cannot boot from a external USB cd-rom device

Question

I bought a Dell Lattitude CSX P111 500mhz. This notebook does not have a cd-rom, nor a flopy. It has WinXP Pro but in English. I want to reinstall XP Home service pack 2 update, that I bought last week. I own an external usb cd-rom drive and a usb flopy drive.   Problem: In the Bios I set the first boot to cd-rom -dvd-rom, the second to Flopy and the third to HHD. I inserted my xp cd and I restarted the computer. The external cd-rom is not recognise as a bootable device nor the Flopy. Then, Ichanged  the setting, and let the cd-rom dvd-rom first boot and disabled the rest. The Bios does not have a choice of usb bootable device.   What can I do to resolve this problem? Thank you for your advise. Cats56

ejn63 · Answer

The system doesn't support USB boot. You will need a floppy or CD in a Dell media bay, plus the cable for it.

jdrou · Answer

Yes, notebooks that old do not boot from USB. Best option might be to get a C/Dock with an optical drive. It should boot from that.

cats56 · Answer

Thank you for your answers.   Now, Where can I buy the original cd-rom drive, or a replacement that goes in the bay connector and that will be bootable?   Thanks in advance   Cats56

jdrou · Answer

Does that model have a modular bay? I didn't think it did.
You can get the docking station for around $20 plus shipping on ebay. Search for "c/dock". Similarly you can get a CDROM for $20 or less, DVDROM or CDRW for $25-35, CDRW/DVDROM combo for $50 on ebay. Anything that says it will work with a Latitude C600 series or C800 series should work in the C/Dock.

Message Edited by jdrou on 01-04-200711:34 PM

Locked Topics – Laptops General

Was this post helpful?