Motherboard won't let me load from cd PLEASE HELP!

[FJM005]

hey guys, here's the deal......My computer has been acting really weird, and I want to reinstall windows xp. I set my motherboard to read the cd first, but for some reason, it won't. It goes straight to windows, without the setup cd ever loading. I tried fiddling with the boot options in the bios.....no dice. I figured that you guys have helped me out so much already, you would know this one too. ;) thanks again.

[ski]

Make sure the CD is clean, has no scratches, and is not a copy.
If ok, then see if it works on another system.

If it works ok there, then make sure your CD-ROM drive is recognized in BIOS.
If it's not, then check that all of its cables are securely connected.
If ok, then connect a different power lead to it.
If no good, then try a different known working IDE cable.

If still no luck, then see if the drive works in another system.
If not, then replace the drive.

[FJM005]

The cd drive is good, but the cd is a copy. Is there any way I can force the computer to boot from the cd drive. It just skips the cd drive boot and goes straight to floppy, then hd? Is there a floppy disk I can make to force a cd boot?

[ski]

It's possible that the system will not boot from the CD-ROM drive because the CD is either defective, dirty and/or scratched, or it's a bad copy.

[pangea33]

Since this cd is a backup made from a direct copy, it may have all the necessary data but simply isn't bootable. You can easily make a bootable cd by extracting the boot image from a functional, bootable, XP disk. It sounds like you may not have access to one, which could be a problem. Maybe you can temporarily locate an original from someone you know.

This link (http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp2_cd.htm) shows how to create a bootable, slipstreamed, XP sp2 disk, but the fundamentals don't change any. You need to associate the boot image with the disk you're burning all your files to.

[Sylvander]

1. How to make a free “Smart Boot Manager” floppy
http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=41498
This makes it easier to boot a chosen drive [particularly the one holding the EBCD], or in your case the Windows CD.

2. How to make a free EBCD bootable CD
http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=41485
This has a number of useful utilities included including "Image" [for DOS, by Terabyte] & "File Manager".
In post #4 I show how I used the EBCD to copy the Windows installation files to a partition on the HDD and run the Windows installation from there. It's a VERY good idea to do this, then leave the files there permanently. When Windows needs a file in future it will fetch it from there in an instant without asking for the CD.

[ErnieK]

Boot with your floppy and then switch to your CD drive and type SETUP. This should start the installation if the CD is in good order but un-bootable.