How to set PC to boot from CD

Upon boot up, your PC is configured to access your hard disk, seeking for a tiny program called: “Bootstrap loader” which will load and run a much larger program (the operating system itself). In most cases, PC finds the bootstrap on your hard disk where the MS Windows partition resides (wherever you installed the operating system). If your computer is no longer able to load that bootstrap from the hard disk or in case the boostrap was found but it fails to properly load the operating system – you may have to enter the PC BIOS setup function to change the boot order. Actually you are instructing the PC to no longer attempt to access the hard disk and to try booting from your CD instead.

Follow these easy steps to make your PC boot form a CD:

1. Enter the BIOS setup screen

Turn on your computer and watch for a message during the bootup phase about a particular key, usually Del or F2, that you’ll need to press in order to “enter SETUP”. Press this key as soon as you see the message.

See sample screenshot below. Note there are many variations for this screen but the idea is the same.

2. Find the boot order configuration

All BIOS utilities are a little different so yours may look like this or it may look completely different. Examine the menu option for Boot Options, Boot, Boot Order, etc. The boot order option may even be located within a general menu option like Advanced Options, Advanced BIOS Features, or Other Options.

A different kind of BIOS setup screen:

3. Change the boot order

Your BIOS is probably set to boot first from your hard drive (that’s where your faulty operating system resides).

With the boot order shown in the screenshot below, your PC will first try to boot from the CD ROM drive.  That’s exactly the configuration we would like to set once booting from a boot CD.If no removable devices are bootable, BIOS will next try the hard drive, followed by the removable devices, and finally the network:

4. Save changes to the BIOS setup utility

Before your boot order changes take effect, you will need to save the changes you made. To save your changes, follow the instructions given to you in your BIOS utility to navigate to the Exit or Save and Exit menu.

5. All done! Your PC will boot now from a CD.

Make sure you select the appropriate Boot CD for your system environment, insert it into the CD drive and reboot the PC.

How to boot from a CD – my above explanation in a 2 minutes video clip…