Unable to boot from CD/USB in Inspiron 6400

Question

I need to reinstall xp on my Dell Inspiron 6400.

don't have any recovery disc or what so ever, only windows xp disc.

the weird thing is that the laptop won't boot from anything but the HD.

to format the drive i had it connected externaly to other computer then formatted it from there.

tried using boot selector menu (F12) and selecting cd-rom - nothing happanes.

also tried booting from bootable usb drive with xp installation on it - nothing happanes.

also tried changing boot sequence in BIOS - no affect.

i thought my disc maybe is bad - but i checked in other laptop and it boots great,

both from my disc and from my usb flash drive.

you have any ideas how to make it boot?

tried resetting the bios to its deafult.

also, i thought maybe its sata drivers issues which needs to be slipstreamed onto the windows xp installation -

but i hardly think thats it, cause this laptop doesn't even have an option for AHCI mode.

be glad to get some help here

Thanks

adiel91 · Accepted Answer

Hey, thanks for the detailed reply.

did another check today - got from my boss at work another bootable flash drive, conatining hirens boot cd,

and it booted great from the old laptop.

probably the optical drive is dead, and my bootable usb, created with Win2Flash app, is not comptaible with those

old pc's (although in my toshiba 2 y'o pc it boots great)

he made his one bootable in a different way, a way which i intend to try and use to boot to xp install.

thank you all for the replies and help and have a great week

adiel

DELL-Roshan L · Answer

Hi adiel91,

Welcome to the Community,

Since you've tried everything possible to boot from the XP CD,try the steps in the link below to install Windows XP:

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

Let me know if this works.

Thank You

PudgyOne · Answer

adiel91,

Shutdown your computer. Wait 30 seconds, then power on the computer.

Press F2 at the Dell Screen to enter the BIOS.

Look for boot sequence.

Make it...

CD/DVD Rom

HDD Hard Drive

Removal-able devices

network

Save changes and exit.

If your system has the option, it would be in the bios...

On the main screen in the bios, is it set to AHCI?

Rick

adiel91 · Answer

thanks for the replies guys. Roshan, the method you suggested can't be done since the hd is empty (formatted). PudgyOne, already tried changing the boot sequence for that order and tried booting from boot selection menu. 
on of the above worked. also, there is no option set to ahci in bios, guess the old pc doesn't support it at all :) be glad to get some more suggestions, thanks

Philip_Yip · Answer

Try using a UBUNTU or Windows Vista/7 iso, can it boot from them?

PudgyOne · Answer

adiel91,

Put the disk in the drive and restart the computer. Press F12, then select boot from CD/DVD Rom

If that doesn't work, then it may be possible your disk is bad. If in the United States, Request Backup Disks USA if in another Country, Contact Dell Tech Support in your Country.

Rick

MicroTest · Answer

I assume that the CD/DVD drive can read both CD's AND DVD's - it's possible that a faulty drive can only read one of them.

Regarding booting from USB: This could be tricky if the system is old.You will find plenty of information here

http://www.rmprepusb.com/

adiel91 · Answer

Natakuc4, just tried, still nothing :\

adiel91 · Answer

hey natacku,

already ran the diagnostics - all went fine and passed, including the optical drive test

about laptop hd - i have another hd . for what purpose? the problem is booting from cd/usb to xp installation,

can another hd help in that matter?

also i've ran diagnostics on the hd of the dell laptop - it passed with no errors (extended tests of course)

thanks

adiel91 · Answer

hey,

tried that too, still doesn't work.

the disc is fine. checked it in another laptop it boots great

same goes for the bootable usb i've prepared - in the dell laptop in won't boot

and in other laptop it boots just fine

thanks

Philip_Yip · Answer

Okay power down press F12 at the Dell BIOs screen and select diagnostics, run any tests including extended ones. P.S. do you have a second laptop hard drive?

adiel91 · Answer

MicroTest,

tried using xp from CD-R and windows 7 from DVD-R media - none of them will boot.

about booting from usb - tried my usb from 3 different laptops - they all booted fine.

any specific link you can refer me to in "rmprepusb" site that can help?

thanks

Philip_Yip · Answer

Please enter the BIOs setup and amend any field to the same as my Inspiron 6400 (sorry for the low quality).

Are you on A17?

1. Diskette Drive, 2. Internal HDD, 3. USB Storage Device, 4. CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive

Serial ATA BIPW Enabled

Fast boot minimal

USB Emulation, enabled

MicroTest · Answer

Further down on the homepage you find the section:

==========================================

What do the boot options in RMPrepUSB actually do?

==========================================

I would download the portable version and just fool around with it

www.rmprepusb.com/.../RMPrepUSB_Portable_2.1.648.zip

The program needs admin rights !

==========================================

adiel91 · Answer

hey all settings same as yours my bios version is A14 and not A17 and i don't have the 'SATA ATA BIPW' option at all thanks

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Unable to boot from CD/USB in Inspiron 6400

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