How Would I Interrupt the Boot Process on a Dell Inspiron Laptop?

By Dave Wilson

The boot process must be stopped to change from hard drive to CD/DVD boot media.
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Most computers, including the Dell Inspiron laptop, feature a few "check points" along the boot up process where the boot process can be paused and/or redirected for configuration, diagnostic, and troubleshooting purposes. If the computer experiences trouble booting the operating system, you can use these "check points" to troubleshoot and resolve boot issues. Interrupt the boot process of a Dell Inspiron using built in "check points" to help resolve issues or change boot process settings.

Step 1

Reboot the computer and press and hold the "F2" key immediately as the computer starts the bootup process. After you press the "F2" key, the computer will display the motherboard BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) configuration pages.

Step 2

Reboot the computer and start tapping the "F8" key when the Dell splash screen appears and before the Windows logo appears. A menu will appear that displays fail safe boot options and recovery options for Windows.

Step 3

Reboot the computer and immediately press and hold the "F12" key. The computer will display the "Boot Options" menu from which you can configure the media that will be used to boot the computer.

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