BIOS offers USB drive and CD as boot options for a Dell X1laptop. An external CD drive connected by USB port does not see the CD on boot up. Boot proceeds to the windows desktop where the drive is seen an where windows installation can proceed. It is an HP, not a Dell drive Seeking guidance on drive recognition.

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What is the boot order set to in BIOS and is the option for "Boot from other device " enabled?

What is the boot order set to in BIOS and is the option for "Boot from other device " enabled?

Much thanks for your timely reply. The order is as follows:

1.CD/DVD/CD-RW Device
2.USB Storage Device
3.Diskette Drive
4.Internal HDD
5.Onboard NIC

Please know that I have alternated selections 1 & 2... neither leads one to the OS setup.

If it is an HP then you can usually press <F9> or <F12> and get a boot menu and select the external drive.

Please note that this is a Dell X1 Laptop. The external drive is an HP USB Connected CD drive. The information in the original post is correct

Sorry about that I misunderstood the last sentence. With the USB installed on the port check to see if there is a CD-ROM Boot order or device. If you have an on-board then disable the on-board CD-ROM and see if it boots from the USB CD-ROM. Watch close for otion to get to boot menu (I think dell uses <ESC>).

How many times have you reloaded your system and wish there was an easier and faster to do? How many times have you had problems installing Windows because of a scratched CD or DVD, or had to reload your PC or laptop only to discover that the DVD was bad? If you own a netbook?
Then keep reading because you do not have to spend $ 60 on an external DVD drive to install Windows.

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