Boot Sequence; Diskette First; Hard Disk Only; Cd-Rom First - Dell Precision 410 User Manual

Dell Precision 410 Mini Tower Systems User's Guide
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know the setup password cannot enter the System Setup program to unlock the sys-
tem password and assign one.
Boot Sequence can be set to Diskette First (the default), Hard Disk Only, CD-ROM
First, or Device List.
The term boot refers to the system's start-up procedure. When turned on, the
system "bootstraps" itself into an operational state by loading into memory a
small program, which in turn loads the necessary operating system. Boot
Sequence tells the system where to look for the files that it needs to load.
Selecting Diskette First causes the system to try booting from drive A first. If the
system finds a diskette that is not bootable in the drive or finds a problem with
the drive itself, it displays an error message. If it does not find a diskette in the
drive, the system tries to boot from the hard-disk drive (drive 0), then from the
CD-ROM, and finally from the Plug and Play network adapters in the order found.
Selecting Hard Disk Only causes the system to attempt to boot first from the hard-
disk drive and then from the Plug and Play network adapters in the order found.
The system will not attempt to boot from drive A or the CD-ROM drive.
Selecting CD-ROM First causes the system to try booting from the CD-ROM drive
first. If the system finds a CD that is not bootable in the drive or finds a problem
with the drive itself, it displays an error message. If it does not find a CD in the
drive, the system tries to boot from drive A, then from drive C, and finally from
the Plug and Play network adapters in the order found.
Device List provides access to the Device List screen (see Figure 3-2), where you can
choose from a list of available boot devices and specify the order in which your com-
puter attempts to boot from these devices. To view the Device List screen, press
<Ctrl> and the right-arrow key.
The Device List screen provides three options for listing and prioritizing the available
boot devices on your system:
Boot Device Priority
Exclude From Boot Device Priority
Device Controller Priority