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    how to boot from external usb DVD Drive???

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Sprite, Jan 5, 2008.

  1. Sprite

    Sprite Notebook Consultant

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    hi there,

    how do you boot form external usb dvd drive (my internal DVD drive isnt working)? i went to F2 setup and the boot sequence is

    1. Removable device: USB FDD
    2. CD/DVD
    3. etc.

    but my BIOS can't boot from my external usb dvd, it seems to zip through it and go to load windows XP. how do i make my bios recognize that there is a external DVD drive?????
     
    Sprite, Jan 5, 2008
    #1
  2. thejinx0r

    thejinx0r Notebook Guru

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    maybe you can't?

    maybe an update in the bios firmware might work.
     
    thejinx0r, Jan 5, 2008
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  3. Sprite

    Sprite Notebook Consultant

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    ive been reading up on stuff and i think there is a way but i dont quite understand which files to download.

    here's the theory:

    since my computer BIOS support USB FDD, i can somehow emulate the USB floppy drive and redirect it to my external DVD drive. it has to do with something like make a startup bootable disk with MS DOS but i dont have a floppy drive with me to create one.
     
    Sprite, Jan 6, 2008
    #3
  4. ohlip

    ohlip Toughbook Modder

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    Did you try cd/dvd the first priority and then hdd and lastly the floppy?
     
    ohlip, Jan 6, 2008
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  5. Sprite

    Sprite Notebook Consultant

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    the problem is, my internal cd drive isnt working so i need to resort to an external usb dvd drive. repair costs for my sony vaio v internal drive is expensive.

    my BIOS doesnt support USB CD DVD but it does support USB FDD. ive been reading articles on google and it seems that i can make a USB flash drive into a floppy drive through emulation and redirecting it to my external DVD drive. the problem is, how do i redirect it to my external DVD drive? i want to reinstall windows xp through my external DVD drive
     
    Sprite, Jan 6, 2008
    #5
  6. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    I don't know how to make the flash drive boot, but if you can crack that problem then one approach would be to have a big enough flash drive so that you can copy the XP boot disk onto it and then run the XP installer from the flash drive.

    You could also try getting Linux to run from a flash drive, then copy the XP installer onto the HDD while running Linux and finally boot into DOS from a flash drive and run the XP installer.

    Personally, I would be tempted to get into the Vaio and replace the optical drive. They are not the easiest computers to disassemble but I'm sure someone has done it.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Jan 6, 2008
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  7. Tawnos

    Tawnos Notebook Consultant

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    I had this same issue with my girlfriend's broken CD drive on her laptop. I tried absolutely everything, but in the end I had to send it back to HP to get the drive replaced. Sorry, it's almost impossible unless your BIOS supports it.
     
    Tawnos, Jan 6, 2008
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  8. maly

    maly Newbie

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    Try to at start of your laptop to press f12 or the boot menu selector then select the usb device u want, if u see usb dvd in the menu that mean u can change it in Bios setup.
    Good luck
     
    maly, Jan 8, 2008
    #8