How do I boot from CD in 8.1?

Kevan

New Member
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My Advent laptop has gone into the dreaded automatic repair loop in Windows 8.1 and I have had enough of it! I want to downgrade to windows 7 but when I go into the BIOS boot configuration to change the priority to CD drive I find I don't have that option. All there is is "> UEFI Boot Drive BBS Priorities" and then "1st Boot [Windows Boot Manager]".

Can anyone tell me how to make it boot from the CD drive please?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
I would enable boot menu, in the BIOS, which would probably get F-12 assigned to it.

I would insert the CD or DVD & press F-12 at startup to get the boot manager & select the CD or DVD to boot from.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
Thanks David

I've just tried it with an XP disc as I am waiting for my mate to drop of the windows 7 and although I heard the CD drive kick in the laptop still went into the automatic repair loop?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
You may have safe boot enabled. If your Laptop has a Windows 8 logo, you probably have. Your CD drive kicks in, cause the BIOS checks all drives, but then it finds that the XP installation CD has no valid signature to safe boot and does not offer it in UEFI/BIOS nor does it boot from it.
Disable secure boot then to boot from XP CD.

Also you may try different Keys, with my computer F8 brings up the UEFI/BIOS boot menue, from which I can select the boot device.
And when booting from CD there is often a message displayed for a short time saying something like "press any key to boot from CD". Maybe with XP it was the other way around ("Booting from CD, press any key to abort"). It is a long while I've bootet XP the last time from CD. I sometimes manage to miss that short while, so the computer boots from HD then.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    custom
    CPU
    Intel64 Family 6 Model 60 Stepping 3 GenuineIntel ~3401 Mhz
    Motherboard
    Asus H87-Pro
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 7970 6GB
    Hard Drives
    SATA only
    2 x 3 TB as RAID 1 = C:, D:
    3 TB = E:
    3 TB = F:
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800 (cordless)
    Mouse
    Logitech G700s (cordless)
    Internet Speed
    Cable (5GBit up, 70GBit down)
    Browser
    IE 11, FF 34
    Antivirus
    Avira
If you have an OEM PC that came with Windows 8 64-bit preinstalled and you want to install Windows 7 64-bit, then you must disable Secure Boot, because Secure Boot is not compatible with Windows 7.

- You do not need to change the boot order of drives in your computer's UEFI firmware (BIOS).
- Connect your Windows 7/8 64-bit USB flash drive or insert your Windows 7/8 64-bit DVD.
- Restart the computer.
- Press the correct key to enter the boot menu (see this link for help).
- Select your USB/DVD from the boot menu.

If Windows 7 installation does not succeed in UEFI Boot Mode, try installing Windows 7 in Legacy BIOS Boot Mode.

Here is info about UEFI Boot Mode (installing using the GPT partition style) and Legacy BIOS Boot Mode (installing using the MBR partition style): link

How to download and clean install Windows 8.1 if you have an OEM computer with UEFI firmware (BIOS) embedded Windows 8/8.1 product key. -> link
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G580
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3230M
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, standard user account
    Other Info
    UEFI firmware (BIOS) embedded Windows 8 product key.
I want to downgrade to windows 7

BEFORE you make that move, check the manufacturer's website and ensure that there are Win7 drivers for your machine.

Not all preinstalled Win8 machines can be "downgraded" to Win7 -- due to lack of drivers.
 

My Computer

I want to downgrade to windows 7

BEFORE you make that move, check the manufacturer's website and ensure that there are Win7 drivers for your machine.

Not all preinstalled Win8 machines can be "downgraded" to Win7 -- due to lack of drivers.
This is indeed correct. It can be downgraded but the computer won't work properly without designated Windows 7 drivers from the manufacturer. -personal experience-
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    Intel i7 4th Gen
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GTX 950m
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27in Asus display
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    240GB SSD, x2 2TB My Passport, x2 6TB My Book
    Browser
    Chrome
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