Member Avatar for prakharprakash

Hi !

I have DELL Latitude Csx , which ( unfortunately) has its cd rom and floppy drive external (detachable), thus not allowing me to boot from devices other than hard disk. This is because , it does not recognize any device until it starts loading windows ( win 2000 pro) . Is there a way I can use my cdrom or anything else to boot up :sad:?

Prakhar

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Short summary and what actually stops the laptop from seeing an external drive: older Latitude CS/CSx machines used a Dell “external media bay” interface and sometimes a special cable/sleeve for optical or floppy modules; if the wrong cable or a non‑class‑compliant adapter is used the BIOS will not enumerate the device until Windows loads. Another common root cause is simply that the laptop BIOS does not include native USB‑CD/USB‑HDD boot support. (manualslib.com)

Practical, reliable options (ordered by how little hardware work is needed):

  • Confirm whether the external unit is the Dell media‑bay style (sleeve + special connector) or a standard USB optical drive. If it is the media‑bay type, the correct Dell media‑bay cable/sleeve is required for BIOS bootability; otherwise use a standard USB external CD that enumerates as a USB Mass Storage device. (dell.com)

  • Use Plop Boot Manager to add USB boot even when the BIOS lacks it. Create a small Plop floppy or burn its ISO to a CD, boot Plop, then select USB to chain‑load the external USB CD/USB stick. Note Plop expects direct USB mass‑storage devices (no hubs) and lists exact limitations on its site. (plop.at)

  • For partitioning/deleting partitions, the quickest path is a small bootable USB utility (for example, GParted Live). Writing the GParted ISO to a USB stick and booting lets partitions be removed without needing the external CD at all. (gparted.org)

  • Hardware fallback: remove the drive and attach it to another PC (SATA/IDE→USB adapter or enclosure) to delete partitions or restore images.

Troubleshooting notes and cautions: prefer direct USB ports (avoid hubs), try another USB optical drive if available, and check Dell support for the exact CSx service tag to confirm the correct media‑bay cable and any BIOS updates that add boot options. This expands on the BIOS/boot‑order hints from , and by giving concrete alternatives when the BIOS cannot see external media. (dell.com)

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Member Avatar for kccomputerdr

Hi !

I have DELL Latitude Csx , which ( unfortunately) has its cd rom and floppy drive external (detachable), thus not allowing me to boot from devices other than hard disk. This is because , it does not recognize any device until it starts loading windows ( win 2000 pro) . Is there a way I can use my cdrom or anything else to boot up :sad:?

Prakhar

just for giggles try holding down the c button while booting up, with a bootable disk in it

Member Avatar for prakharprakash

Hey guys, i need some help .

Member Avatar for kccomputerdr

Hey guys, i need some help .

Try booting into the bios settings. hit del, or f1 or f2 as computer restarts (try all) look for boot sequence & see if it can be changed to external drives

Member Avatar for tayspen

Try booting into the bios settings. hit del, or f1 or f2 as computer restarts (try all) look for boot sequence & see if it can be changed to external drives

also try Esc. Backspace, tab. If non of those above dont work. If you need help let us know! :D

-T

Member Avatar for joking7

I am trying to delete the partitions on my computer and I also need to use an external usb cd drive. If anyone knows a way to make an external drive work as a boot drive please let me know!

Member Avatar for caperjack

I am trying to delete the partitions on my computer and I also need to use an external usb cd drive. If anyone knows a way to make an external drive work as a boot drive please let me know!

way back in 05 it was harder than it is now ,you BIOS has options to change bood device,
if you computer is newer it may have a setting in the BIOS to pick usb boot device ,if so you need to pick usb cdrom

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