Win Vista Starts Only When CD in Drive - into Windows Not CD

[trehahn]

This issue is baffling me.  this laptop will only boot if there is a bootable CD in the DVD/CD drive.  It'll come up and say press any key to boot to the CD, just ignore it, and it boots into Windows just fine.  If you take the disk out, it'll come up and say it can't find an operating system.    Another strange, and probably related issue, every now and then the CD will think it's just been inserted, the menu comes up asking if I want to run it.

Thanks for all your help, Tim

[quaxo]

What is the make and model of the laptop?

Check your BIOS and set boot order so the hard drive is first. Normally it shouldn't say anything if the drive is empty and just go to the hard drive automatically. See if switching this helps. If for some reason you need to boot from a CD later, just switch it back and reboot.

As for the random issue of the drive thinking the disc has just been inserted, it's likely unrelated. It happened to my HP, to my friend's Compaq, and to a number of other laptops I've seen. This is actually a slight flaw in the drive. When the drive closes, there is a small tab on the drawer of the drive that touches a very small switch on the circuit board of the drive. If these don't contact right, the small switch reports that the drive has been opened and closed, so it tries to autoplay the disc that's in the drawer. A bump or even a slight touch of the drawer can sometimes cause this. I've even seen the spinning of an imperfect disc vibrate the drive to the point it loses contact with the switch.

[trehahn]

Thanks for the quick reply.  The laptop is an HP dv9205us (dv9200 series) laptop.  I did check the BIOS, I changed the order in which it boots, didn't fix it.  It actually if I remember correctly booted from the CD automatically.  I even went to the HP site, and updated the BIOS, still nothing. 

The funny thing is it really isn't a random thing with the disk, if there is no CD in the drive (only had bottable CD's in it) it won't boot into Windows.  I tried XP, Vista and Windows 7, all did the same thing. If I pull the disk, I can try to boot it 100 times, it might boot up a couple times, but fails almost every time.  If I have the bootable CD in the drive, and don't press any key when it asks to boot to CD, it'll boot into Windows just fine.  I'm baffled.  I've worked on computers for years, never have I seen this.

This is also when the laptop is sitting on a table, when you move it, etc.  I have been leaving the Vista CD in the drive, so it'll boot, it was during my troubleshooting I realized that with the CD in, it'll boot.  Strange.

[quaxo]

Another strange, and probably related issue, every now and then the CD will think it's just been inserted, the menu comes up asking if I want to run it.

This is the issue that I meant was random. Now that you've mentioned it's an HP, I'm sure you're having the issue I described. If I get a chance, I'll take some pictures of my HP drive and show you. It's simple to take out and disassemble.

As for the booting problem, it's a bit odd. It's possible that there is some issue with what's on the hard drive that is somehow bypassed when it starts with a bootable disc.

It's an HP, so I'm assuming it came with recovery discs. It might be a pain, but you might consider backing up your files and restoring the system. I'll keep digging to see if I can find some other possible cause and fix.

[trehahn]

It had this problem before, with the original hard drive.  This is actually a new drive, that I put in it when I got the laptop.  As for recovery disks, I don't know.  It didn't come with any, the guy actually pulled his hard drive out, and destroyed it, so there would be no possibility of his data being pulled later. 

Since I didn't have the recovery CD's, and didn't want to pay HP for a new one, I used a Windows Vista Premium disk, and entered the COA, doing a fresh install of Windows.  As I mentioned, I also tried XP and 7 to see if they did it too.  Everything I had read up until this, stated it was a mbr issue, but I couldn't see how it kept screwing up.  Thanks again for the quick reply!

[quaxo]

Ah, ok. Knowing how you installed Vista gives a clearer direction now.

It's quite possible the MBR is messed up. Have you attempted to repair it yet? Here's instructions on how do that with your Vista disc:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

[trehahn]

With Vista, I did not.  When I installed Windows 7, the same way fresh install, I did try the repair option, and it did not work.  I will give it a shot on Vista now, just to see how it goes.  I am not sure if it'll work, but one never knows!  Thanks again.

[trehahn]

No luck with this method, running the Vista CD.  I didn't want to discount that it would work, since I had tried to fix Windows 7 prior to the Vista installation, so I tried it just in case.  Still does the same thing, doesn't boot into Windows unless it asks if I want to boot into the CD first, keeps saying Operating System Not Found.  Just puzzling!

[patio]

Did you follow the info in Quaxo's link above ? ?
The only reason that wouldn't work is if it's a bootleg CD...

[quaxo]

If fixing the MBR didn't correct this, you might have to start over from scratch and reinstall the whole OS or your drive has a problem.

[trehahn]

I have already thought of that, this is the 2nd hard drive and the 3rd OS I tried.  I've been working on computers and building them for years, this one has baffled me.  I've come across things I've not seen before, but usually a quick Google and I've got it fixed.  This one has baffled me, everything I've tried has not worked.  I'm thinking there's a hardware issue with it, but something allows it to boot after asking if I want to boot from the CD, some difference in the process changes, which allows it.  It works every time with a bootable disk in the drive, as long as you let it go through that process, and doesn't if you have no bootable disk in there.  I wouldn't be surprised if at some point it just doesn't boot, and the real culprit is then exposed. 

Thanks for all your help, I really do appreciate it.  Hopefully at some point I can get it resolved, in case someone else may have this issue, and it helps them!

[Geek-9pm]

After reading over this thread, the problem is not clear. Do you want to sell this computer?

You mean to say that the thing boots only if a CD is present? Can you just leave a blank CD in the drive? Does leaving  a blank CD in the drive annoy you?

My laptop the opposite  behavior. When a blank CD is in the drive it does not want to boot. Any that  annoys me. Maybe we should swap laptops?

[trehahn]

The problem:  Laptop will only boot into Windows, only when a bootable CD is in the drive. 
What it does: It'll ask if you want to boot from CD, press any key.  Don't press anything, it boots.

Blank CD's do not work, only bootable CD's.  If a blank CD is left in the drive, it'll still come up with Operating System Not Found, just as it does without a CD in it. 

It isn't so much an issue that it annoys me, I'm trying to find the problem.  Can the laptop be used right now, yes it can, as long as the bootable CD/DVD is left in the drive, and you allow it to go through the process.  There is however a problem, and I would like to figure it out.  It's rare for me not to find a solution to a problem, if I don't know the answer a quick Google search and you've found 100's of others who usually have been through it prior to you.  This one, not so much.  None of what I found, and tried, worked.  While troubleshooting, I realized that if I leave the Windows Vista CD in it, it boots, so I've left it in the drive.

While I am experience in working on computers, I realize there are others out there who are much more knowledgeable than I am.  There are people out there who probably have forgotten, more than I'll ever know.  I also realize, that others may have this problem eventually too, and search for a solution and eventually come by this thread (assuming a fix is found) and be able to fix their machine.   

The answer to one of your early questions, no I'm not looking to sell the laptop.  It was actually given to me, without a hard drive, the old drive was destroyed so data could not be pulled from it.  It was one of a few machines that were given to me, all of which without hard drives for the same reason, he didn't want his personal data pulled.  I'm not sure what'll be done with it, just trying to figure it out, not finding a solution to the problem, does annoy me LOL  It's rare, sometimes it takes me a little time, but I usually find the solutions, this one I just can't. 

[jason2074]

It'll ask if you want to boot from CD, press any key.  Don't press anything, it boots.

Have you tried looking for a BIOS option for enabling Quick boot if its available or present? Other threads I have read is about bootsec.exe since boot.ini is for win xp while others suggested to mark a partition active. Just a thought on this issue.

[trehahn]

There is no quick boot option in the BIOS, the BIOS is really limited compared to others I've seen.  Not many options.