drive wiped now will not boot

[Horsecrazy]

restoring old computer for kids
they got viruses from the net and went down hill from there..i tried to format the hard drive would let me do it ..so i tried to reinstall window wouldnt do that either..uninstalled things wouldnt let me do that either and when we restarted they were all back on it...what the heck..i havent had a challenge like this in awhile..
soooo...i have wiped it clean and now it will NOT boot nothing..arrrrgghh...i made and boot diskette and wouldnt you know that aint working either...so now i have a wiped hard drive and cant get anything on it...can anyone help me...??

[patio]

Not without more info...

[dahlarbear]

1.  Need more information.  From Please read this first:

List as much about your computer as possible. This includes operating system (what version of Windows you are using), service packs, computer make/model, RAM, hard drive, sound and video cards, current adware/spyware/virus programs being used on a regular basis, do you have a "real" Windows CD, etc.

2.  How did you "wipe it clean" or what did you use?

[Horsecrazy]

it is an emachine t1855 series the original was widows me os.. but someone else upgraded it to xp .. i have taken the harddrive and put it in my own computer and it worked fine..but when i put it back in the original tower it will not boot up..it says no os found.. i have tried me disk i have tried xp disk.. it was wiped with wipe drive..that is what i use on other pcs and have never had any problems..until now.. it brings up the bios screen but will not let me boot from cd at all.. i have check all the drives and they are hooked in the correct order. primary is hard drive{master} ....and secondary is cd rw{master} and then dvd drive{slave}?

[dahlarbear]

1.  I'm unclear on the current boot status of the emachine.  Will it successfully boot from any device?
    o  Hard Drive
    o  CD-ROM Drive
    o  Floppy Drive

2.  Do you believe all of the potential boot devices were functioning the last time you successfully used that computer?

3.  Do all of the potential boot devices show up in the BIOS?  The "Master" hard drive is on the primary IDE channel by itself (no slave device on that channel)?  If so, does manufacturer suggest you jumper drive as "Master" or is there also a "Single" jumper setting?

[Horsecrazy]

when i turn on the computer it shows the emachine screen...then goes to the bios screen and at the bottom it says press any key to continue...and then the blank screen with the os not found comes up...
i have the primary set to the hard drive as master it shows on the bios screen and the jumper is set to master
on the secondary it is the cd rw set as master and the jumper is set to master
and the dvd is set to slave and the jumper is set to slave..
i have also change the setings up and tried each individual drive alone
the bios picks them all up in the order i have them hooked up..i have also removed them and then rechekd bios to show them not hooked up and then rehooked them up and they show up in the order i have stated...
at very first before all of this the cd drive wouldnt read anything so i replace it..with one that works...and it still wont boot up nothing...all i get is the press any key to continue and then goes to os not found....i tried a boot up disk on the a drive but is said it couldnt load the dos program and some error ..
i am thinking the board is bad...would that be possible? if it got a bad virus?
i have used the disk in other units and works fine...just this perticular pc..
i cant get into the cmos/bios either...it will only show the screen on boot..so i am just bout ready to walk away..??
 ...i just wanted to pick someones brain and see if anyone had any suggestions...and i thank any and all replys..i will continue answer any questions.. thanks guys

[dahlarbear]

0.  Let's concentrate on simple things:  Getting into System BIOS (CMOS Setup) and trying to boot from floppy.

1.  If the system runs long enough and well enough to say "no os found", you should be able to enter CMOS setup (System BIOS).  Do you know which "function key" it uses to permit access?  Is there a separate function key which permits you to specify boot device to use?

You should be able to specify the "order" of the boot devices or the device you want to use for the current boot.  You should also be able to verify whether or not the floppy drive is "enabled", recognized, and configured properly within the BIOS.

2.  The bootup disk on drive "a:".  What is on this floppy?  Is it a Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), or Windows Millennium Edition (ME) Startup disk?  Is it a Windows XP boot disk?

Can you test the floppy boot disk on another machine to verify it works?