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"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.