Replacing a hard drive on a Gateway DX4300 PC

[Ryan]

I got a Gateway DX4300 PC from work that was being gotten rid of, and the hard drive is dying.  I just went on eBay and bought a replacement, which is a Seagate.  Anyways, I can open the CD drive via the buttons on the top, but only if certain Gateway software is on the computer.  When I get the replacement hard drive, I need to be able to install the OS from the DVD-ROM.  How can I open the DVD drive from the command line, since Windows will be unavailable?

[patio]

Use a paper clip in the front pinhole button...

[Ryan]

Thanks.  I will have a look at the computer.

[Ryan]

No pin hole.  However, when I shined a flashlight on the right side as seen from the back, I saw an eject button I had not seen before.  Pressing it ejected the DVD drive even on the BIOS screen.  I think that is what I need.  I never noticed it before.  There is another below it, but there is no second CD drive.

[Rustys]

You may have to remove the front cover to gain access to the drive.

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[Salmon Trout]

It seems there are "soft" eject buttons on top of the case, which only work if the system has (1) Windows (2) the Gateway Photo Frame application installed and running. Thus after a clean Windows install, you have to install Photo Frame. Of course the drive itself will have the standard eject/close button on the right of the tray, so at times when Windows and/or Photo Frame aren't running, you have to use this somehow. AS it is hidden by the case front design, this could be tricky. In windows you can use any one of many tray-eject utilities.

"Why did the eject buttons on the top of my Gateway DX4300 Series desktop stop working?" http://acer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1690