strange problem booting backtrack from USB pen
Hi all. I'm having some problems with booting backtrack 3 from a USB pen.
I extracted the contents of the USB iso on to my USB pen. I have run the included bat file to make the pen USB bootable.
The weird thing is, A friend of mine was able to boot the pen successfully from his vista laptop. On my laptop, we went into the bios, and had a look at the boot order. We changed it so that it would try to boot from a removable device, saved and exited the bios. However, despite doing this, the boot order seems to be being ignored, and my laptop is just booting xp as though nothing was changed.
In the bios, there doesn't seem to be a specific option for booting from a USB device, the closest option was to boot from a removable device. So could someone please help? Thanks.
Update
Did you try and update your BIOS? A newer version might include USB support or better USB support. Also, try looking for the hot key that lets you select the device you want to boot from. This is different than the boot order. Usually a menu pops up and asks you what device you want to boot from.
we are going to need more info if you want help. What kind of laptop are you running what are you hardware specs? What is your bios and version is it fully updated? Have you tried googling "mypcmodel USB boot capability" or something like that? If you are using windows go get a little freeware program called System Information Wizard (SIW) it will tell you just about everything about your system.
Morpheus: "You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes."
Neo: "What if I take both?"
Morpheus: "Don't do that! You end up like Nick Nolte!"
How would i find this hot key? as my machine is around 3 years old, and i don't think i have its documentation. Also, how would I go about updating the bios? I believe the laptop was custom built.
Hi revelati, sorry I didn't see your post.
I will download that tool you mention, and report back.
for now though, I can tell you that I am running xp pro, with 512 mb of ram and a pentium 1.80 ghz processor. I will get the system information wizard though and see what that has to say.
It does not matter if your system was custom built or not, it still has a BIOS. I think you have a good solution for that problem though. I don't know what the hot key would be. Did you try all the ones it mentions on the BIOS splash screen? I have never seen it be anything besides the ESC key or one of the F(insert number) keys.
Here is an issue I have run into:
I have a 2GB Kingston Flash Drive (DT100/2GB) and a 4GB Kingston Flash Drive (DTI/4GB). I installed BT3 beta on the 2GB a couple of months ago and it boots up and is recognized by the bios on both my Dell and HP laptops.
A few weeks ago, I installed BT3 final on the 4GB drive and it works fine on the Dell, but will not bootup on the HP. It doesn't even show up on the bios.
I can't figure that out.
Is the 4GB a U3 device?Originally Posted by Luciano
I'm a compulsive post editor, you might wanna wait until my post has been online for 5-10 mins before quoting it as it will likely change.
I know I seem harsh in some of my replies. SORRY! But if you're doing something illegal or posting something that seems to be obvious BS I'm going to call you on it.
I've worked on several Hp machines that refused to boot a usb drive.
Of course, if you really wanted to have some fun, go to Wal-Mart late at night and ask the greeter if they could help you find trashbags, roll of carpet, rope, quicklime, clorox and a shovel. See if they give you any strange looks. --Streaker69
Some BIOS treat a USB flashdrive like a regular hard-disk, so check the BIOS for a section which lets you specify the hard disk boot order. For example, my BIOS has one screen to let me specify the boot device order: CD-ROM, Hard-disk, Zip drive, etc.. and another screen that is specific to the hard disk boot order, and my Kingston shows up in there.
-- Tom
That's a good suggestion too.
Of course, if you really wanted to have some fun, go to Wal-Mart late at night and ask the greeter if they could help you find trashbags, roll of carpet, rope, quicklime, clorox and a shovel. See if they give you any strange looks. --Streaker69
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