense here.
There SHOULD be a way of boting off of the disk.


My disk drive is connected properly and it is detected as being perfectly functional by the computer but could it be faulty? When I get home from school, I'm going to do a bit of a drive transplant to test it (this is when I regret putting my case together so tightly).

I can assure you that the warez XP Professional version that is widely available boots perfectly from the CD.

heh, the disk drive was defective... After the transplant, it worked. Now it's not detecting the sound card but the sound card is built into the motherboard. Help please.

try sticking it in the freezer, in a sealed plastic bag (overnight.) In case you have any data you want to recover.
As for the soundcard, did you install the driver?

what effect does the freezer have on anything? it'l just push it below a safe temerature and will break it.....

is the sound set to 'on' or 'auto' in the BIOS?

its an old trick. And if the hard drive is already broken...??//whats the harm

freezer has an effect of almost but not entirelly dead hard drives,

it's like an electroshock which resurects the hd just long enough to allow you to copy the data to somewhere else. the optimum freezer time is +/-2 hours, it shouldn't be too long.
duno about the mobo though :D
the mobo, Xerxes, the motherboard
and I'm sure that it doesn't deserve such punishment

Freezer trick works because it makes the drive 'shrink' a little bit (cold does that). Anything that got stuck by overheating for example has a chance to become unstuck. You have to be really quick to backup the drive tho - if it warms up it usually goes to pieces again.

As to the soundcard on the motherboard: check the chipset (eg. VIA or other) and get the driver set from them. Let me know if you cannot find it. Sometimes (legacy) hardware is not automatically recognised properly, but with the right driver it should work.

Also, if the motherboard is old, check if you can lay your hands on a bios upgrade. That's a a piece of software that you can download into the main chip on the motherboard (after setting a switch and booting from a specially created floppy disk).
Check the manufacturers' site for those, but make sure you follow all instructions to the letter.
That could really solve all your future problems with other (newer) hardware, too.

Also keep an eye on duplicate functionality with stuff already on the motherboard. Some cards don't work correctly if there is stuff on the motherboard occupying the same memory regions and interrupts.

Actually it's not a BIOS upgrade. BIOS [basic input/output system] is actually Hardware configured, namely the program is built into the ROM chip and doesn't have the capacity of being re-written it just controls the basic architecture ability to communicate as a whole.

CMOS [complementary metal oxide semiconductor] however is what can be flashed since it, itself is a form of storage media that can use a very low charge to maintain certain data like for instance what settings you select within the BIOS.
It can also allow for extra pieces of programming code to be added to the BIOS later on, and why it's usually refered to as a FLASH ROM.

As mentioned if you know your motherboard type, you're best looking at the manufacturers site incase they have FLASH ROM upgrades for the CMOS.

It's not just motherboards that can have FLASH ROM's, Modems, CD-Writers and other peripherals can also have the benefits of FLASH ROM's which can make them handle their I/O more conservatively or even deal with higher speeds etc.

Sorry Stryder, but that is not correct. The BIOS ROM is an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory). It can only be overwritten by the use of a high voltage memory flash, which is exactly what you are doing when you flash the BIOS. The CMOS draws its basic parameters from the BIOS ROM, but then saves the information detected during the POST, such as the number and type of drives, and other installed hardware.

Sorry for causing this little sideline by wanting to keep things simple. ;)

But they're right - you're not really downloading software into a chip, just setting switches in a different configuration. The exact details are a bit more technical, as noted.

Have to be careful tho: if your electricity goes down for instance, or you make other big mistakes while you're in the middle of flashing your bios you could be in deep trouble: it could leave the bios in an unusable state. No more machine.

Repo,
I guess I stand corrected, however it's dependent on the architecture, if you have a "Dummy" system in the sense that it's built for dummies, then Flashing will only occur to the CMOS and the BIOS will be set, but you are right that the majority of systems can be written to so I apologise for getting my wires crossed.

For a good intro that tries to keep the acronyms at a minimum:

http://www.rlrouse.com/bios.html

I set the sound to auto on the BIOS still nothing. What a piece of shite MoBo I bought! Where I work, we have some broken computers in the basement and I just removed the sound card out of one of them and stuck it in the computer. Problem solved.