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

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  1. RCM
    Posts : 19
    Windows 7 Professional x64
       #1

    "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.
    Last edited by RCM; 22 May 2012 at 13:44.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 7,878
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #2

    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.
    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?
    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?
    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.
    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.
      My Computer


  3. RCM
    Posts : 19
    Windows 7 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    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
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 9,582
    Windows 8.1 Pro RTM x64
       #4

    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.
      My Computer


  5. RCM
    Posts : 19
    Windows 7 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #5

    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
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 9,582
    Windows 8.1 Pro RTM x64
       #6

    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.
      My Computer


  7. RCM
    Posts : 19
    Windows 7 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #7

    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
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #8

    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...
      My Computer


  9. RCM
    Posts : 19
    Windows 7 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #9

    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
    Last edited by RCM; 22 May 2012 at 17:56.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #10

    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...
      My Computer


 
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