Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
1 Message
0
36950
Windows XP won't boot from cd drive????HELP
Hi everybody !
I'm using a E520 and trying to reinstall an original copy(the one that came with the pc) windows xp disc ! but when I try and boot from cd it says "selected boot drive not available " I've changed the order around in bios so it goes *onboard or usb CD-ROM drive 1st? But it still won't boot, pressed f12 gone to boot and still won't do it?.
Also as a last resort I did a clean bios and that didn't sort it either , checked for updates for bios installed then and still nothing!
this problem is really doing my head in i! there must be somebody out there that has had this problem ?????
PLEASE HELP.
Cheers
chris
Joe550
12 Posts
0
October 11th, 2013 15:00
Did you check to see if the CD drive works with a regular CD? music or video? I think your CD Drive is bad. Ive seen that before,
Dell-Kuldeep M
621 Posts
0
October 11th, 2013 23:00
Hi chris,
If there are two CD/DVD drives connected, you have to use the first drive to boot the CD for installation.
You may try reseating the drive to see if that works. Refer to the manual on the link http://bit.ly/VkdC84.
Which version of Windows XP are you trying to install?
You may try to use a different drive if possible to check if the issue is not with the drive.
Keep me posted with the information. I will be glad to assist you further.
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
16K Posts
0
October 12th, 2013 05:00
Windows XP is reaching its End of Life in 6 months and I highly advise against installing it. For more information see Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 SP3 End of Life - April 2014. You should install upgrade your Windows Operating System. I advise clean installation of Windows 7 or 8.1 (which will be available in 6 days).
Windows 8.1 will be cheaper than Windows 7 and has a number of performance enhancements. Its best to install the OS by a USB stick.
See Windows Reinstallation Guide/A Clean Install of Windows 8/7/XP:
http://philipyip.wordpress.com/dell-community-forums/
There are instructions for installing XP, Vista, 7 and 8 by USB but XP is more difficult and as mentioned I don't recommend continuing to use such an obsolete version of Windows which will no longer be updated.
For drivers for Windows 7 (and most can be used for Windows 8) see this unofficial driver set:
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/software-os/w/microsoft_os/4624.dimension-e520-windows-7-64-bit.aspx
You can use the Windows 8.1 consumer preview (valid until January) or install Windows 7 without a product key to get a 30 day trial to evaluate how well these versions of Windows run on your system.