How to set up an external CD drive as a primary bootup CD drive?

Question

I have a sony laptop that is already 6 years old. My internal CD drive has been dead for quit a while and I have got an external CD drive to do my cd writing and reading. However, the computer has recently been infected by a pretty bad virus and I need to use my system recovery cds. I now realize that the laptop is setup to boot up from the internal CD, but not the external.

I wonder if there is a way, or not, to change a setting in my computer telling it to look for system files in the external CD drive instead of the internal.

I tried to disable the internal CD (although it is not working but the computer thinks it is working properly.) but that still doen't make the computer to look in the external cd.

Thanks!

Answer 1

As others have posted, the place to make this change is in your BIOS. Your manual should instruct you how to enter the BIOS during start up. Bear in mind that not all BIOS's provide for the ability to boot from an external device, especially those the age of your laptop.

If you have another computer available, check Sony's website for any available BIOS upgrades for your model. With any kind of luck an upgraded BIOS will offer you that function if the current one does not.

Answer 2

Check your BIOS for "external removable device" as a boot option.

DEL or F2 will get you into the BIOS at bootup. Check your manufacturers tech docs for your device.

Good luck.

Answer 3

if the bios isnt capable to boot from usb then u may not be able to .. try setting "boot from other devices" or whatever options u have in bios first boot device .. to first boot device ..