This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
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 don't know for sure what is going on with the conflicting space problems... All we can do is do something else... It's like wondering what caused the Big Bang... it's not a answerable problem.. People speculate, but don't know for sure... No proof...
I was thinking more like the #4 and #5 were even on your flash drive... They most certainly would be included with your media to Restore To Factory... And that is the only thing #5 is good for...
Normally defragging doesn't give you more free space... It just puts what free space you have in one area...
It could be that something messed up the file tables or something, and the defrag sorted things out...
What is identifying your Acronis Image as corrupt ? If anything is corrupt would think it would be the migrated files. Since Acronis is a image, I don't see how anything could determine if anything inside of it is corrupt... Unless Acronis itself is saying that..
Yes, I had that in mind. But when you have the space problem on both drives, and you fixed them both the same, and the problem is space, you have to think there will be a difference. How could it have been the partitions if the same problem with the same files exists on the internal. Still, like you say, that is all that might be involved that we can even think of at this point.
So frustrating.
And like I said, Ilm not sure clearing any amount of space will be enough - - yes, unless some like or something between #5 and #3 is the issue. But then why did we have the issue on the internal!?
Anyway, a tidbit more: I checked my external drive size while it is defragging. It now says 104 GB free!! Must be from the defragging! Add that, plus 4 GB I will kill, so 108 BG free space, and the image will bee smaller too, maybe 69 GB. So maybe the equivalent of an extra 10 GB of space. And I;ll bet Acronis still says not enough.
In that case, after putting the Win 10 image on, I would still have about 13% free space, up from 9%. I hope that 10% mark is what Acronis is talking about.
Hmm, maybe I should defrag the internal primary partition too -- I didn't do that, OS says no fragmentation. But if I can gain even more space that way, the better. But that's another day of defragging, and if 13% isn't enough, I don't see why 15% would be.
Anyway, it will be defragging for at least a couple more hours. Tomorrow will try again. And yes, the only thing to even consider after that is get rid of #5 and #4. If I KNEW that would do it, I would figure OK. But since I don't have confidence in anything at this point, I hate to start losing stuff and get no gain for it. But like you say, they are not critical, and I will still have the image -- the 8.1 image that is identified as corrupt. And you say those partitions are identical from 8.1 and 10.
Hi,
When you get the chance, I would just delete the #4 and #5 partitions on the external drive, and expand #3 into the space... Delete #5 First to try to undo what was done before...
Those two partitions are of no benefit... You will never even be able to use the #5 without Restoring To Factory, and you would be doing that from different media anyway...
If after getting a Aconis Image of Win 10, maybe you can then resize them again and Migrate just the #4 and #5 back from the internal drive...
I don't know why the numbers are not matching up, there may be something we are not considering properly... A image of Win 10 is of far more importance of the #4 and #5 partitions...
The end is near, but not today. Tomorrow. So, just the update. But not looking good.
Ran Disk Doctor on the internal drive this morning, it want through it all, said no problems found. I had already run chkdsk via Command Prompt last week, so that wasn't really surprising. Since the OS saying no fragmentation on the primary partition, I didn't do defrag.
I thought there was something else I wanted to do, but I couldn't remember it when I woke up, so I just went with the imaqing. Went for the next to maximum compression, which said the image would be 71.45 GB, and we know the free space should be 99.5 GB. Max compression is only a little bit more, 70.16 GB.
Did the image. It failed at about the same place again, again with the same messages about not enough space.
Damn! Using Acronis to guide, we turned no free space on the internal into full free space. Why does it still not see 99.5 GB of free space for a 71 GB file on the external after doing the same to that?!
OK, so I figured I would try it one last time. First, defrag the primary partition on which this image is goinn. And I remembered the thing I forgot this morning, to run chkdsk on the drive via your method, just to make sure all bases are covered, it shouldn't be needed. And I will sue the maximum compression.
The defrag has been going for hours and looks like it will take several hours more. So that will end today, and tomorrow I will finish.
Meanwhile, I noticed one spot during defrag, following that on the main drive, and I was able to kill about 4 GB of files from the internal that I didn't even know were there. When the defrag is done, I will kill the same form the external. That will open up more space, about 4 GB more on the internal, and after compression, maybe as much as 2 GB less of files, for an gain the equivalent of about 6 GB of space.
I had one last thoght: Before and reduction in size of file, max compression was going to leave me with about 9 GB of free space. 10 GB free specie is the typical mark for stay at or above, or see reduced performance. Could Acronis be using that as the mar, refusing to do a Image that will leave less than 10 GB of free space?! If so, it should say so, but nonetheless, with a bit smaller an image, and that 4 GB less files, of 6 GB difference overall, I might hit that 10 % mark.
So that's it. This is all we can do. Since it failed with the same message the first time, I don't really expect this to work, but I will try it. Whether it works or not, that is where this ends, and maybe I just wont; have a Win10 backup, at least not for now.
With the problem, there clearly is plenty enough space. I don't have reason to think clearing things off the drive is going to make a difference. Does it want 1 GB more or 200 GB more, does it even car is the image is only 1GB? I don't think it matters, I don't think it is going to do any image no matter what.
I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
