Windows 7 wont boot without external DVD drive attached

I have an Acer Revo and installed my free Windows 7 upgrade disc one week ago with an external DVD drive. The install went swimmingly and no problems were apparent.

I removed my Samsung external DVD drive when finished and all was well. However, when I turned on the Revo the next day, Windows 7 would only get as far as the splash screen and then hung with a blank screen.

If I space bar, the cursor works, I get a blue windows screen (at a diff aspect ratio to the screen) and right click works which gives me some options (but nothing that allows me to kick start the process). There are no user options and no desktop items. I have checked that view is set correctly etc.

I have tried Ctrl Alt Del which just kills the blue screen and mouse/cursor movement.

My only option at this point is to hard shutdown.

HOWEVER, if I plug in the external DVD drive, it will boot normally and work fine.

I have entered te BIOS and changed the order of boot, to no avail.

It will also revert to this dormant screen if it goes into sleep mode.

My work around has been to set sleep to NEVER and keep the external plugged in, but that defeats the object of buying the REVO.

I have searched the internet for a solution, but so far, no luck.

I tried updating the NVIDIA driver but that would not install properly.

Any ideas anyone? Please???

motc7 said:

*Have you thought of disabling the drive in the BIOS?

I've thought of it! But I'm wary of messing around in the BIOS too much lest I bugger things up completely! I'll do it if someone can say categorically it would work!

Thorsen said:

Yes I would not do that yet either, it probably is the fix you need, but better safe than sorry.

First post back with the BIOS boot sequence this will say, as Motc7 is saying, what is booted first. It is probably recognizing the D: as the first boot location. You can move the C: to the first boot location instead of disabling the external D:, but post the list here first. Also, can you fill in the system specs and when in the BIOS look for the BIOS make and version and post that here as well.

Thank for your reply. Originally the boot order was 1) HD 2) DVD drive 3) USB device. I changed the order to 1) HD 2) USB device 3) DVD drive. This didn't help *weep*. The name of the drive i.e. C: or D: etc wasn't apparent. If this is separate to what I have changed could you let me know. Can I only find the BIOS make/model in set up mode?

Hold on, I have the box. It is an Acer Revo R3600, BIOS P01-A2. IS that any help?

Emma2302 said:

Thorsen said:

Yes I would not do that yet either, it probably is the fix you need, but better safe than sorry.

First post back with the BIOS boot sequence this will say, as Motc7 is saying, what is booted first. It is probably recognizing the D: as the first boot location. You can move the C: to the first boot location instead of disabling the external D:, but post the list here first. Also, can you fill in the system specs and when in the BIOS look for the BIOS make and version and post that here as well.

Thank for your reply. Originally the boot order was 1) HD 2) DVD drive 3) USB device. I changed the order to 1) HD 2) USB device 3) DVD drive. This didn't help *weep*. The name of the drive i.e. C: or D: etc wasn't apparent. If this is separate to what I have changed could you let me know. Can I only find the BIOS make/model in set up mode?

Hold on, I have the box. It is an Acer Revo R3600, BIOS P01-A2. IS that any help?

I have updated my spec to the best of my knowledge. Thanks

Emma,
Use MSINFO32 for information about your computer.
I've attached a copy of the startup display page from my laptop.

Thorsen said:

I will look for an answer that might help. until then I hope someone else joins in.

Is the external DVD going in through USB?


Edit: looking for correct answer :)

Yes, external DVD via USB. Thanks!