Dell wont boot from anything, except HDD

[Hightower]

Got a Dell with some AV problems, so thought I'd run Kaspersky Rescue CD through it. When trying to boot from the CD however, it has a dashed line that flashes for a minute or two then continues to boot windows.

 

Can't see any special options in the BIOS. Tried burning the rescue disc to CD, DVD, USB Pen, and all of which don't work.

 

Tried discs/USB on another machine and boots straight up. Also tried external USB CD ROM and it doesnt boot either.

 

Any ideas anyone?

[mac_shinobi]

1. Check the boot device order and I normally only enable the onboard or USB CD ROM option and disable everything else and once Ive done what I need I set it back to what it should be ie HDD First, CD ROM 2nd etc

 

2. Normally in the sata section you can enable or disable SATA ports - if this is a SATA Optical drive then maybe the sata port is disabled in the bios ?

 

3. Does the cd work in a known working laptop ie you can boot from it so the media is definately bootable ?

 

4. If the optical drive is SATA then what mode is the sata set to ie AHCI or Compatability or similar ?

 

5. if you read the read me for the bios update are there any updates that may help ??

 

6. If booting from a bootable USB Device ie memory stick, in the bios are there any options for USB as far as USB compatability mode ie it runs using USB 1.1 or High speed ( USB 2.0 )

 

If so then I have found setting this to high speed ( USB 2.0 ) allows you to boot from a bootable usb device.

 

Also ref USB settings I normally enable USB keyboard and mouse options and ensure that any USB options ie external usb ports etc are enabled in the bios.

 

would be good to know the type and model of machine ie desktop / laptop etc

 

Also have you got another optical drive that you know will work with the said PC whether it be a laptop or desktop to see if its the optical drive at fault ?

 

If its still the same then it may be worth while running the dell diagnostics ( Pressing F12, select diagnostic startup )

Edited March 2, 2011 by mac_shinobi

[Hightower]

1. Check the boot device order and I normally only enable the onboard or USB CD ROM option and disable everything else and once Ive done what I need I set it back to what it should be ie HDD First, CD ROM 2nd etc

 

3. Does the cd work in a known working laptop ie you can boot from it so the media is definately bootable ?

 

These are detailed in the OP. Dell Diag shows everything working fine. Think I'm not even gonna bother with it any more - just gonna pull the HDD and put it in another laptop to run the rescue CD.

 

Cheers

[Rawns]

Maybe copy the CD onto a USB stick and try booting from that? I had issues booting from USB once and found that in the BIOS boot priority, USB devices get listed as hard Drives (instead of a separate USB option) so had to drill into my HDD list and set the USB stick to the top of the list.

[Hightower]

Maybe copy the CD onto a USB stick and try booting from that?

 

I've already tried that. I could have sworn I put everything I tried into the original post, which included your suggestion....... oh wait, I did

 

Tried burning the rescue disc to CD, DVD, USB Pen, and all of which don't work.

 

Tried discs/USB on another machine and boots straight up.

[Rawns]

Forgive me, I'm only running on one coffee this morning!!!

 

I assume you also tried the boot priority for the USB drive, or set your USB as the first boot device in your HDD list if your BIOS is set up that way?

[Hightower]

Yup, Press F12 on Dell's to get Boot Priority. The USB keys flash, and so does the disc drive light when attempting to boot from that.

 

I'm fed up, just gonna whip the HDD and put it in another machine.

[pscott]

Had the Dell got 2 CD drives in? ifso try disconnecting one of the drives