13. How Do I Enable CD-ROM Support in The
BIOS
CD support is essential for booting most of the modern operating
systems and, so long as your PC is not too old, this option
should be enabled by default. Sometimes, however,
this is not the case and you have to delve into the
BIOS in order to set things up correctly. This is
not as daunting as one would imagine, as you will
see from the following instructions:
- Boot your PC.
- As the BIOS information
appears i.e., memory check etc, you should see, at
the bottom of the screen something to the effect of
"To enter BIOS press DEL."
- It may not always be the DEL
key (this is for Award BIOS). You can always check
with your PC manual or Motherboard handbook.
- A DOS type menu should now
appear.
- Look at the BIOS menu and you
should see an option marked 'Advanced BIOS
Features.' Use the up and
down arrow keys and highlight this
option then press Enter.
- When the Advanced BIOS Features window opens
look down the list until you come across an entry
marked 'First Boot Device.'
- If your CD is the first boot device then this
should read CD-ROM.
- By using the PAGEUP and
PAGEDOWN keys you should be able to toggle
through the First Boot Device Options and change it
accordingly.
- For convenience i always use the following options:
First Boot Device CD-ROM
Second Boot Device Floppy
Third Boot Device Hard Drive (0)
- By using these options you will not need to
alter the boot up sequence after you have finished
installing your operating system.
- Once you have made the necessary changes to
the boot sequence press ESC to
return back to the main menu.
- Finally, using the up and down arrow keys
select the option Save and Exit CMOS.
- You need to confirm that you want this option
to execute, so press Y followed by
Enter.
- Your changes will now be saved.
- Your PC will now reboot, so quickly insert
your Windows XP or ME CD into your CD-ROM so
that setup can begin installing your operating
system.