stuck, computer wont load cd rom

[kl0816]

Okay here is my problem,

I just bought a brand new computer , now i am trying to install the operating system, ive tried to set cd - rom to 1st boot device and my SATA HD as 2nd boot, but it still isnt reading anything.

I can see the harddrive and cd rom is getting detected in my BIOS, but i dont think its reading my CD... i know that the cd is not the problem

any help would be great, thanks all in advance

[Allan]

Did you save the change in bios (confirm that the cd is the first device in the boot order)? If so, is your OS cd an original, retail version? Try a different BOOTABLE cd and see what happens.

[kl0816]

yes, ive tried my original XP cd and my windows 7 cd, both nothing happens

[Allan]

There are only three reasons the system will not boot to a bootable cd or dvd:

1) The optical drive is not the first device in the bios boot order
2) The optical drive is bad (or the cable is bad or not properly connected)
3) The cd or dvd is bad

[kl0816]

i heard from somewhere that its possible my sata hard drive ports are not enabled, so could that be a possibilty as well? when i got my computer it, the power cable was not hooked into the cd-rom drive, so i plugged it in and it was detected from there. but not booting my cds

[Allan]

The hard drive has nothing to do with the cd drive.  Check the cd drive connections again.

[kl0816]

well i am no expert when it comes to this, but i opened the case and ill tellyou what i see, i see the datacable running on a ribbon to the PSU , and the power cable( the bigger one) is plugged in as well , but on the other end the plug is another one thats just loose, should this be plugged in somewhere?

[Allan]

The power cable can (and usaually does) have multiple plugs. The cd drive needs to be connected to both the power cable and the mobo. If it is, and if the system sees it at boot, it's properly connected.

[kl0816]

yes in bios settings hd and cd drives are being detected

[JJ 3000]

Are you sure that you're saving changes when you exit BIOS?

When you power down and reboot, is the CD drive still at the top of the boot order?

Does the computer have two CD drives?

[joe3fl]

If both are detected and it still won't boot from the drive i would lean towards the drive being bad. Having tried 2 different boots disks(XP/7) i would check connections at both ends of each cable and make sure they aren't loose. If that doesn't work try to get another drive to test with.

[kl0816]

yes i am sure i am saving, when i restart cd rom is at thet op of the list, and no i only have one cd drive and one hard drive

[JJ 3000]

You say that this is a brand new computer. Did you build it yourself?

Is the CD drive SATA or PATA?