Error reinstalling windows xp

[farmboy]

I have a dell with Windows XP and the system restore cd. I loaded the CD and clicked reinstal Windows it prepared for installation then restarted the computer to start installing but when it reboots i get an error message saying that it can not find the cd rom drive. so then i restart it and go to Windows rather then setup. My drive works fine in windows so I don't understand why it does not work when rebooting.

[soybean]

Exactly what do you mean by "loaded the CD"?  Did you boot from the CD or open it after a normal startup? 

I believe you need to boot from the CD.  To do that, access your BIOS and set CD-ROM as the initial boot device. 

[dirtmaster88]

Is your drive an external USB?

[SHENGTON]

If your CD-ROM is external then boot it to CD-ROM external USB. Check it if your mobo supports booting to USB CD-ROM.

[The Saviour]

It would help us if you could supply the model number of your dell computer or the Service Tag so we can get an idea of what your particular computer has...as far as hardware goes.

Also...you really don't want to blindly insert the recovery CD into your CD drive and click "Reinstall Windows", since this will copy Windows over your current installation...and may leave some damaged files behind...not fixing the problem.

If you're going to reinstall your operating system becuase you want a fresh start...it's best to reformat the hard drive and boot from the recovery CD in order to clean everything up and start anew.

Please note:  Formatting your hard drive will erase everything on that drive...so you may want to backup any important files, programs, documents and folders prior to doing what I jyst recommended.