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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,
Using another drive internally would be my preferred method...
Not only do you not need to worry about whether the external will boot, and if it won't, is it the image or the UEFI that is responsible, but you don't need to worry about having two OS drives hooked up at the same time that may mess each other up...
I don't know how your finances are, but there is a online computer store called Newegg, and another called TigerDirect that have really good sales on HDDs and other stuff...
You could probably get a 1TB 2.5" internal for $50... You could get a smaller one, but the price probably wouldn't be much cheaper... Newegg seems to have better HDD prices, and TigerDirect has other stuff for less... That is where I purchased my HP Laptop and most recently a 8" Tablet...
You might also have a Fry's Electronics near you... They have weekly specials on computer components...
There is no doubt that all the required steps can be confusing... and in which order...
I still miss one every now and then...
I normally check my email daily, so if you have issues I will know... There are times when it doesn't get checked for a day or so though... Like you mention... normal life requires attention too !!!
BTW... The newest version of Win 10 for the general public may be out tomorrow...
In a way that is good for you... It may mean you don't have to try the Win 10 installation twice.. I'm not sure if the update will require installing an entire new build, or just a large Windows Update..
I'm running the final pre-release on this machine at the moment... It's not without bugs, but none of them are... Win 10 worked pretty good on my 8" Tablet, but I removed it and will try again when the new release is available.
Funny, I was just at Frys today. :)
I figure I can avoid any OS conflict by taking the internal out when I'm ready to boot to the external. Hmm. I guess that means once I get it, there, next step is to tale the internal out, an then immediate try booting. Once tested, I can put the internal in, unplug the external, boot, plug in the external and delay all on that partition. Hmm, maybe I can actually boot to Acronis or the other partition one and erase before I even put the internal drive back in.
I'll have to look at how to erase just one partitions not the whole drive.
Hi,
You would want to use Partition Wizard.... Acronis has a Disk Director program also, but is probably not included on your bootable CD...
You would just right click on the one you want to delete and select Delete...
Then right click on the one next to it that you are keeping, and select "Expand"...
I thought there may be several Fry's near you... I know there used to be.
I'm doing the first stuff now. I have erased the external drive and remade it as GPT. I then made a 125 GB partition on it, formatted as NT-- (I can never remember all four of those letters).
I then made a new full disk image of the internal drive to the other partition on the external. (I do not see anywhere in Acronis to do the image as bootable -- I looked everywhere.)
All fine so far. All with Acronis booted disk.
I am now trying to recover the image to the 125 GB partition on the same external HDD. Issues -- with how you told me to do it. At least I think so.
I believe you had said not to do a full disk recovery, to do a file recover.Then when I questioned about that, you said no, do only a partition recovery, that a file recovery will not be bootable.
OK, when going to do recovery, I get a choice of two ways:
•"Recoverable disks and partition"
•"Recover chosen files and folders"
Well, you said to do a partition recovery. But that is the same selection as full disk, which you said not to do. Well, I chose that, and hoped the next step would have me narrow it to partition recovery, but I did not get such a narrowing.
On the page where I select the destination disk, it will not let me choose the external drive, that choice is grayed out; it will only let me choose the internal drive. I don't know if that is because it is external USB, but I suspect it is because the choice of recovery by "full disk or partition" decidedly links full disk with choice of partitions to recover. Thus, it considers it as the full disk and will not let you recover a full disk to the same disk, even when to a different partition.
In fact, on the page to select the destination disk, it lists only the disk, not the partitions on it, so I would not even able able to direct it to the partition I had created for it!
But let me note a warning notice on the bottom of that page:
"Warning! After operation completion, operating systems will not boot from the destination disk in BIOS."
What horrible grammar, who knows what that means. Remember, the only choice I was allowed to do the recovery to was the internal drive. This warning is not saying the "recovered OS," it is simply saying -- well, I can't really figure out what it is saying, but it seems to be saying that no OS on the destination disk IN BIOS will boot. Destination disk -- in BIOS. What does this mean? BIOS lists the destination disk, so if I listed an OS on a DVD as first choice to bot in BIOS, is this saying that destination chosen by BIOS (as opposed to the destination for this recovery) will not boot?
If that is not what they are saying, then why are they even mentioning BIOS? That doesn't make sense.
At any rate, there is a warning about not being able to boot -- it just is not at all clear what won't boot, nor even why. Don't forget, this recovery, and thus this warning, is only being allowed to the internal drive. But it must be at least saying that the recovered OS will not boot, although it would be nice if they would just say that, the "destination disk in BIOS" has nothing to do with that. But bottom line, the recovered OS will not boot.
So, is it saying that a full disk OR partition recovery will not boot? I think you already had warned that a full disk recovery would not boot. Is that what they are trying to say, but failed to say with such poor grammar?
OK, so with no other option to be able to do, I proceeded instead to do a file recovery, and, rather than select the disk for that, I selected the sub-listing for the partition on which the Image is.
Wait, did I select that partition, or the 125 GB empty partition?
Oh, damn, I just checked, the only partition I can select is the only partition listed: the one with the Image file on it. So, I'm trying to recover to the same partition I have the image on, not a different partition. I can't recover to the empty partition, it doesn't list it! Why not! I need to be able to select a different partition! That's the only way I will be able to have enough space to be able to do a second Image later for Win 10.
Well, its going, so I will let it go for now. I have to think I will be losing the Image and have to do it all over again.
That recovery is now proceeding, first is a validation of the files. It says another 1 hour, 3 minutes to go, has been running for a half hour or so far.
But you said a Files recovery will not boot, even if on the internal drive. I had no warning with this one about inability to boot, like I did for the disk or partitions recovery. And I'm putting it on the external, USB hard drive, which we weren't sure would boot anyway. Oh well, can only let it finish, and hope it will boot. If it doesn't we don't know if the problem was the method of recovery or that it is USB HDD, or even Because it is on the same partition as the Image.
