pc boot up

[stevec000]

hi guys
i have not long bought an external harddrive for more storage but my problem is this when i switch my pc on it trys to boot up from this instead of my c;drive
its is connected with usb and is a saegate320
can any one tell me how to change the settings so my pc boots up from my c drive

many thanks

[Buenchico]

You need to enter the BIOS. When you start your PC, you'll probably see a screen which says something like 'To enter Setup, press Delete'. Follow this instruction. (Different computers allocate different keys to this function but Delete, Esc, F1 and F2 are the most common ones).

When you get to the BIOS screen, remember that your mouse driver won't have loaded, so all navigation is achieved by using the arrow keys and 'Enter'.

The BIOS screen on your computer won't look the same as on mine, so it's impossible to give you precise instructions. However, you should find on-screen instructions available. (e.g. F1=Save and exit, F2=Exit without saving, etc). To go back to a previous screen, you usually use the 'Esc' key.

I'm sorry that what I've written is a bit vague but, if you play about a bit, you should soon locate the screen which determines the order that your PC examines drives for boot instructions. It's usually best to put your CD drive (or your floppy drive) first. That means that, if things go wrong, you can boot your PC from a Windows disk (or from a boot floppy). Then set your internal hard drive to be the second boot device.

As I've stated, you might need to 'play around' to locate the correct screen but, as long as you don't hit the 'Save' key, you can't do any damage to your BIOS. Once you've changed the boot order, hit the 'Save and exit' key and restart your PC.

Chris

[stevec000]

thanks but dont want to keep doing this as the external is under my desk and the old back cant take the strain

[vehelpfulguy]

You can change the boot order in the BIOS.

When your PC first starts up (before windows kicks in) you will get a screen which says something like "press DEL to go into BIOS" (it may not be the DEL key)

Do what it says (you have to do this before Windows boots up) and you should go into the BIOS.

Here you can set all sorts of things, including Boot order.

It may be you have an option which says "allow to boot from a USB device" or soemthing like that. If so turn it off.

Set the boot order to be hard disk, then CD/DVD, then anything else you want after that.

Make sure you SAVE your changes, then start the PC again and it should boot from C drive.

[Disco Fever]

Get a USB 1 Metre extension lead so you can plug it in at the front of your PC

[stevec000]

thanks guys the bios worked took a while to find but got there in the end , also so did plugging it into the front of the pc thanks disco but i have 2 kids and it wouldnt last two mins
thank again all