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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..
I haven't read your last response yet. Who cares. It won't let me upgrade.
I just downloaded the Win 10 stuff from your URL -- I tried to get the ISO direct, but from my Windows machine, it redirect to your URL, won't let me get the ISO direct from a Windows machine.
So, I downloaded the Media creation tool and the other file, which was not labeled a an ESD.
It won't let me open the media creator. It gives a message saying it can't be opened on my machine. It suggests I can try a restart. I did, same thing.
So, that's it. Whatever happened mat 79% yesterday have f'd up my OS, and Windows can't fix it. So I'm dead. Miscrosoft broke my machine with their insane 2.5 GB download! Damn them!
I'm, through with this. Who in their right mined would even want Windows OS in their home.
But even before that, I read the instructions of how to use the Media Creator. For my machine, I now realize I would l have no choice, it seems, but to put the ISO on the desktop and run from there -- because I have to switch to Legacy to boot the DVD, but the install then reboots, and it would need to be in UEFI for that reboot! The instructions don't tell anything about that, so good thing I learned that in all the **** of making an image. These instructions otherwise would have led me into a disaster.
Second, the install talks of upgrading now, or making a DVD or flash drive. Then it gives instructions. Down in the instructions, it say, "if you made an ISO ... " What? How, it never said how!!! Yes, I want the ISO, i NEED it. They told me nothing about making an ISO or how! And I can't even open the media creation application to read it to see if that will show how to make an ISO.
Damn this. I give up. And I have no more time for it. Even if I do pursue it, I'm not even going to think about it until about 2025.
**** happens with Mac too, but nothing remotely close to this 8 **** month ordeal! This is unconscionable, at every single inch of the way, every last inch. Nothing works, everything to do with MS is bad directions, nothing is straight forward as even a coder in Kindergarten could do it, the find the most idiotic way to do everything
Just give me a f'king disk! Don't put people through 8 months of **** instead of just giving up a **** disk!
Hi,
Both of the links will end up with the same thing...
The Win 10 will download as a .ESD regardless of the method...
If Windows Update downloads it, it will install the .ESD...
If you install it from the WebPage I linked to, it will install as a .ESD...
If you Create Media, or Save As a ISO, it will download as a .ESD and be converted to a ISO... Then the media created from the ISO...
The tool I linked to is useless anyway if you don't have a .ESD to convert !!!
There is another link that might work from a mac that is in fact a ISO...
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/techbench
The button to start the download is about halfway down the page.
When you upgrade to Win 10 you have two choices...
Run the installation from Within Windows and Keep Everything, or boot from the media, do a Clean Install, and Keep Nothing"
If you boot from the media you may need to enter the Win 7 key...
Or select Do This Later, Skip This Step, or whatever options are there...
You may need to enter nothing if you don't delete Win 7... Win 10 may read the key from the Registry...
The Win 8 machine is a bit different... Win 10 can read the key from the BIOS...
You may still need to select the Do This later stuff when asked for a key... It will most likely activate on it's own a short while after the installation is complete...
Whether you delete everything on the drive is a matter of choice... the old stuff will eventually get deleted anyway, but if you have a bunch of useless partitions it may be best to delete them during the Win 10 Installation...
Just select a Custom Install.... You will get to a screen where you can modify, delete, format, the partitions...
BTW.. It might be best to be connected to the internet so that the Win 10 installation can check for updates... There have been times with some machines that being connected actually caused the installation to crash.
Once a valid Windows Installation has been upgraded to Windows 10, and has been Activated, the original OS is no longer needed... Windows 10 can then be installed to a blank drive...
Win 10 can also be installed to a blank using a Win 7 or 8 key... Not all people running Win 8 had it preinstalled, so there would be no key in the BIOS...
They purchased a Retail version for instance...
Change of plan.
Whatever happened at 79% of the download yesterday apparently has broken Window Update on the Win 8.1 machine. Damn! I again ran Window Update Repair just now, and it again fixed two things. Yet, Windows Update on that machine is now just running interminably too.
Since I was downloading yesterday to go up to Win 10 anyway, at this point the easiest way to fix this broken Windows Update is to download the ISO (or ESD), use that to go up to Win 10 (I'm presuming that will fix Windows Update?) and then all should be fine. And if I use the Win 8.1 image to go back to Win 8.1 at some point, that will be before whatever broke Windows Update yesterday.
It seems safer to install from a disk anyway, as if you install via online, too much can happen in the midst of doing it to corrupt everything -- like happened to Windows Update yesterday.
Do I have to be online when I do the install? Or does the disk check the machine itself?
And, again, will that disk install Win 10 to a blank hard drive and pick up the serial from the original Win 7 machine? Or does it need to see the Win 7 or Win 8 OS on the machine in order to do it?
Oh, check this out, download the Win 10 ISO from MS! I'm on my Mac, and I just wanted to look at that URL you gave to download the ESD for Win 10. Because I was not on a compatible OS for Win 10, it redirected me to:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO
And rather than explain, here is what that page says:
You’ve been routed to this page because the operating system you’re using won’t support the Windows 10 media creation tool and we want to make sure you can download Windows 10. To use the media creation tool, visit the Microsoft Software Download Windows 10 page from a Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 device.
You can use this page to download a disc image (ISO file) that can be used to install or reinstall Windows 10. The image can also be used to create installation media using a USB flash drive or DVD.
So, I can just download the ISO rather than the ESD. What did you say, that the ESD is compressed, so a smaller download? OK. Not sure how much smaller the ESD is, but but the time I download and install and figure out an ESD converter, it might be just as fast to just download the ISO instead. On the other hand, it sounds like the ESD comes with a converter in the download, as it refers to the "media creation tool," and bring to a disk, and that would require converting to ISO. So I could get the ESD and would not need to get that Russian one.
Do you know, will this upgrade ESD-ISO also install Win 10 fresh to a blank disk? Of course, surely one would need a serial to activate it or being doing it to a machine that originally shipper with Win 7 or above.
