You’re performing a fresh installation of Windows 7 on an older Windows XP Professional desktop PC, but the Windows 7 installation media won’t boot from the DVD-ROM drive and always boots Windows XP normally. The Windows 7 DVD-ROM boots properly on other computers in the office. What is the most likely cause of this issue?
A) Windows XP SP3 security features won’t allow booting of DVD-ROMs
B) The Windows 7 DVD-ROM is too new to be read by the DVD-ROM drive inside of the computer
C) The Windows 7 DVD-ROM is damaged
D) The BIOS is not configured to initially boot from the DVD-ROM
E) The computer is too tired to boot the DVD-ROM drive
The answer: D) The BIOS is not configured to initially boot from the DVD-ROM
The DVD-ROM is working in other computers, so it’s a good bet that the disc is still operational. The service pack version of Windows XP doesn’t apply here, since we’re trying to boot the computer before the operating system is loaded. DVD-ROMs are also very compatible, so it would be unusual to find a DVD-ROM drive that couldn’t read a “new” DVD-ROM disc.
The BIOS configuration is the most likely issue, since the bootable disc isn’t taking effect before the normal booting from the hard drive. To solve the problem, we’ll need to start the BIOS configuration and modify the boot order of the drives. Once the DVD-ROM drive has a higher priority than the hard drive, the Windows 7 DVD-ROM should boot normally.
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Want to know more? Watch “Boot Options.” Even before Windows starts, there are many options during the boot process. In this video module, you’ll learn how to configure the BIOS, use Safe Mode, and repair your computer with system recovery disks and the Windows Recovery Console. |