BIOS will not boot from CD

[goatdude72]

I am having a bit of a problem. I am trying to install a new copy of windows on an HP pavilion xt963. I have reconfigured the BIOS to boot from CD. However, it will not boot from CD and it boots to the old operating system already installed on the hard drive. Usually it will say “press any key to boot from CD.” However it does not say that. The BIOS says that the CD drive is there and windows can see the CD drive but when I try to use the drive to play a CD it I get an error saying the disk structure is corrupted and unreadable. I have tried the cdrw in my computer and it works. Also, I have put the drive from my computer into the one I am working on and I get the same thing. I have tried many CD drives that I know work and many CD’s. I have checked the jumpers, replaced cables, changed hard drives, and changed all kinds of settings in the BIOS. EVERYTHING. Please Help!!!!!!


Also, I am getting error 0251 bad cmos

[quaxo]

Try a lens cleaner. If that doesn't work, the CD drive might be dying.

You said you put a CD-RW in and it worked, do you mean writing to it or just reading it?

[goatdude72]

The thing is even a brand new dvd cd-rw will not boot from BIOS usually you are supposed to get press any key to boot from CD I am not getting this message at all

[quaxo]

Try a lens cleaner. If that doesn't work, the CD drive might be dying.

You said you put a CD-RW in and it worked, do you mean writing to it or just reading it?

[goatdude72]

The CD-RW works just fine in the computer i am using now but not in the computer I am working on. Also, the DVD-rw does the same thing in this computer and it is brand new.

[quaxo]

Sorry, I misread your first post.

Check the jumper setting on the drive in relation to its position as a drive in that computer as well as the pins on both the drive and the motherboard.

Is the drive sharing an IDE cable with the hard drive in the HP? Make sure it's set as a slave.

When you go into the BIOS, it should detect that the CD drive is there as an IDE device, does it?

[patio]

Is this a shiny XP CD with holograms all over it ? ?

[goatdude72]

I replaced the IDE cable. The BIOS sees the CD-RW as a primary master and the old windows can see the drive as well but i cannot use any CD-RW or DVD CD- RW on this computer and yes it is a shiney cd with holograms on it.

[quaxo]

Your hard drive should be primary master, the CD drive should be primary slave if it's sharing a cable with the hard drive, or secondary master/slave if on the secondary IDE.

[goatdude72]

The primary master is the hard drive the secondary master is the CD-RW drive on a seperate IDE cable. Also, I tried putting a formatted hard drive on it hoping it would see the CD-RW but i get an operating system not found and still won't boot from CD.

[patio]

When you change the boot order in the BIOS are you pressing F10 to"save changes and exit" ? ? ?
Sounds like the drive is going South if this doesn't work properly...

[BC_Programmer]

that "Bad CMOS" error might mean you need a new battery. That would explain the problem, since when you reboot it might simply forget the setting and revert to defaults, which just happen to include the Boot from setting being set to defaults as well.

However, the "Bad CMOS" has been known to be caused by a deficient power supply.


first off, I'd like to know how often you get this "Bad CMOS" Error? Is it every boot?