Can't Boot From Bootable CD -- Bios Set Correctly

Anonymous
2015-11-02T05:57:29+00:00

I am trying for the first time to boot my Windows 8.1 laptop from the internal CD-DVD drive. I have a bootable CD in there, and yes, I do have the bios set with CDROM drive as first in the list to boot from. But when I try to boot from the CD, it won't boot, instead the computer gives me this message:

"ATAPI CDROM has been blocked by the current security policy."

(Its actually a DVD drive.) All it lets me do at that message is hit the Enter key to OK the message, and then it boots from the hard drive.

I have no idea where "security policy" settings are or what they are set for. What do I have to do to get this to boot?

This is a Gateway laptop, 2.2 MHz Intel Pentium processor, 4 GB RAM, 64 bit OS, with Windows 8.1 fully updated, and Windows Defender running and fully updated.

I have already looked everywhere I can find, but nothing seems to address this message or issue, as follows:

*I went to Help menu to look up "Security Policy." While the computer is giving me the message about "security policy," the Help menu has no idea what "security policy" is, it just comes up blank!

*I went to Control Panels/System and Security/Action Center/Change Windows Settings/Smart Screen/... All I found in there that might be involved is a setting to block anything downloaded from the Internet until I give administrator access. Well, the booting issue didn't allow me to give administrator access (yes, I am the administrator) when I tried to boot, I only could hit the enter key to OK. Nonetheless, I changed to: notify me but proceed (not a quote).

With that, I tried again, but it still would not boot from the CD, got the same message, so that setting is not it. I changed the setting back.

I see no other setting there that could be related by even a stretch. And the control panels should be dealing with the OS anyway, and this is happening while trying to boot from the OS on the CD, not the hard drive. That is, this is something in the root.

*I then went into bios area (UEFI Firmware) by sweeping in from the right and into Settings/Change PC settings ..., and found a tab in bios for Security. Looking there, there is a list of things, but it lets me access only "Supervisor Password." It was currently set as "clear," meaning no password. I left it as that -- surely I can't need a password just to boot from a CD, and the message I got in trying to boot from the CD did not allow me to enter a password.

Other settings in the Security tab were not accessible. The only ones they included that might be remotely related were:

*Password on Boot, which was set as no password. But again, the message I get with this issue does not ask for nor allow me to enter a password.

*Secure Boot Mode: Standard (It does not let me access to change that.)

Some others also were in the list that are not worth listing, not even vaguely related.

I then went into some other things elsewhere in the main settings called Startup Settings. The only thing in there that sounded the least bit vaguely related was "Enable boot logging." I punched F2 to go into that, but the machine instead restarted, and did not start from the CDROM, same message again. I went back to it, and it is still listed as Enable boot logging, does not instead say Disable - so I don't know if anything even got changed. I did not touch it again, left it as-is.

So, that's it. I've checked all the settings I know about. Nothing about this bit about "ATAPI CDROM has been blocked by current security policy."

I tested with two DVDs that I have booted from in the past on other Windows machines -- they also would not boot, but they did not give me that message.

I note, all three CDs/DVDs are being read fine by the DVD drive once the machine is booted in Windows 8.1 from the hard drive - so the issue is not that the DVD drive can't read the disks.

Where is this "security policy" set?! What do I need to do to get this to boot from the CD?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2016-08-24T15:35:47+00:00

Hi,

So everything is back to normal... or at least working to your satisfaction ?

You seem to know more about manipulating your email than I do, but though I may be able to help by describing what my screen looks like !

I know how that kind of conversation goes... Not so much with Microsoft, but with my internet provider sometimes..

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-11-08T05:30:27+00:00

    Hi,

    I don't mean to argue a point, but there is no such thing as .mpeg4...

    and it is not the same thing as .mp4... two entirely different animals...

    But if you are seeing .wmv codecs listed, that is probably a moot point anyway...

    Where are you seeing the listing of the codecs in use ? I couldn't find anything like that, and I don't have a clue as to which version of .wmv codes are now in use..

    I do know that my Magix Edit Pro 17 exports .wmv files in Windows Media Video 9...

    I'm not sure how you will ever convert them in Windows... If you can't find a player to play them, you won't be able to convert them... It basically needs to be playable to convert it...

    Something I just found in another thread.. you might want to check it out...

    QUOTE..

    I ran into the same problem today with a .WMV that I think was created via an old version of LiveMeeting. The solutions below did not work for me. I gave up and installed VLC. My .WMV file would not play there either, but VLC gave me a better error message. I installed Microsoft Application Screen Decoder (MSA1).

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10394

    Once I did this, Windows Media Player is now playing my WMV file.

    For reference, here is a MS forum thread about the issue with the other solutions I tried first. They may work for you.

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_10-win\_upgrade/wmv-files-in-windows-10/f5742581-6a2f-48f1-bf52-50231fbf26db

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-11-07T15:24:58+00:00

    .mp4 is mpeg4. Its interchangeable.  And as I recall, I tired both, just in case.

    Even if it works  in wma, only the audio  would work --that is strictly for audio.  wmv  provides  the video. Rather than wma, it could instead use an mp3 codec or  various others for  audio.

    Fro the conversion, I can do it on my Moc or  on the Windows laptop -- it doesn't matter as long as it is converted.

    My Mac is now too old an  OS, they aren't making any applications for it any more. This is a BIG issue in Flip4Mac, which could do it. The version I  have is no longer available to get. The only version they offer now requires a higher OS than I can have on this machine -- so I can't even use that in trial mode, if they even offer a trial mode for the newer version -- I don't think you can even download it now until  after you  pay.

    I think it would  be easiest  to try to find  one for Windows. I have two here already, but they won't  do it, I guess don't  have the codecs for these files either. So, I will have to find another.

    BTW, it looks like it is specifically using wmv3.  Well, I think  from a different place checking, it indicates wmv2. They could at least be consistent! Hmm, I wonder if the issue  is that it is too old a .wmv  format. What level .wmv are they up to these days anyway?

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-11-07T14:56:25+00:00

    Hi,

    It sounds like we are running out of options other than finding something that will convert the files on your Mac...

    I did see a number of free programs for mac, but I don't know enough about Mac to know if they will run on your version...

    The file extension I mentioned is .MPG, or .MPEG... both are used... This is different than .MP4...

    You are probably correct that it is using Microsoft Codecs, but I think Microsoft also provides Codecs for other than it's own files...

    I don't remember if you ever tried the .WMA file extension... It is similar to .WMV, and is used a lot for "Licensed" files...

    One last shot in the dark... Since the owner of the files is "Everyone", and Everyone is not included in the list under the Security Tab, you could try adding it to the list...

    Just click on EDIT, then ADD, the type in Everyone...

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-11-07T00:00:39+00:00

    OK, well, I had already tried it as mp4, or mpeg4, and that didn't make any difference.

    I now finally saw the spot for Owners. Checked it on my machine, and mine is set as yours, and it is set as "Everyone."

    Earlier, I figured I didn't see it because it might only show if there is more than one user, but when I saw you have only one, I looked again -- and looked and looked before I finality saw it, right in front of me. :)

    I think this is an issue of file, not permissions. And nothing I have on Windows will play this  file.

    I did just  find another in that folder of short videos that  had the extension of .mov on it. So, I tried that in QT, and that plays in QT. So, that again suggests these other files are not .mov, even though they are marked as QT movies. Their  codec is wmv.

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