Boot menu for HP Laptop with Windows 8

Check that the CD is good on another PC first, then try:

Hold down the "SHIFT" (or "FN")  and repeatedly tap the "C" keys.

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PC's that you buy with windows 8 installed, need to have a "lock" active so nothing else can be booted. This is meant to protect you from aa certain form of malware. You should be able turn this "lock" off, but I don't know how. Probably it is a BIOS setting you need to change. Once off, you should be able to boot.

You should still be able to use your built in disk manager of Windows (which is the same as that of Windows 7) to decrease the size of your current partition, then create a new one for your data.

This video will show you how to do it...
I think you have to have the boot disk in the machine.
Check out the video at bottom of page.
http://ca.gizmodo.com/5912663/windows-8-boots-so-fast-you-cant-access-the-bios-menu

Brave new world... heh

Hi Tony,

The issue almost certainly has nothing to do with Windows 8 booting too fast;  a Windows 8 "lock";  or the CD being bad.

It's almost certainly due to the system being set to boot via UEFI rather than the legacy BIOS.    This requires some UEFI table entries to boot to a CD.     You can change the BIOS to boot via legacy devices;  and it will then boot just fine to the Boot-It CD.

CAVEAT:   I've helped one person with this, and it worked fine.    But we were reloading with Windows 7 (he didn't like '8) ... so I'm not sure if this will impact the Windows 8 setup.    I don't think it should have any impact -- or if it does, you could certainly just switch the BIOS back to UEFI mode after you had finished restructuring the partitions.    But I have NOT spent much time with this new structure, so pay close attention to what you change so you can restore it if need be :-)

The BIOS boot process is independent of the OS installed.
If you cannot boot the CD then the BIOS boot order / CD drive / or CD can be the only issues.

What I meant in my previous comment with the "lock" is actually called "Secure Boot" and is a feature of UEFI BIOS's and if the PC is Windows 8 Certified would have to be set to on by default. From how I understand it with that on, you can't boot anything other than what is installed and certified. You would have to turn that feature off first. Probably the legacy boot option which gary pointed out is a way to turn it off. But I'm not sure as I haven't had the chance to use or test such hardware yet. Below in the wikipedia link under the Windows 8 section it gets explained:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_restrictions#Windows_8

Enter your BIOS and turn "Secure Boot" off.
Then you can boot from a CD / DVD

Your similar question appears again here:

https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/27963094/Windows-8-HP-Laptop.html?anchorAnswerId=38677170#a38677170

All this guessing....  the video I posted shows how to boot from CD's or USBs using the Windows 8 settings...

Watch the video.

http://ca.gizmodo.com/5912663/windows-8-boots-so-fast-you-cant-access-the-bios-menu

Two things....I did watch the video, twice.  I am still not able to boot from the CD.  I've created a new ISO Cd and will try again.  2nd...when initiating the BIOS, I do not see anything that allows me to turn off "Secure Boot".  I'll look again though.

I had a laptop that refused to boot from a CD but would boot from a DVD ???
(burn the ISO image to a DVD)
Worth a try, also hold down the "C" key on startup is worth a try too.

Another explainer for Win 8 Boot
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-access-the-bios-on-a-windows-8-computer/

I have not had a chance to create an ISO on DVD.  Will give that a try.  All other attempts/ideas have failed.