How to Designate a Start-Up Drive

The C drive is typically the start-up drive; however, you can start up the computer with a different drive, such as another hard drive or a CD-ROM drive. You can designate the start-up drive in the CMOS setup screen. This procedure applies to most PCs.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• CD-ROM Drives
• Hard Disks
• Macintosh Computers
• Computers

1. Turn on the computer.

2. Press and hold the Delete key as soon as the computer starts, to display the CMOS start-up screen.

3. Use the arrow keys to highlight BIOS Features Setup, and press Enter.

4. Press the down arrow to move to the Boot Sequence field.

5. Press Page Up or Page Down to display the desired boot sequence.

6. Press Esc to exit the screen.

7. Highlight Save & Exit Setup, then press Enter. The new boot sequence is saved and the computer restarts.

Tips & Warnings

• Setup screens vary with different systems, so look in your CMOS setup screens for the boot sequence setting.

• The first letter in the boot sequence is the first drive that the computer seeks for start-up. If this drive isn't available, the system moves to the next drive in the sequence. The most common boot sequence begins with A, C. If the C drive is unable to start up, then a start-up disk in the A drive will enable the computer to start up.

• Avoid changing other settings in the CMOS setup unless you're familiar with them. Changing the wrong setting can adversely affect computer performance.