Panasonic F8 – How to Boot from CD\DVD
This morning I had my first issue with the Panasonic F8 Toughbook.
Problem: The Toughbook came with Windows XP installed and as I prefer Windows XP I thought I would run the Windows Vista recovery disk.
I changed the boot order to boot from DVD first but the F8 still booted from the hard drive, even with the restore disk in the drive.
This is because as default the DVD is set to be manually turned on when required to save battery life.
The solution isn’t obvious although to be fair it is stated very clearly in the manual – it’s just that most of us don’t read manuals 
.
Solution: As well as changing the boot order you need to make sure that the DVD drive is set to power up on switch on.
To check this:
Press F2 on power on to enter the BIOS settings.
In the Main Tab make sure that Optical Drive Power option is set to on.
This will activate the DVD drive as soon as the Toughbook is turned on, and the DVD will now be allowed to boot ahead of the Hard Disk Drive.
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Posted in: Technology
