CPU not showing cd rom or hard drive

[Comech]

Kinda new at this, but here goes. I have a Dell Dimension 4300 that's about 4 yrs old, running XP. Well, it was. Want to reload XP with total reformat, however when I turn on CPU I get message that reads "strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility. When I enter setup, no hard drive or cd rom shows as being installed. Where do I go from here?

[Frankie]

What do you mean by turning on your cpu?, dont you mean turning on your computer. In the bios you need your first boot device set as cdrom then save changes. Put your xp disk in the cd drive and reboot, the xp disk will boot allowing you to patition and format the hard drive.

[Comech]

Ok, when I turn on my computer, I get the Dell screen with 2 options. F2 for setup and F12 for boot menu. Pressing F12 does nothing but get me a beep. Pressing F2 gets me into the setup utility. There is no listing for a cd-rom drive. My primary drive 0 is shown as unknown device and my secondary drive 0 is shown as unknown device. The only drive listed is the diskette drive A - 3.5 inch, 1.44 mb. When I enter the boot sequence, it shows 1. diskette drive / 2. Hard disk drive(not installed) / 3. CD-Rom device(not installed) all 3 are checked. For the 2 devices listed as not installed, I did not uninstall them. This is just what there is when I turn it on.

[Frankie]

Did you add any new hardware, were you doing anything just before this happened on the computer.

Can you just check out this link to make sure you are doing everything right.

http://ice.he.net/~hedden/bootcd.html

[GX1_Man]

Have you added any drives or changed the configuration lately? Why are you reinstalling?

[Comech]

Purchased the computer I am using now last winter. The old Dell 4300, which is the one I am having probs with,  was just being used as a glorified word processor and game machine. It was not being used as for internet, since the purchase of the new one, as I hadn't yet set up a network. There were no modifications to the computer at all. It just sat there on the desk and was being used very infrequently. I turned it on Sunday and when it started to boot up, I got the message I described in my first post. When I entered the setup screen to see what was going on, there was no recognition of a hard disk or a cd-rom.

[Comech]

I had removed everything (files) that I needed from the old Dell and was planning on giving it to my son for his room. There was a lot of stuff on it, including some of the spyware crap that got into the registry. I was going to do a clean install to minimize any problems for him.

[Crafty]

On moving it about, have you maybe disconnected somthing. can you look inside to make sure all connections are secure.

Try removing the CMOS battery from your motherboard to reset the defaults

[Comech]

OK, Opened it up. Everything appears to be connected inside. Removed cmos battery, waited about 1 minute and re-installed battery. Screen said to enter setup and set time and date. Went into setup and updated clock and date. Saved and exited. Machine rebooted itself and now I'm back to where I started. Possibly battery no-good???

[Frankie]

Yes battery maybe dead. Life span usually 3 to 5 years.

[Comech]

Took out the battery and booted it up. ALL IS WELL. Thank you all for your help.

Mike

[Frankie]

Thanks for the reply good to know the outcome, wish more people would respond like this. Then we all learn somthing.