From: MZB on
OK, I removed the CD Drive from my Inspiron 2200.

Now, when I power up, I get an immediate error message basically correctly
saying that it does not recognize what's in the CD drive bay.
I can press the ESC button and we proceed to boot normally.

Is there a way to eliminate this error? Is it due to my boot order, which
probably starts by looking in the CD drive? If so, how do I change the boot
order?

If that isn't causing the message, what do I do. (Do I remove the CD drive
via the device manager? If I do that, would it still recognize the CD drive
say as new hardware found when I put it back in the drive)?

Mel


From: Ben Myers on
On 6/20/2010 10:56 PM, MZB wrote:
> OK, I removed the CD Drive from my Inspiron 2200.
>
> Now, when I power up, I get an immediate error message basically correctly
> saying that it does not recognize what's in the CD drive bay.
> I can press the ESC button and we proceed to boot normally.
>
> Is there a way to eliminate this error? Is it due to my boot order, which
> probably starts by looking in the CD drive? If so, how do I change the boot
> order?
>
> If that isn't causing the message, what do I do. (Do I remove the CD drive
> via the device manager? If I do that, would it still recognize the CD drive
> say as new hardware found when I put it back in the drive)?
>
> Mel
>
>

Mel,

My recollection of the 2200 is that the BIOS will always check for the
presence of an optical drive. This is a little different than some
other Dell models, which will boot and not complain about the lack of an
optical drive. In other words, you can't make the message go away.

Is the drive not working? Is that why you wanted to remove it in the
first place? ... Ben Myers
From: MZB on
Ben:

It's a very strange situation. You might recall I was having major problems
with my Inspiron 2200.
It would freeze (where I had to do a cold reboot), or slow down. I would
also get blue-screened. Basically, it got unusable.

A friend and I took the computer apart, reseated everything we could, etc.
We did notice the CD drive screw was loose and the CD was not seated
perfectly. Anyway, when we put everything back, the computer was working
perfectly.

A few days ago, the problem returned. The screw was not loose. But, given
that we had a suspicion about the CD drive, I just removed it. Immediately,
all things are back to normal. I know these are very odd symptoms, but I
have to conclude that the drive was causing it (I'm not totally sure as I
have only been running this sans CD drive for a few hours).

I do think I can change the boot order. I seem to recall a few years ago
setting it to look for the CD first. I can't quite remember how I did this,
but I suspect I have to hit the F12 or F8 or some other key on bootup. This
error is not a big deal either!

Mel



"Ben Myers" <ben_myers(a)charter.net> wrote in message
news:hvmli5$9sh$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
> On 6/20/2010 10:56 PM, MZB wrote:
>> OK, I removed the CD Drive from my Inspiron 2200.
>>
>> Now, when I power up, I get an immediate error message basically
>> correctly
>> saying that it does not recognize what's in the CD drive bay.
>> I can press the ESC button and we proceed to boot normally.
>>
>> Is there a way to eliminate this error? Is it due to my boot order, which
>> probably starts by looking in the CD drive? If so, how do I change the
>> boot
>> order?
>>
>> If that isn't causing the message, what do I do. (Do I remove the CD
>> drive
>> via the device manager? If I do that, would it still recognize the CD
>> drive
>> say as new hardware found when I put it back in the drive)?
>>
>> Mel
>>
>>
>
> Mel,
>
> My recollection of the 2200 is that the BIOS will always check for the
> presence of an optical drive. This is a little different than some other
> Dell models, which will boot and not complain about the lack of an optical
> drive. In other words, you can't make the message go away.
>
> Is the drive not working? Is that why you wanted to remove it in the
> first place? ... Ben Myers


From: Hank Arnold on
With Dells, it's usually F2 to get to the BIOS and F12 to choose the
boot source. Go wit F2 and the BIOS should let you change the boot sequence.


Regards,
Hank Arnold
Microsoft MVP
Windows Server - Directory Services
http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/personal-pc-assistant/

On 6/21/2010 12:05 AM, MZB wrote:
> Ben:
>
> It's a very strange situation. You might recall I was having major problems
> with my Inspiron 2200.
> It would freeze (where I had to do a cold reboot), or slow down. I would
> also get blue-screened. Basically, it got unusable.
>
> A friend and I took the computer apart, reseated everything we could, etc.
> We did notice the CD drive screw was loose and the CD was not seated
> perfectly. Anyway, when we put everything back, the computer was working
> perfectly.
>
> A few days ago, the problem returned. The screw was not loose. But, given
> that we had a suspicion about the CD drive, I just removed it. Immediately,
> all things are back to normal. I know these are very odd symptoms, but I
> have to conclude that the drive was causing it (I'm not totally sure as I
> have only been running this sans CD drive for a few hours).
>
> I do think I can change the boot order. I seem to recall a few years ago
> setting it to look for the CD first. I can't quite remember how I did this,
> but I suspect I have to hit the F12 or F8 or some other key on bootup. This
> error is not a big deal either!
>
> Mel
>
>
>
> "Ben Myers"<ben_myers(a)charter.net> wrote in message
> news:hvmli5$9sh$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>> On 6/20/2010 10:56 PM, MZB wrote:
>>> OK, I removed the CD Drive from my Inspiron 2200.
>>>
>>> Now, when I power up, I get an immediate error message basically
>>> correctly
>>> saying that it does not recognize what's in the CD drive bay.
>>> I can press the ESC button and we proceed to boot normally.
>>>
>>> Is there a way to eliminate this error? Is it due to my boot order, which
>>> probably starts by looking in the CD drive? If so, how do I change the
>>> boot
>>> order?
>>>
>>> If that isn't causing the message, what do I do. (Do I remove the CD
>>> drive
>>> via the device manager? If I do that, would it still recognize the CD
>>> drive
>>> say as new hardware found when I put it back in the drive)?
>>>
>>> Mel
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Mel,
>>
>> My recollection of the 2200 is that the BIOS will always check for the
>> presence of an optical drive. This is a little different than some other
>> Dell models, which will boot and not complain about the lack of an optical
>> drive. In other words, you can't make the message go away.
>>
>> Is the drive not working? Is that why you wanted to remove it in the
>> first place? ... Ben Myers
>
>