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,
Norton was taken over by Symantec a number of years ago, but they still included Norton Utilities in with there Suite of Security products...
I think Norton Utilities is again being sold under the Norton name again, but from what I can tell, it's features are lacking some of the older utilities...
Disk Doctor and SpeedDisk would probably be the most useful...
Something else I realized is that some of your corrupt files may not be deletable.
A lot of times they are corrupt because of a problem in the File Table or Directory... If that is the case, you almost need to reformat the drive to get rid of them...
Sometimes they just were not written properly and can be easily deleted...
In the process of checking on things I came across the Smart DeFrag program...
It is top rated by some of the reviews... If you download it from the manufacturer's site, there is some garbage that requires accepting for the installer to run...
The link from MajorGeeks doesn't have any requirements for the installer to run, but asks if you would like to also install about four other things in the process... I installed it on my Win 10 machine, and it seems to work fairly well...
One reason I thought you might want to try it, is that is has an option to Clean Junk Files before defragging... One of the things on the list by default to clean are "Chkdsk File Fragments"...
I don't know if that would help your issue or not, but it wouldn't hurt to try...
Strangely enough... shortly after Smart Defrag ran, Windows Optimization ran as well.... So we know it doesn't mess that up...
I don't want you to think I am trying to force you into reinstalling windows...
That is just what I think is the best long term solution...
According to sfc /scannow your Win 10 is in pretty good shape... other than the optimization.... The corrupted files don't seem to be causing a problem with anything else other than Acronis and DeFraggler... so far...
You may have a problem with Office or Word if you tried to use it though...
The point is that if your computer seems to be working well for the most part, you could continue running it the way it is for possibly a very long time... You just won't be able to make a backup image... or Optimize... The Smart Defrag may or may not work...
BTW... Fast Startup only works when you do a Shutdown of your computer... It does nothing with a Restart... But if when you power on your computer with it on and off, and there is no difference, it is not working...
I am running off of a HDD today so that I could better test Smart Defrag...
In the process of doing some time test for boot and restart, it turned out my machine Boots twice as fast as it does s Restart, as an example of what to expect...
A Restart is around 52 second, and a Shutdown+Boot is around 23 seconds..
Let me know how things go...
Will have to get back to this later. And, waiting to hear from a friend about whether he has Norton I can use. But in looking at Norton Website, looks like it is changing over to be more about security and repairs. Has it been taken over by Symantics?
Meanwhile, all of a sudden, having trouble with my monitor of my Mac. That will have to be first priority, so might delay getting back to Win 10.
Hi,
You might try Smart DeFrag from this link... http://www.majorgeeks.com/mg/getmirror/iobit_smartdefrag,2.html
I Installed it on my machine and ran it, and Fast Startup still works..
Hi,
Here is something else I just thought of... You might want to think about it some...
If you think you like Win 10 well enough, you can install it without ever using any of your images or Gateway stuff... In the long run, it may be the best thing to do...
You can install Win 10 Clean and REALLY start fresh... Here is the thought..
1) Using Partition Wizard, delete EVERYTHING on your internal drive... even the 128mb partition...
2) Boot with the Win 10 DVD in UEFI... Do a Custom Install... Advanced..
Divide your internal HDD in two, or something you would be a good number...
Make the 2nd partition large enough to hold your 88gb Acronis Image and all of your personal files that are on the external drive... And maybe a couple small Acronis image of your new Win 10... They are only about 5GB when you first start..
Maybe even something like 200GB for the first partition that Win 10 will be on, and 265GB for the 2nd... Or even 150GB and 315GB for the 2nd...
You can tell Win 10 to keep your Documents, Pictures, Videos, etc., on the 2nd partition automatically...
Then when you make a Image of Win 10, you are just doing mostly Win 10, the programs you install, and a few personal files...
3) After you make the two partitions, boot with the Win 10 DVD and install on the first partition... Let Win 10 decide where to put the EFI and Recovery... There isn't much you can do about that anyway...
4) Once Win 10 is installed and running, copy the 88GB Image and your personal files from the external drive to the 2nd empty partition...
5) Delete everything on the external drive and switch it back to a MBR drive...
Copy the 88GB Image and all personal files back to the external... Your personal files are not necessary, but not a bad idea..
6) As soon as you install Win 10, make a Acronis Image to the 2nd internal partition, and then do any Windows Updates and possibly any driver you need... Then make another Acronis Image.... Do this all before copying anything or doing anything to the external...
7) Once you have the internal all setup and the external reformatted, copy your newly made Acronis Images to the external... Just in case...
8) Now you can start installing whatever programs you want... After awhile, make another Image to the external drive..
You will no longer have anything that was preinstalled from Gateway, but you can probably download and install some of it if it is something you use a lot... You can also still use any drivers that gateway may have for your machine..
Drivers shouldn't be much of a problem... Win 10 seems to be very good at finding what it needs...
The reason I suggest this is that it will save a lot of time as compared to Restoring to factory, and all your other images are either corrupt or questionable...
I understand the problem of reinstalling your programs... been there and done that multiple times. But because I understand that, I can say that time wise, it may be just as time consuming to continue to try and fix your problems as it is to reinstall everything fresh..
Besides... there may be programs on your machine that you would be better off without.. Like some of the preinstalled stuff... I know my HP laptop had a good bit that I was glad to be rid of..
You would be better off not installing Acronis as well... it does everything of any importance from a bootable CD or Flash....
For Instance, you mentioned why not install DeFraggler... Just because you are better off if you don't...
I have always used PerfectDisk installed on my machines for defragging, but it causes problems with Win 10, as do most everything else I have tried so far.. I'm still checking..
You might be surprised as to how well your machine works this way, but if not, you can resort to the Acronis Win 8.1 image, or Restore to Factory...
I know this isn't what you really want to hear, but what you want may not be possible, and time wise may end up being faster... It has been two months since we started with the Acronis Image of Win 10...
You could have basically had a new machine by now... and better...
If doing a Repair Install of Office doesn't clear up the corruption issues, Recovering one of your images, or a Clean Install of Win 10, may be the only options left...
Whatever you decide I will do my best to help, but I can't snap my fingers and make the problems go away...
You may not want to try the Clean Install of Win 10, and prefer Win 8 or 8.1 instead, but I wanted to make clear that you didn't need to start with the Gateway Recovery to get back to 10...
Plus... if you start with 10, all your images will be fresh, and much smaller. You will have space on the external for quite a few. You can keep some on the #2 partition of the internal as well...
Just something to think about... I know I couldn't sleep thinking about it !!!
