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136 Appendix
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Boot Sequence
This feature allows you to change the boot sequence for devices.
Option Settings
•
Diskette Drive —
The computer attempts to boot from the floppy drive. If the floppy disk in the
drive is not bootable, if no floppy disk is in the drive, or if there is no floppy drive installed in the
computer, the computer attempts to boot from the next bootable device in the boot sequence.
•
Hard Drive
— The computer attempts to boot from the primary hard drive. If no operating
system is on the drive, the computer attempts to boot from the next bootable device in the
boot sequence.
•
CD Drive
— The computer attempts to boot from the CD drive. If no CD is in the drive, or
if the CD has no operating system, the computer attempts to boot from the next bootable
device in the boot sequence.
•
USB Flash Device —
Insert the memory device into a USB port and restart the computer.
When
F12 = Boot Menu
appears in the upper-right corner of the screen, press <F12>. The
BIOS detects the device and adds the USB flash option to the boot menu.
NOTE: To boot to a USB device, the device must be bootable. To make sure that your device is bootable,
check the device documentation.
NOTE: An error message is generated only after the computer attempts to boot from every device in the
boot sequence and no operating system is found.
Changing Boot Sequence for the Current Boot
You can use this feature, for example, to tell the computer to boot from the CD drive so that
you can run the Dell Diagnostics on the Dell ResourceCD, but you want the computer to boot
from the hard drive when the diagnostic tests are complete. You can also use this feature to
restart your computer to a USB device such as a floppy drive, memory key, or CD-RW drive.
NOTE: If you are booting to a USB floppy drive, you must first set the floppy drive to OFF in system setup
(see "System Setup" on page 131).
1
If you are booting to a USB device, connect the USB device to a USB connector (see "Front
View (Doors Open)" on page 72).
2
Turn on (or restart) your computer.
3
When
F2 = Setup, F12 = Boot Menu
appears in the upper-right corner of the screen,
press <F12>.
If you wait too long and the operating system logo appears, continue to wait until you see the
Microsoft Windows desktop. Then shut down your computer (see "Turning Off Your
Computer" on page 69) and try again.
The
Boot Device Menu
appears, listing all available boot devices. Each device has a number
next to it.