Windows 7 Can't boot from DVD

[mousethief]

I just now installed Windows 7 on my laptop. I now want to boot from an Ubuntu live CD so I can create a bootable thumbdrive. I need functionality I can only get if I boot directly from the CD (rather than from an ISO on my hard drive, say).

But it won't let me boot from the DVD.

When I try to boot from the DVD, it spins for a while, and I get a black screen telling me that Windows is broken and do I want to run the repair utility. Without the DVD in the drive, it boots to Windows just fine. It doesn't matter if I let it boot by itself, or invoke the boot source menu (on my computer it's F9) and select from there, so it's not the BIOS/boot order. I have booted from this DVD before and I have tried it with two different Ubuntu live DVDs, so it's not the DVD. And I just earlier this morning booted from the DVD drive to install Win7 so it's not the drive.

Halp!

Thanks in advance,
MT

 

[Saltgrass]

Booting from a DVD does not really include windows. If it will not boot, is the disc ok and bootable. Have you set the Bios to boot from a DVD drive first, or if your computer has the F12 option (or F9 possibly in your case), hit that and select your boot media.

When you boot with bootable media in the drive, you should see a "hit key to boot from DVD" message, at which point you hit a key and it should boot to the DVD.

You seem to have already eliminated all these possibilities--maybe you missed something.

If you can't get it to work, post back with your exact procedures.

Edit: Oh, one more thing. Do you have any USB devices plugged in that it might be trying to boot to?

 

[mousethief]

Weirdly, I fixed by plugging in a bootable USB drive, and setting the order (in the BIOS) to
1. DVD
2. USB
3. HDD

When it's set to
1. DVD
2. HDD
3. USB,

then it boots to Windows (on the HDD) and tells me Windows is broken (whether or not there's a bootable USB drive plugged in).

Thanks for your help! Is there something I need to click to indicate "problem solved"?

Thanks,
MT

 

[Saltgrass]

I never have found a button to click for solved, but does you system boot normally to the HDD with no USB device plugged in? Are there any Windows setup files on the USB device?

There is usually an entry in the Bios for booting to USB, if you have any more problems, you might want to look at that setting.

If you get a chance, you might open Disk Management and look at your Windows 7 HDD and see if it shows an active partiton, you might even use the snipping tool to take a picture and attach using the paperclip. For some reason, if your system will not boot to the HDD with it set as second, something my not be quite right.