Member Avatar for Rhloxly11

Hey there,

I don't know if I have what you would consider a problem, but I am having some dificulty trying to reinstall XP on my computer! I recently ordered the recovery CDs for the computer which I am told have the OS and drivers on them. All I want is a clean install of the operating system. My only problem is that I can't get my computer to boot from the CD drive. I thought that all I would need to do in order to reinstall would be to restart with the recovery CD in the drive. So far I've had no luck. Though I'm sure it's only something simple, I don't know exactly what I could be doing wrong. :o Any help would be much appreciated!
-Rob

  • 3 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
  • 78 Views
  • 1 Day Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by DMR
Member Avatar for Laser

The problem is most likely in the bios setup. As the system is booting up you should see a message telling you to Press Esc (or Del or F1)to enter Setup. Do so and once you're in setup look for something like 'Startup Sequence' or 'Boot Order' and make the CD the first device. There will be instructions at the bottom of the screen on how to select, change and save settings.

This link should make that a bit more clear.

Good luck :)

Hey there,

I don't know if I have what you would consider a problem, but I am having some dificulty trying to reinstall XP on my computer! I recently ordered the recovery CDs for the computer which I am told have the OS and drivers on them. All I want is a clean install of the operating system. My only problem is that I can't get my computer to boot from the CD drive. I thought that all I would need to do in order to reinstall would be to restart with the recovery CD in the drive. So far I've had no luck. Though I'm sure it's only something simple, I don't know exactly what I could be doing wrong. :o Any help would be much appreciated!
-Rob

Member Avatar for Rhloxly11

Hey, thank you for the link it was very helpful. I think I've discovered the problem. After resetting the bios, I checked the boot sequence again and while the CD drive was first, it was not enabled. Instead, it is follwed by [NONE]. What does this suggest? My CD drive doesn't seem to be reading anything I put in it even when the computer is started up. Should I open it up and jiggle a few wires back there? I can't think of any reason for the drive to suddenly stop working... Any help you guys can give would be much appreciated, thanks again.

Member Avatar for DMR

1. See if you can change the BIOS' CD drive entry from [None] to [Auto]. You probably can't to do that in the Boot Order section of the BIOS setup, so check other likely areas such the IDE or Advanced configuration sections.

2. If the above doesn't work, open the case and reseat the data cable.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.