How to enable USB boot on Compaq NC6000

[timrob]

I'm trying to enable USB booting on my Compaq NC6000.  I want to be able to boot from a USB Hard Drive.  In the BIOS, I've enabled USB Legacy support and MultiBoot.  When the computer reboots, I select USB Hard Drive disk option.  The screen goes black with a blinking cursor.  

Both drives, the original and the USB drive, are both Toshiba.  The original that came with the laptop is a 40GB.  The USB drive is 120GB.  The USB drive is from another notebook and works fine.  

I can see the USB drive fine from the NC6000 when just a USB drive.  I can see the drive fine when it is directly plugged in to my other laptop.  When it's a USB boot drive, nothing happens.

I've disconnected the notebook harddrive with the same results.

HP Tech chat support got me this far but gave up.  They said my USB drive is not compatible which I don't believe.  Any ideas?

[Flame]

How old is this computer? How old is the laptop? Sometimes older computers, or some computers even today have motherboards that do not support booting from an external device. I know my old computer doesn't support it.

Flame

[timrob]

It's about 6 months old and is pretty much top of the line.  It supports USB boot according to HP/Compaq.