I have a CD-RW, a DVD/CD combo and a Cd read only drive. But in the BIOS there is only CD ROM. How do I specify which drive is First Boot?

With HDD there is 0,1,2 etc.

What kind of computer do you have, which BIOS firmware does it have?

(in reply to brsk)

It is the principle I was looking for rather than the particular.
My mobo is Gigabyte GA-7VAXPA-Ultra.
BIOS is Award Modular v6 OOPC.
The First Boot selection is:
CDROM
HDD-1
HDD-2
HDD-3
ZIP
USB-FDD
USB-ZIP
USB-CDROM
USB-HDD
LAN
Disabled
Floppy
LS120
HDD-0
SCSI
On this computer there are two drives: DVD ROM and CD-RW.
On this computer, when I boot from  XP CD, I get a new screen after the memory check/drives recognition screen which says at the bottom: 'Boot from CD, press any key'.

On my brothers PC , which has a Gigabyte GA-7VRXP and 3 optical drives. He doesn't get the 'Boot from CD' screen and it proceeds to boot from the HDD, even when first boot is set to CDROM. We are wondering why it is not recognising the first boot setting.

I would have expected CDROM-0, CDROM-1, CDROM-3 etc. in BIOS.

(in reply to MP3Mogul)

It doesn't recognize it because it is USB.  The drivers for USB do not load until windows loads, therefore, it's not an option.

(in reply to brsk)

There is no USB involved. All the drives are internal on the IDE cables.

(in reply to MP3Mogul)

Okay, obviously I misunderstood.

You're saying the the BIOS does not show the 2nd CD ROM/DVD DRIVE?  It only shows the 1st drive?  If so, is the 2nd drive functional?

(in reply to brsk)

The problem is we are not given the option 'To boot from CD, press any key'.

The three drives are functional.
We want to do a repair install of XP.
We change the first boot to CDROM in the BIOS.
We put in the XP CD (genuine) and reboot.
The PC goes straight through and boots into Windows. We do not see the option 'Boot from CD, press any key'
We try each of the drives. same result. (CDROM, CD-RW, DVD-RW).

The question is : Does the First Boot CDROM setting in BIOS look at all the drives? If not how do we know which drive it is detecting? Is this why we are not given the option 'To boot from CD, press any key' ? If not where should we look?

On the GA-7VRXP it is an AMI  BIOS with the following 1st Boot Device options:-
Floppy
Zip A/ LS120
Atapi Zip C
CDROM
SCSI
Network
Disabled
IDE-0-3
USB FDD

(in reply to MP3Mogul)

We are trying to do a repair/install of XP
All drives are functional
We set first boot to CDROM in the BIOS.
Insert XP CD (genuine) and reboot.
PC goes straight through to boot into Windows.
There is no option 'To boot from CD, press any key'.

We have tried the CD in each of the drives. Same result. (CD ROM, CD-RW, DVD-RW).

The question is:- does the setting 'CDROM' in the first boot in BIOS look at all the three drives? Or only one? And which one?

The GA-7VRXP has an AMI BIOS.

The First Boot options are:-
Floppy
Zip A/LS120
Atapi Zip C.
CDROM
SCSI
Network
Disabled
IDE-0-3.
USB FDD.

(in reply to MP3Mogul)

It appears you are going to have to play with the IDE setting for selecting which to boot from.  I have not seen an award BIOS that doesn't allow setting which CD/DVD ROM to boot from.

I suggest playing with the IDE 0, 1, 2 etc., to figure which one is for the ROM drive.... please post back and let us know what happens.

(in reply to brsk)

OK. Thanks.
Will try that tomorrow and report back.

(in reply to MP3Mogul)

I think I was getting some misinformation about the other PC.
Setting the first boot to CDROM recognised the DVD drive which is installed as Primary Slave. They said they had tried to boot from each drive but obviously they hadn't.
Thanks for your help. Sorry about the time wasting.

Brian

(in reply to MP3Mogul)

No problem, at least it's resolved.

(in reply to brsk)