On a PC, how do I boot from something other than the hard drive?
Current PCs are capable of booting from a wide variety of devices: hard drives, floppy drives, USB drives, CD-ROM drives, and network media. It is often useful to boot directly from the CD-ROM drive in order to install a new operating system or fix a problem with the PC.
Most computers examine each device for bootable media in the boot order specified in the system BIOS. Because computer manufacturers use different hardware, the setting will appear in different places on different computers. Once you enter your system BIOS, look for a setting called "Boot Order" or "Boot Device Order". For specific information about your system, contact the manufacturer of your computer.
If you do not see a setting for boot order in your system BIOS, it is likely that you have an older computer that does not support this feature.
Last modified on May 27, 2009.







