Booting Windows with Disk Created from ISO

Hey guys,

Firstly, let me introduce myself, my name is Simon and I'm a 21-year old currently working on my placement year as a Trainee Software Engineer, I'm due to start back at university to finish my final year of my Computer Science degree at Queen's University in Belfast.

As well as doing software engineering, I dabble at a bit of computer repair/upgrading. Recently, the hard drive on my Dad's Acer TravelMate 220 packed in, so we bought a new one and installed it. I have a subscription to MSDN and have a number of versions of Windows XP/Windows 7 that I have created from .ISO/.IMG files downloaded from Microsoft.

The product key on the bottom of my Dad's laptop is of Windows XP SP1. So I put in the disk that I have created from MSDN and enter the Boot menu in the BIOS of the machine and select CD-ROM, however instead of seeing the customary "Press any key to boot from CD..." message, the screen waits a few seconds and then tries to boot form the hard drive.

However when I put the same disc into my own Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop, the disc is recognised. What makes this situation even funnier is that I have an authentic Windows XP SP2 CD that came with my home computer, and the Acer recognises this and goes into XP setup mode (however I can't use this CD as the product key isn't recognised as its SP1, wheras the disc is SP2).

This is also happening to another Dell Inspiron machine that I am attempting to fix for my friend (it bluescreens on Windows startup).

So my question is this, why will both laptops recognise the genuine Windows CD and not the CD that I created from an ISO when my own machine (and also my home desktop) will? Is there any special process when burning Windows ISO images to CD that makes them directly bootable from slightly older BIOS versions?

Note: I used ActiveISO to burn the ISO images. I have burned both the .IMG file that I downloaded and converted it to an ISO using 'AnyToISO' and burned the ISO, but neither machine will recognise either of the CDs or boot them. May I also add that I have tried changing the boot order in the BIOS of both machines as well, but this has no effect either.

Hope you guys will be able to help me, and I'm sorry for the long post.

Many thanks,
Simon

 

Greetings, Simon...

I wouldn't think that the product key would be the problem, unless it's somehow branded into the BIOS - you've got a new HD, so it shouldn't have any info to reference to...

I have heard of incompatibilities between some hardware and service pack levels, but I've never seen it firsthand...

Maybe contact Acer for any flash fixes? The fact that it skips the CD boot points to either a non-bootable disk, or some screwy optical/BIOS relationship...

For that matter, has the new drive been formatted correctly, and has a full installation of any OS been performed?

Keep us posted - and welcome to MG! :major

 

Hi Caliban, and thanks for your warm welcome

I have checked the Acer website for any updates specific to the laptop but there are no updates past the current BIOS version that is on the machine.

The hard drive is installed correctly as I attempted to install Windows XP using the genuine disc that I have (SP2) with the intention of using the product key on the laptop (SP1). It was at this point I realised that product keys across service packs don't seem to be compatible. So currently there is a non-registered, partially set up version of Windows on the hard-drive.

My intention was to start again by getting the correct version of XP, and reformat the hard-drive.

The really confusing thing is that all of the discs that I have created are recognised by my own laptop (Dell Inspiron 1501), which rules out the non-bootable disc theory (in my mind anyway). I've googled until I've nearly gone blind, however I can find no relevant articles or discussions about this problem. Its driving me insane :cry

The search for a solution continues...:confused

Simon

 

Tough situation, indeed...

I've never worked with downloaded Windows images, so I'm out as far as advice on that...

If it were my machine, however, my next step would be to burn a Linux distro and crank that up, thoroughly check out the machine (Mint is very good, as are others)...

Blows my mind that a virgin hard drive barks at you about a product key - be patient: maybe some of the gurus here can shed some light...

 

Only advice that I can think of, is to try reburning your ISO at the slowest speed allowed by your burning program and CD burner that you are using as that will make a better burn, and could be the problem with an older optical drive trying to recognize a burn speed past its max capability. Sounds strange, but I have encountered it. Hope this helps!

 

Try different media.. or see if the there is a flash for the CD-ROM.. but I've seen disks work in some systems that don't work in others is usually just because the drive doesn't like the media. Updating / flashing sometimes adds media to the table so more disks are recognized.