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.

[demolitionman88]

on 9/11/2009 You are a big help. Thank you very very much!!!

on 11/22/2005 Make sure that the jumper on the CD-ROM is correctly set for the cable. For example, if the CD-ROM drive is at the end of an IDE cable, the jumper should be set to Master. A mismatch will cause the drive to not be recognized as a boot drive, even though it can be seen after booting from another device (e.g. from an HDD or floppy).

on 11/22/2005 When you start the PC; if you have message saying "Award BIOS. Version: (number)"
The boot sequence is usually found in the "Advanced" about halfway down.

IDE-0 is the C: drive - that is, this is the standard. this drive is also called the "Primary-Master" in the CMOS.
usually your CDROM drive is attached to the "Secondary Master" slot.
the Sequence I use is
Floppy Drive (for startup disks) --> CDROM (windows 98 - full not the upgrade can be loaded to install just from the CD) --> HDD-0 (C: drive)