"press any key to boot from CD or DVD" doesn't always appear at bootup

"press any key to boot from CD or DVD" doesn't always appear at bootup

Hi all, my name is Ron. I have exhustively searched the Windows 7 Forum, and many other internet sites, for a solution or explanation for my dilemmas to no avail.

I've been working with computers since 1967, when we had to wire the IBM boards by hand and use punch cards. I write Basic and bat files. I'm not a novice, nor an expert. I've never had such problems with Windows software (Win95, 98, 98SE, WinMe, XP) as I have experienced now with Windows 7 Professional. Just sneeze wrong and if fouls up. I have multiple-stage full backup images for recovery (which I have already had to use 3 times).

Note: There is not a Win7 installation problem. Win7 is installed and boots and runs just fine (except for all the bloat).

Windows 7 Professional 64 bit SP1 problem: the "press any key to boot from CD or DVD" does not always appear at bootup. BIOS is the latest version and is set to boot 1st from CD/DVD, then USB CD/DVD, USB HD, internal HD (OS). BIOS is also set to AHCI SATA mode.

I have run the Win7 Repair Disk - Startup Recovery Repair 3+ times, no error. Memory test is OK.

Equipment:
Dell Alienware Aurora-R4 ACPI x64 based PC
Intel Core i7-3820 (Quad Core, 10MB Cache) @3.6Ghz
16GB Quad Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz RAM
1 - Seagate Barracuda 1TB SATA 6Gb/s (7,200RPM) 32MB Cache (Not RAID)
1 - Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6870 (video card)
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium (sound card)
1 - DVD-RW
1 - DVD-BD

This is a brand new computer (less than a week old). Dell & Alienware Pro Tech support are of no help at all.

The OEM Windows 7 Pro disk IS recognized, and the copy I made of it.
The Recovery Disk IS recognized.
Acronis 2012 Bootable CD IS recognized and runs without the 'press any key' message.
Trying to boot with any other Windows 7 'Bootable' CDs or DVDs are not recognized.

Any & all CDs & DVDs (Bootable ISOs) were burned multiple times using the latest ImgBurn or the Dell/Win7 Roxio built-in software at the slowest speed. Copies were burned on both Win7 and WinXP, no difference.

All of the CD/DVDs that are not recognized by Windows 7 ARE recognized by Windows XP on either one of my other computers and run just fine. These disks all appear to have the same or similar [Boot] setups as the other disks that do work. Why are some CD/DVD disks not being recognized and not booting on Windows 7?


Problem/question #2:

Drive(0) Partitions (all are GPT Type):
1) ESP, 300MB, FAT32, GPT (EFI System Partition)
2) Dell Utility, 40MB, FAT32, GPT (Data Partition) (hidden)
3) <blank>, 128MB, other, GPT (Reserved Partition)
3) Recovery, 12.73GB, NTFS, GPT (Data Partition)
4) OS, 125GB, NTFS, GPT (Data Partition)
5) Swap File, 30GB, NTFS, GPT (Data Partition)
6) Temp Files, 30GB, NTFS, GPT (Data Partition)
7) Program Folders, 125GB, NTFS, GPT (Data Partition)
8) (reserved for future XP install), 20GB, NTFS, GPT (Data Partition)
9) (reserved for future Linux install), 40GB, NTFS (pending change), GPT (Data Partition)
10) Work area, 548GB, NTFS, GPT (Data Partition)

Drive(1) Partitions (MBR Type):
1) 931.51GB, NTFS, Primary (pending more partitions)

In Computer Management/Disk Management, all partitions, on both drives show to be 'Primary Partition', that is 10 partitions showing 'Active'. I thought there was a limitation of only 4 partitions could be marked a 'Primary'?

And both Drive(0) and (1) are marked as 'Active'. If there is not another OS on the 2nd drive (Drive (1), shouldn't it be 'Inactive' and 'Logical'?

Should Drive(1) also be formatted as GPT Type, instead of MBR Type?

To my humble knowledge, shouldn't partitions 5 through 10 be 'Logical Partitions'? And shouldn't Drive(1) be a 'Logical Partition', and not "Active'?

If these drives need to be changed, I have and know about DiskPart and will use that to change some of the settings if need be.


Question #3:
How do I go about moving/setting the pagefile (swap file) onto another partition? Is there a 'Registry' entry to change/add?


Thank you for any help and suggestions.
Ron

Note: before anyone says anything about moving the swap file, I already understand all of the arguments about putting it on the same HD. I'm putting it there to reduce backup image size and reduce fragmentation. I'm not a gamer.

RCM said:

Windows 7 Professional 64 bit SP1 problem: the "press any key to boot from CD or DVD" does not always appear at bootup.

Click to expand...

How frequent is the problem. 75% of the time it doesn't show, or 10% of the time it doesn't show.

RCM said:

Problem/question #2:
Should Drive(1) also be formatted as GPT Type, instead of MBR Type?

Click to expand...

I wouldn't think so. I've yet to use a GPT style partition table yet.

RCM said:

Question #3:
How do I go about moving/setting the pagefile (swap file) onto another partition? Is there a 'Registry' entry to change/add?

Click to expand...

Right click My Computer, Properties, Advanced System Settings, under Advanced tab, choose Settings from Performance, click on Advanced. Go to the Paging File section. Click on Change. Set however you like.

RCM said:

Note: before anyone says anything about moving the swap file, I already understand all of the arguments about putting it on the same HD. I'm putting it there to reduce backup image size and reduce fragmentation. I'm not a gamer.

Click to expand...

Run it wherever you see fit. I don't leave mine on my SSD because of limited space. I moved my page file to my mechanical drive. It works for me.

Thanks for the reply pparks1.

Right click My Computer, Properties, Advanced System Settings, under Advanced tab, choose Settings from Performance, click on Advanced. Go to the Paging File section. Click on Change. Set however you like.

In the 'Virtual Memory' box the 'Automatically manage paging file size for all drives' is unchecked.

The only drive/partition I have marked is the OS on C: (system managed) & is set to 'System managed size'. All others are marked 'none'.

Do I need to set the C: to 'none' and mark the partition I have set up for the swap file (F to 'System managed size' to get the OS (on C system pagefile working on that partition only?


Windows 7 Professional 64 bit SP1 problem: the "press any key to boot from CD or DVD" does not always appear at bootup.
How frequent is the problem. 75% of the time it doesn't show, or 10% of the time it doesn't show.

Is there really no solution or work around, maybe other than putting the ISOs on a flash drive. Is that any more reliable?

I have tried booting them from an external USB CD drive to no avail.

Thank you, Ron

Hi RCM and welcome to W7 Forums

You might need to set the optical drive mode to IDE instead of AHCI in order for this message to appear. It is exactly the same on my system, and is also why on most motherboards that at least 1 SATA socket can be independently set as IDE mode or the mode that the other SATA sockets are set to. You should ensure that the optical drive is plugged into this socket, and not one of the others.

Thanks for the reply Dwarf,

You might need to set the optical drive mode to IDE instead of AHCI in order for this message to appear.

I only have 2 choices in the BIOS setup under the PCH SATA Configuration: (1) AHCI Mode (2) RAID Mode There is no choice for IDE anywhere in the BIOS.

The computer rig will handle 4 SATA HDs + both SATA DVD drives.

Ron

Hi Ron,

Are the disks that are recognised ones that you have burnt yourself, or ones that were supplied with your computer? Optical drives can sometimes be a bit finicky when it comes to the media used. I myself have found out, on previous systems, that not all media is the same. If you are not using Verbatim, I recommend that you do because, unlike other brands which could be hit and miss, I have never had a problem with that brand.

Hey Dwarf,

All of the CDs & DVDs I have burned myself. Both the original Win7 OEM & the copy are both recognized. All together I burned 500+ CD/DVDs. I'm well aware of bad media burns, and I always 'verify' my burns as well, and usually make 2 copies, just in case. I've been using Memorex CD/DVD-R for a couple of years now, not one bad burn.

Ron

One thing you could try is set the CD/DVD drive as the ONLY bootable device.
Insert one of the disc's that does not work, and try to boot up.
See if you get any error message(s)...i expect the PC will not boot up...

Hey DavidW7ncus, thanks for responding.

One thing you could try is set the CD/DVD drive as the ONLY bootable device.

I'm not sure I know how to do that, except maybe using PartDisk. My BIOS does not have any option to disable the bootable HD, and I don't think it is a hardware or media problem. Some disks (4) work, others don't. The 4 other disks that don't work in Win7 do work in 2 of my other computers.

It seems to me that something in the autoboot header of the disk is not being recognized or accepted by Win7. However, the boot files of one of the disk that does work, and one that does not, appear to be identical. I've even tried copying the 'good' to the 'bad', but that did not work either.

The only other BIOS options is to set either the 'Hard Disk Drive BBS Priorities for either the 'Windows Boot Manager' or the 'UEFI: WDC WD1OEALX...' to be 1st or 2nd boot. It's set with 'Windows Boot Manager' as 1st boot now.

Ron

I can't find screen prints for your BIOS and i'm not familiar with your PC / UEFI...
So, I can't give you specific instructions.
PC's I've built/worked on have the ability to choose boot devices in BIOS.
Can you set ALL of your bootable devices to CD/DVD???

The Windows (7 or XP) Hard Drive installation has nothing to do with booting from CD/DVD.
You are trying to boot from CD/DVD before the Windows HD installation starts to load...

It's nearly 4 AM. I'm really tired, and tired of fiddling with Win7 for tonight. I'll be back around tomorrow afternoon and see what's up then. Thanks to those who have responded so far. Good night for now.

Hey DavidW7ncus,

-from my 1st post-
BIOS is set to boot 1st from CD/DVD, then USB CD/DVD, USB HD, internal HD (OS). BIOS is also set to AHCI SATA mode.

You are trying to boot from CD/DVD before the Windows HD installation starts to load...

There is no installation going on. The computer boots and runs just fine (except for all the bloat). Some of the 'Bootable' CD/DVDs that I have (that ARE Win7 compatible, and very recent) are not being recognized, others ARE recognized.

Thanks

Until tomorrow - good night.

I understand there is no installation going on.
I was trying to get your PC to hang while trying to boot so you could see any error message(s).

Right now, if the CD/DVD is not bootable, it will look for the next boot device(s), and boot from your Hard Drive
clarify: (Win 7 already installed).

If you can remove your Hard Drive as a bootable device, it should not boot...
And hopefully you will see specific error(s)...

You also have two DVD drives, right?
Have you tried booting these bad disc's from both drives?

Some of the 'Bootable' CD/DVDs that I have (that ARE Windows 7 compatible, and very recent) are not being recognized, others ARE recognized.

Click to expand...

Can you explain why you have so many "bootable Win 7 ISO discs"?
Are they Windows 7 OS discs, or something else...?
What are they, and why do you need them?

One thing to make sure we are clear on:
Booting from a bootable CD/DVD, regardless of what format it was created in, is handled by the BIOS. Windows has nothing to do with this process.
It does not matter what platform was used to create a bootable disk. To be bootable it must be created and operate to known standards. There is no such thing as a "Windows Compatible" Boot Disk.

The BIOS just looks for a device to boot from. It goes down the boot order until it finds a device that contains bootable media. So your issue is that the BIOS is not recognizing (known) bootable media in the CD/DVD drive. It continues on until it finds the hard drive where it does find something to boot.

The issue is somewhat common with some brands of SATA optical drives (in addition to the issue of some brands of optical media mentioned previously). The drives are too slow to be picked up by the BIOS before it moves on.

The first thing I would suggest is to simplify your system during it's setup. One hard disk, one optical drive. Get the OS up and running the way you like and then add additional components afterward. See if the problem is solved if only one optical drive is connected.

I have this problem also with my optical drive. It is hit or miss. One test to see if it is a slow recognition problem is simple:
Install the bootable DVD in the drive and re-start, if the boot loader stalls at "CD Boot Device....Ready__", or if it bi-passes the optical drive, simply hit the RESET button on your case to re-boot, and many times it will progress to "Press Any Key to Boot From CD" the second time around.


Let us know what you find.

You'll not get the prompt to "press any key" unless there is a bootable disk in drive. Try setting HD to boot first, then trigger disk when needed using Dell F12 key at boot.

Most tech enthusiasts would never run the corrupt bloated factory preinstall but instead Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 to get best performance. Everything you need is in the link.

Until then you can Clean Up Factory Bloatware which will solve many problems by shrugging off the freeloaders and cleaning up after their mess.

Hey again DavidW7ncus

You also have two DVD drives, right?
Have you tried booting these bad disc's from both drives?

I have 2 internal DVD drives, and 2 external USB drives (1-CD, 1-DVD). Yes, I have tried all of these drives. The external drives do boot the disks on my other computers without a problem. The disks are not 'bad', Win7 won't recognize them.


Some of the 'Bootable' CD/DVDs that I have (that ARE Windows 7 compatible, and very recent) are not being recognized, others ARE recognized. Can you explain why you have so many "bootable Win 7 ISO discs"?

So many??? 1 original & 1 archive copy of my Dell OEM Win7 Pro disk. Not ISO disks.


Are they Windows 7 OS discs, or something else...?
What are they, and why do you need them?

The 4 CD disks I'm having problems with are Backup & Recovery programs and Partitioning programs from both MiniTool and Paragon. I try out different free software as a hobby to recommend to my friends & family. See Problem/question #2 in my original post for why I may need them.

It really does not make any difference what the disk are, or why I 'need' them. The matter of the fact is that Win7 is not recognizing disks that it should. Why not is the question.

Ron



TVeblen thanks for the response

Booting from a bootable CD/DVD, regardless of what format it was created in, is handled by the BIOS. Windows has nothing to do with this process.

The BIOS is set correctly. And I have tried several configurations for the boot order with no different results. (see original post for current layout)

If Windows has nothing to do with the process of recognizing CD/DVD disks, then the problem is with the BIOS only? It's a brand new computer and the BIOS is the latest revision. Any idea why would it recognize some disks and not others?


There is no such thing as a "Windows Compatible" Boot Disk.

All software is compatible with some OS or another. i.e. compatible with: Windows 98, XP, Vista, Win7 - or Linux or Mac OS.

Some disks are either 'bootable' at startup or not. When the system is up and running, some disks automatically run when inserted, and others must access the programs to run on the disk through a file manages, such as Win Explorer.


Get the OS up and running the way you like...

The OS is up and running just fine (just don't sneeze lol).


...if it bi-passes the optical drive, simply hit the RESET button on your case to re-boot, and many times it will progress to "Press Any Key to Boot From CD" the second time around.

There is no reset button. I have pressed the power button several times to turn the system off right after Win7 did not recognize the disk and made it try again. Never helps. It is not bi-passing the optical drives, it works with some disks and not others. Why?

Ron

Have you considered checking whether there are any firmware updates for your BIOS?

Thanks for the response seavixen32.

Have you considered checking whether there are any firmware updates for your BIOS?

Yes, I have checked. I did that early on.

Ron

I've had the boot miss the DVD occasionally.
Just attributed it to a slow read due to flaky optics, and maybe BIOS timing
moving the sequence forward.
Reboot has always picked it up on the second pass.
Acronis doesn't put pagefile.sys or hiberfil.sys on the image, just the file names.
Read that somewhere.
I use Ghost 15. Never looked for them on an image with Ghost Explorer, but I know they don't get imaged, just from confirming file sizes and size imaged.