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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?
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.
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..
Hi,
I understand the needing time for things to sink in... no problem...
As far as an image goes... the Images you create with Acronis will Restore to a completely blank HDD... even a brand new one... It has the capability to resize the partitions as well, should that be necessary...
On almost an everyday basis lately, I am restoring an image of something to my SSD... It's not necessarily blank, but Recovering an Image to it overwrites anything that was there... It would work the same if it were completely new...
It basically does the same thing as cloning except that a clone is a functional drive, where an image is a "PICTURE" of a functional drive, so to speak, which needs to be restored to an actual HDD\SDD for it to be usable...
Another thing to think of... if the drive you have your Clone on fails, you are out of luck... If you had an image, you could just restore it to a new replacement drive...
I keep two copies of every image on separate HDDs...
You may be thinking of a Windows Image that can be used to restore files or something. Win 8.1 and 10 have a built in Imaging capability, but Acronis is better.
BTW... in between posts I just upgraded Win 7 Pro to Win 10 build 10586...
This will be the major update later this month...
To do this I restored a Acronis Image of Win 7 Pro from a couple of years ago and then ran the upgrade... I could just as easily have reloaded an image of Win 8.1 and done the same thing... Since this took about 1 1\2 hours total, I don't want to have to do it over again. So when the upgrade was complete, before anything else, I booted with Acronis and made another image..
The Macrium Reflect you mentioned has a free version that will do most if what Acronis does, but Acronis is a good bit faster...
You are correct about the need for GPT with more than four partitions... there is a way around that to a certain degree by using a logical or extended partition with a MBR HDD..
I'm not sure what you mean by not being able to erase a GUID partition...
Is that possibly the name of the partition... maybe 128MB or so, or a more regular type that turned out wrong...
Sometimes when you create a GPT drive with Windows, especially during the course of a windows installation, there is a 128MB partition created... This is basically a file table...
You can create a GPT with a free 3rd party tool like Partition Wizard Wizard 9...
It still has the 128mb partition, but it is hidden and doesn't bug you that way...
This may not be what you are describing, so it may not be revelent...
As an example of what Acronis will do... You can make an image of all six of your partitions in one image... You can then restore all, or any specific one you choose...
I do this occasionally... The remainder of the images are just the OS partition... It keeps the size down and is easier to restore...
Wow, thanks, a lot to consume. I don't understand it all. And I've spent so much time on this so far, I have to tend to other things for a while and get back to it.
One big question for me, and let's put it this way: If I made an image, and then I completely erased my hard drive, could I use the image to make the hard drive just like it was and be up and running again? That's what I can do with a clone. My impression was that an image works with the files that are already on the hard drive and simply restores some key files there that are missing or corrupt. But if you don't have those, the image is not going to get things back again. And if I upgrade to Win 10, I presume an image will not turn it back into Win 8.1, because it would not have Win 8.1 files to work with.
Where might I be wrong in that thinking? I need to be able to get back to Win 8.1 fine and dandy.
I also would want an image so I can erase and use that to reinstall, as back up if needed -- I have no install disk, that would be my install disk. They like to sell you computers without giving you an install disk to back up the OS for what will at some point be the inevitable need to reinstall. If I had an install disk, none of this would be necessary, it might simply be desirable. Without the install disk, it is necessary to come up with the ability to do a complete reinstall -- sometimes things get beyond a fix.
Re the formats, I have six partitions on this machine -- that was how it came. I have one or multiple efi partitions. I have read that for more than four partitions, you have to use GUID (GPT) format, and also you have to use that for any efi partitions.
Negatively, when I did a GUID partition previously, I can't erase it, so now that space is just lost to a partition I accidentally made too small! Why can't I erase a GUID partition?
Hi,
The bootable Acronis is a LINUX based program...
The Acronis Imaging feature compresses the Image so that all of the blank space is not included in the image... I have a 60GB Window OS partition that takes up only 20GB as an Image... You are WAY better off using an image...
You can image the entire drive, or just selected partitions... If you image the entire drive, you can Recover just the one you want...
You could get 10 or more images on your 250 GB HDD...
The Image can be restored to ANY HDD or SSD and is not limited like the Clone...
As an example... the machine I am currently typing on started out as Win 7 Pro...
As I installed Win 7 Pro I made an image after every step that I did not want to have to repeat, either because of time, or difficulty...
If something caused a problem I would simply use Acronis to Restore the most recent image...
I did the same with Win 8, 8.1, and 10... I can restore an image to any OS I choose to for purposes of troubleshooting issues in the forum, or my own personal preferences in about 15 minutes..
I even purchased a new SSD and Recovered my HDD image to it... It booted on the first try...
The Recovery Media I am talking about would be a Gateway feature, and should restore the machine to what it was when new...
My HP laptop uses TWO DVD's... The first is Windows, and the second is the remainder of the preinstalled software and Windows Settings...
If you are going to reinstall or clean install anything on a UEFI based machine, you need to do it from a very specific type of Flash Drive... You would create this with the same ISO Image you would use to make a installation\repair DVD...
You must use a tool like RUFUS to do this...
The Flash Drive needs to be formatted FAT32...
The Flash drive may need to be a GPT type, but I'm pretty sure MBR will work...
This should boot just fine without changing your UEFI to Legacy as it is specifically intended to boot into and be recognized by UEFI BIOS..
It probably won't appear in your BIOS or Boot Manager until it is actually plugged into the machine...
But again, this is something that varies by manufacturer and model...
Since you mentioned that you received no error with the Win 7 media without using LEGACY, it may be that your BIOS is making exceptions for recognized Windows Installation Media...
One thing you could try is Disable driver signature enforcement... It's a simple thing to do, and just as easy to re-enable it... It is entirely possible that it is detecting a driver of some type that it doesn't like in the Acronis LINUX based media...
One thing you need to understand is that some of the stuff you are trying to do is controlled by the machine, not Windows... Like the deal with the CD/DVD booting in Legacy only... That is a function of your machine and has nothing to do with Win 8 or 10...
There may be a setting in your BIOS somewhere that will enable booting from a CD or Flash without changing completely to LEGACY... But I know very little specific information about Gateway machines and\or how they configure their UEFI BIOS...
I for the most part making educated guesses based on how machines I am familiar with function, and being involved in other similar threads in the forum..
You were asking about the point\purpose of using UEFI BIOS...
It has two primary advantages, which for me personally, are not worth the grief that it requires for it's use...
Personally I can live with a slightly slower boot to not need to mess with stuff like you are currently having to do... just to do something as simple as boot with Acronis...
Oh no, I just realized one more possible serious problem!
What I have read is that you can't boot an optical drive or USB via UEFI, you must go to Legacy for that. And you can't boot Win 8 in Legacy, and my internal Win 8.1 HDD will not boot in Legacy
OK, then if I have a Win 8 bootable CD or USB drive, does that mean I can't boot it with this work around?! Because the optical drive and USB require Legacy to boot from it, but what will be on it will be Win 8, which requires UEFI to boot!
I don't know what OS the CD is booting from. Well, the one was a Win 7 install disk, so that probably is booting in Win 7. But the Acronis is Acronis 2016 -- I don't know what OS it is booting in, but just a very basic OS that fits on a CD with the application.
So is Win 8 on an external HDD NEVER bootable?! We can never run Win 8 for an optical or external drive?
