computer won't start-disk drive light on

[hvzgg]

i come home from a camping trip today only to find my computer completely turned off. i left it on over night but today it was all off including the power strip. this leads me to believe someone in my family was on it.

no big deal. i start to boot it up again but i can't get anything to work. the monitor doesn't get a signal from the computer (light on moni = amber) and it doesnt sound like my system is posting at all. upon further investigation i see that my cd-rw light is always on green.

there weren't any lightning strikes last night in my area and my computer has been fine being kept on over night before.  mobo light stays on and all power is fed properly.  what i think is causing the hanging is related to the CDRW light staying on constantly.

it is my understanding that this could be the tell-tale sign of my problem but what do you think? what does a constant light on teh disk drive mean? any fixes?

thank you.

[MalikTous]

Either your PC took a power hit and the power strip tripped off to protect it, or the kids were playing Donkey kong on CD and got the disk stuck in the drive (or put 2 in), or you have a saboteur...

Try using the manual eject on your CDROM drive (with the PC off, put an unbent paper clip in the small hole on the front of your CDROM drive to release the tray). If it comes out with a disk in it, remove the disk(s) and push it shut. Then try a restart.

Try tapping the delete key as you restart, if the previous idea didn't work. If your BIOS setup comes up normally, set the machine so your hard drive or floppy boots first, not your CDROM.

Worst case, unplug the CDROM power and signal (flat) cable and try. They could have fried the CDROM and it's hanging the boot.