Can't Boot From Bootable CD -- Bios Set Correctly

Anonymous
2015-11-02T05:57:29+00:00

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?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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.

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Anonymous
2016-08-24T15:35:47+00:00

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..

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-02-27T23:35:41+00:00

    Tanks.  I'm very bogged down here right now, will take  a closer look  at this later or tomorrow. But this reminded me -- I told you  when using the command  line, I got  a warning not to run chkdsk on the internal drive. Now  I think I remember that the warning was about Fast Startup.

    Hopefully,  after fixing the corruption,  the OS well be able to  defrag. If not, now you have me a backup to consider.  Any input  on how  good or bad this is?  Any reviews or something? If its  not a quality  one, it can do more  harm  than good.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-02-27T21:37:29+00:00

    Hi,

    After some checking, this is the only bootable CD type disk defragmenter that I could find... I found a number of them that would run from a Flash Drive from within Windows, but that should be avoided due to Fast Startup...

    This CD has a program called Defraggler, which I had heard of , but never tried...

    I ran this in my Win 10 SSD by booting from the CD... It's a bit slow, and doesn't Condolidate\Defrag the free space completely, but it helps...

    It also did not cause a problem with Fast Startup... which is most important...

    I would imagine that it is possible that a defragger exists, or will exist, that doesn't mess up Fast Startup, but I'm not aware of any at the moment...

    The CD is called Hiren's BootCD 15.2...

    INFO Page... http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

    Download Link... http://www.hirensbootcd.org/files/Hirens.BootCD.15.2.zip

    This is about a 575mb file... not small... it probably had 75 or more different utilities on it... Some of them are not the latest version... For instance... it has Partition Wizard 7, where we are using version 9... Sometimes this is intentional as the older versions sometimes have more advanced features...

    The way it works is that you boot with the CD, and then pick Mini XP as what you want to use...

    After loading Mini XP you will see a menu in a couple of places... a shortcut on the upper left, and a link to the menu on lower right...

    You would look in the section for Optimization, or similar... Defraggler is on the list...

    You select Analyze or Defrag from the ACTIONS on the upper left... I tested this with everything at default... I later tried a Defrag of Free Space... it helped a little...

    This may or may not help with your Acronis issue, but wouldn't hurt to try after doing the ChkDsk...

    The files that are corrupted may be nothing that is needed, but the fact that they exist may cause a problem simply by generating the error message for instance...

    It is possible that they are also on your 88GB  Win 8.1 Acronis Image, but maybe not...

    I don't remember if you did the Migration first, or the Acronis...

    BTW... When you compare  a fragmented file to the issue with the link, or whatever, between your external #3 and #5 partition... it is not the same thing... but similar...

    The fragmented file pieces are on the same partition... The Acronis Image trying to jump from partition #3 to #5 would not be... and that is why it is a problem...

    Acronis can break the image up into sections, but still doesn't know how to put part of the pieces on a different partition... When it is doing this with multiple DVDs, that is something it understands because it is programmed in...

    The deal of jumping a partition in theory should be possible, but Acronis was never apparently given instructions on how to do it, as it's not a standard practice...

    Imaging with multiple CDs or DVDs in a common practice that has been being used for at least 15 years..

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-02-27T18:29:09+00:00

    Hi,

    The Fast Startup is new... starting with Win 8... It is type of hybrid combination of a Shutdown and a Hibernation... It only functions when you do a shutdown...

    If you are noticing that Win 10 boots a lot slower, it may be that it is already not working properly, or is turned off...

    You can change it's settings by going to..

    Control panel...Power Options, and select Choose What the Power Buttons Do on the left.

    Then select Change Settings That Are Currently Unavailable near the top center of screen...

    Lower down on the window, uncheck Fast Startup.

    If you have ever used the command powercfg -h off to turn off Hibernation and get rid of the HiberFil.sys file, that will also disable Fast Startup...

    There may be more to your issue than just a corrupt text file if the Disk Optimization won't run... I not real sure of the reason... See if ChkDsk can correct that...

    BTW... After previous attempts to quit smoking, I did end up smoking less, but the amount would gradually creep up... I also determined that the dose of the patch wasn't have enough for my system...

    Things are not going as smoothly as I would like, but better than on previous attempts... I still have ocassional rather intense cravings, but have been able to control them with some gum or lozenge..

    It is not so much shaking type of stuff, but a really intense desire from my lungs to inhale some smoke...

    I actually enjoy smoking, but it is getting quite expensive and is a bit too controlling...

    I guess I finally got to the point that the dislike of the "Controlling" overcame the "Enjoying" part !!!

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-02-27T15:44:47+00:00

    If you don't stop being so damn  knowledgeable and helpful, my next question is going to have to be to  ask how I  can bottle you for marketing. :)

    So there you go with how I can run some repairs, possibly saving me what certainly would have been a ton of time  trying to find something.

    I'll get on that-- not sure today, I am kind of bogged down here today and probably  all through the weekend.

    What   you explained about fragmentation was my understanding too. I am not  so sure  about the precision of language  being used by some of  these applications and other, so I was thinking   that Acronis might simply be calling any issues "corruption."  Just consider how we have been talking of Partition Wizard possibly linking those  two  partitions  rather than actually moving the space --  even though the tool says  "moving." 

    My  guess it is  saying the internal is corrupt because it found  the same six corrupted files in it that chkdsk  found on  the external.  I believe most at System files, one  is  a  MS Office file, and the other is a font --  I know I will never use that particular font, don't mind just deleting that. 

    When I ran Chkdsk on the external,  the only reason I  did not do  it  on the  internal  is because there was some sort  of message that  I  can't remember just what it said but  it warned against  doing so, some  problem if you do. But you are telling  me how to run it a different way, so  maybe that is all it is, approach it that way  rather than via a command  line in  Command Prompt.

    And then you are telling me a couple  things to do to  address what it finds. 

    The second I heard you say you are quitting, I  knew that was why you are irritable. :) It is tough. One  guy I  worked with some years back did that too, and he had to end up smoking  anyway, so all the patch did  was to double his intake of nicotine while not  stopping his  smoking  anyway, probably only  making him more addicted  to cigarettes. I  think it right, go with the higher dose of patch, or you will  get the higher dose by smoking  anyway with the patch. 

    BTW, fast startup --  that is one thing I was going to mention after I get all this done. Win10 takes decidedly longer to  start up than Win 8.1 did. I was always impressed with how fast Win 8.1 started, but not impressed with Win10.

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