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Changing the Windows XP boot order

Pt. 5 of 10 | 3:26 |

Reinstalling Windows XP

Friday June 5, 2009

Sometimes when you put your CD in the drive and restart Windows it just reboots and goes straight back to Windows. Misses your CD all together. The reason? Your computers "boot order" probably isn't set to see your disc drive before your hard drive. No problem because we can go in and fix that.

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Show Notes

- If you reboot and never get the "Press any key to boot from CD..." prompt then we'll need to fix the boot order on your PC.

- Reboot and as the computer is starting up, press the key that says it will take you to setup / BIOS / diagnostic mode.

- The key to enter the setup mode, sometimes called diagnostic or BIOS mode, differs between computers. It's often F2 or Del. but it displays on the screen when you start your computer. Whatever key it is, press it.

- You'll now be in the world of CMOS.

- What you want to do is browse around and find a way to change the boot order of your PC.

- We want the CD/DVD to be the first boot device, not the hard drive.

- Just scroll through the settings until you find something that refers to boot order, boot priority, start up priority, etc.

- When you find it go in and change it so the default first boot device is your CD or DVD.

- Press F10 to save changes, confirm and the computer will restart.

- Now you'll be able to start your PC and you will get that "Press any
key to boot from CD" prompt.

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