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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..
Re the Win7 machine, I ran it for 2-3 hours, not even a list. Interminable, not merely slow. I just started it again, and will let it run at least 4 hours. After that, don't know what to do. Go back to a February restore point, and don't update anymore. Of course, if it is don't update anymore, I can leave it as-is.
RE the Win 10 download direct, is that the general version or is it machine-specific? I think the former, so it could then be used for any machine? That might be the only way now to take the Win 7 machine up to Win 10.
Thanks for the referral to the ESD converter -- but any Russian site, including that one, does not seem at all safe. Regardless, I will let that wait until later, just do it via Windows update this time.
So, you are saying the Win 10 direct download downloads as as ESD and then converts it with the tool to a ISP. But I think what you are really saying is I can download it as an ESD and then somehow use the tool to convert it to an ISO. The "tool" is that Russian application -- but surely there are various other options to get such a tool. And then once it is ann ISO, I can jut burn it to disk as I did with the Win 8.1 download installer from Gateway. (I'd rather have it on disk than in a virtual whatever it is you said.)
Not sure what other "upgrade" you are referring to with Win 8.1. Do you mean when I went form 8.0 to 8.1? I did that -- hmm, I went to some MS web page, clicked there, and it did it, similar to Windows Update. I didn't download anything to the desktop.
But if you are referring to downloading the Win 8.1 installer from Gateway and burning (didn't you tell me burn it this way rather than that way? I think not a data burn, instead the way that was on the bottom of the list in Nero, whatever that was called), I didn't do any conversion from ESD, I don't even have an application to do that yet.
Re this Disk Cleanup of system files, I went to C\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder but nothing in there was obvious for killing out the Win10 partial download from yesterday. I note, there also is another folder at C\Windows\SoftwareDistribution.bak.
So, I went to Disk Cleanup, found it in Action Center, but it won't open. I have to think it is supposed to open, but it won't. So I can't even see how that works or how it will allow me to selectively clean out the Win10 download. Why won't that open? I've never used Disk Cleanup.
Hi,
That was the problem with Win 7 Windows Update... It takes forever to look...
Mine took well over an hour before it even presented a list...
There was a update to fix that... but you need to get to it first...
The main reason you have to jump through so many hoops to directly download the Windows 10 is because Microsoft has changed the way they do things, and require it...
Plus... the website will also create a Bootable Flash Drive which requires the tool...
In reality I think the ISO downloads as a .ESD and then is converted by the tool to a ISO... Once you have the ISO, everything is like it always was...
I use a virtual drive instead of burning DVDs for the upgrade...
It is much faster and makes a lot less noise...
I was going to mention when you did the other upgrade with Win 8.1 that you could do Win 10 in the same fashion... I probably forgot...
All of the upgrades require a good bit of additional downloading other than just Windows... This is for machine specific drivers and such, that are not part of Win 10 itself. Probably between 500MB and 2GB depending on the machine's hardware...
Here is a link to one of the latest ESD to ISO converters...
http://file.ru.com/492570-ESD+Decrypter-Redstone.zip.html
Just extract the zip file... copy or paste your .ESD file into the folder, right click on "Decrypt" and select Run As Administrator...
Select Option #1 and wait for the process to run... You will end up with a ISO in the folder along with the .ESD...
BTW... It would be best to COPY the .ESD to the folder to make sure it doesn't get modified...
Re the Win 7 machine, the issue isn't that Windows Update is slow, it is that it is interminable. It never stops looking. I just tested it again, same thing for third or fourth day in a row, been running for an hour so far this morning. All I can think to do is to restore to an earlier point - what a waste of time.
I ran the Windows Update repair out of Action Center on that machine, it did nothing but try to run Windows Update, which of course just went interminably, and the repair never proceeded -- a worthless repair program.
I realize I have no time for this Win 10 stuff today. I'm all bogged down. You can't have a Windows machine if you have anything else to do in your life, as Windows demands you spend 100% of your time trying to get it to work.
Seems to me I have burned an ISO in the past and booted from it -- and that's all there was to it. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's what I just did last month with the Win 8.1 bootable disk I burned form the download you pointed me to at Gateway. I even recall some years back taking a Windows something to my Mac, burning a bootable OS from that to a .dmg disk image, and then using an application on Mac to convert the .dmg to a iso for Windows. I believe I also found that Windows can read the ,dmg anyway, but might as well use the iso format Windows likes. That booted fine.
I have burned bootable Windows OSs without any of this stuff you are talking about, although not from an ESD. I gather you are saying there is an application to convert an ESD to an ISO?
That direct download of Win 10 you spoke of -- is that already an ISO, or is that an ESD? But it has the disadvantage of requiring substantial more download either during or after install for the drivers? How does it work to find and get those drivers -- is it automatic and does it include the machine-specific stuff?
Im,' trying to decide whether to do the Windows Update approach or the direct download. *
I will have to look into that stuff another day.
Hi,
There are issues with Win 7 that cause the checking for updates to be VERY slow...
I had that problem myself on a couple of machines...
I think one of the updates caused it... There is a update to fix the problem, but unfortunately it doesn't install until after all the rest are done...
Windows Update doesn't download a ISO for Win 10.... It downloads a .ESD file which is a more highly compressed file, and installs differently... It can be converted to a ISO with the proper tool...
The deal with the ISO is that you can't just run it like a normal...
It needs to be burned to a DVD as a IMAGE, Run with a Virtual Drive, or EXTRACTED to a folder...
A Virtual Drive is very simple to use... Just install it and reboot... Then look in COMPUTER and you will see a new CD\DVD\BluRay drive... That's what is meant by virtual...
To then run the ISO you would just right click on it, select MOUNT... then doubleclick on the new Virtual drive just like you would a DVD... Or you can just burn the ISO to a DVD.
I doubt that Win 10 will pick up where it left off... it happens some times, but is rare...
I had similar issues with Win 10 when it was first released when trying to install it through Windows Update... It always started over...
If the actual Win 10 .ESD file downloads completely, it is in fact available to save...
The location it is saved in has varied between the different builds...
The file is called INSTALL.ESD...
It is either stored in the SoftwareDistribution\Downloads folder, or a HIDDEN folder C:$Windows~BT\Sources...
The problem is that there has been a new folder introduced called C:$Windows~WS that also has a INSTALL.ESD... I had trouble distinguishing which was the correct one...
If you use the download link the first thing you will need to do is run a tool...
The button is part way down the page... You don't want to install\upgrade from the website. You will most likely encounter the same problem as Windows Update...
One reason for the tool is that it will create media... such as a flash drive, or DVD...
I pointed out before that putting a ISO on a flash drive or DVD is a specialized process... It is different than just copying a file...
Like your Acronis Image... the Image is useless unless Acronis is used to Recover it...
A ISO is a type of image, and needs to be handled as such... The tool will do this...
You can burn a DVD and\or save a ISO... You can just download the ISO and burn it to a DVD later... You just need a burning program capable of burning a IMAGE...
