Booting from CD Drive Dimension 4600

Hi Rodev,

Dell released BIOS update for the 4600 to address some ATAPI detection issues, see if this will help.
Also double check that the drive in question is the Master drive, with Dell, the drive in the Top bay.

Best Regards





God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.

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CD/RW Link

I did put it at the top of the list in the and made it the master drive.

I cant really get this update because my computer is bogged down because I waited waayyy to long to reformat.

EDIT:

I have succesfully updated the bios, computer will still not boot from cd-rom. I put CD-ROM as the Master Drive, I also press F12 at startup and selet CD-ROM drive. Still will not work.

Please Help :(

Hi Rodev,

Take a look at these article here:
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?c=us&cs=19&DN=1081757&type=SRG&l=en&s=dhs
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4600/en/4600/sm/sysset.htm#1084976

I noticed in the latter there is an option to turn off Fast Boot in the BIOS, and also an OS Install Mode defaulted to off, but honestly I have not seen an issue before having to do this, usually it is a fairly straight forward process.

Best Regards





God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.

---

CD/RW Link

Hiya,

Ive tried messing with those 2 options in the setup, no luck there

And I have read the articles that you linked and it is all the basic stuff that I have already done.

Yes, I do have a floppy drive.

Hi Rod,

This is indeed a strange one, do you have a floppy drive?

Best Regards





God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.

---

CD/RW Link

Hi Rod,

I spoke with a good friend on this issue and he mentioned I may have overlooked something, the CD drive may have simply failed. Will the drive read CD`s? Have you opened the case and re-seated the IDE cable going from the motherboard to the back of the drive?

Best Regards





God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.

---

CD/RW Link

Yes, when Windows XP is running the CD-Drive is fine, I play manny games, and listen to lots of music. There isnt anything I can think of that would be wrong. Im not liking this >.<

Thanks for your help.

Hi Rod,

This is not addressing your booting problem but may be a work around for now.
Take a look at this link:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/format_XP.htm

Also you may be able to use "Dell PC Restore by Symantec"
Click on the CD/RW link in my post and scroll to Section 12, article 12.

I am still curious as to why you cannot boot to your opitcal drive, A have a couple of good friends helping me with this well, (thank you !) very odd indeed.
Best Regards





God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.

---

CD/RW Link

Message Edited by Predator on 08-03-2005 03:44 PM

I just saw this:

Format Non-System Hard Drive or Partition using XP Disk Management

To open Disk Management

1. From the Start menu, click Run.
2. In the Open box, type diskmgmt.msc, and then click OK.
3. Select the drive or partition you want to format.
4. Right click the selected drive or partition.
5. Choose format from the list.

For more information select from the toolbar or from the right click menu.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Now i must wonder, if this works and I do this, I would still be stuck with the same problem, the computer will not boot from the CD-Drive.

EDIT: I would like to make Dell Pc Restore my last option as I would like to get rid of all the junk they put on the computer as well :)

As for the Dell PC Restore, where is this file locatated? (I cant search my computer for it because it freezes everytime I attempt to do so.)

Double Edit: I put it in my DVD DRIVE AND IT WORKED!!! Is that normal or what? Was I supposed to do this the whole time (If so I feel very nub).

Thanks so mcuh Predator, btw Dell should hire, your much better than those outsourced jobs they have (cant understand those people on the phone). (My apologies if you are one of those people)

Glad to hear you were able to solve this mystery Rod, good luck with the install !!

Best Regards





God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.

---

CD/RW Link