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June 8th, 2011 01:00
Alienware Aurora- Boot Failure On start-up
I have a new Dell AlienWare Aurora machine, custom-built from Dell.
It has: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit; Intel Core i7 920 (2.66GHz, 8MB Cache); 9GB Triple Channel 1333Mhz DDR3; Single 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240; Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium; 750GB- SATA-II 3GB/s 7200RPM, 16MB Cache HDD;
Seems I'm experiencing weird random boot failures during start-up:
When I boot-up Windows is deffered to black screen, I get message:
"CD ROM Boot Priority......No Medium"
"Reboot and select proper boot device"
"Or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key"
So I power-OFF (manually), then power-ON. I enable F12, get into set-up. Go into boot selection. I select "HDD: PO-ST3575........". Save. Windows then starts-up normal.
Maybe a few weeks later this scenario repeats itself. This behavior surfaces randomnly.
Don't know what to think or do at this point? Is this a common symptom of a virus?
Appreciate your help!
morblore
2 Intern
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2.4K Posts
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June 8th, 2011 12:00
Go into your BIOS ( F2 ). Select the Boot Configuration tab. Set the 1st Boot Device to your HDD that has the OS on it. Then go and disable the 2nd,3rd,etc.. Boot Devices. The ONLY boot device listed should be your 750GB drive.
Then select the Hard Disk tab on the same page and only select your HDD with the OS on it. Next go to the CD/DVD Drives and Removable Drives tabs and make sure they are blank.
When done the Boot Config should have only your OS disk listed. When you boot the system it will only look for and boot the OS drive. If you want to boot from a thumb drive, SD card, DVD or a backup HDD then you will insert it and hit F12 to pick that device. For example if you want to boot your Windows CD. You would insert the CD. Reboot the system and hit F12. Then scroll down to your CD/DVD drive and hit enter. You would do the same with any bootable media.
To make it boot your media all the time you would add it to the 2nd boot device. Then when inserted and the system powers on it will boot that device when detected instead of your OS HDD. My guess is this is what is going on with you. You have something connected and it is trying to boot it. Set it up like I said and it wont do it anymore.
Now after you do all this and your are 100% sure you dont have any bootable media in the system and it still wants to boot something other then your HDD send me a private message and I will give you something else to try.
WestCoastD
42 Posts
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June 9th, 2011 00:00
Hi:
I really appreciate your response. I will implement these instructions and get back to you.
morblore
2 Intern
2 Intern
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2.4K Posts
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June 9th, 2011 00:00
It looks like it was switched from booting the C drive to booting the CD drive in the BIOS.
Did you play with the settings or update the bios? It shouldn't change on it's own like that. It won't stabilize things but it will make the C drive the only thing that boots. It should stay that way unless you change it.
WestCoastD
42 Posts
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June 9th, 2011 00:00
Also, is what I described a very common behavior among the Dell AlienWare Aurora? If so does this remedy stabilize things?
WestCoastD
42 Posts
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June 9th, 2011 07:00
exactly what I thought- that the (BIOS) settings should never just change on their own. I've never gone into BIOS settings. Can't understand how this configuration would change? Unless it is a possible virus?
Thanks for you input.