i have a computer that is just thrown together from parts that i have come along, i canot get a operating system in because i canot get my cd drive to power first. this is because my bios is "shadowed". what does this mean? i have "phoenixbios 4.0 release 6.0.2 please tell me all that you know. brent

BeOS is the BE Operating System. BIOS is Basic Input Output (sub)System. That being said....you might be better off asking that on the hardware forums. Anyhooo. Shadowed bios is nothing to do with a CD being detected. I don't have the specs on your machine so I could't say if it is extended bios capable of booting to a CD. Does your OS of choice have a way to boot from floppies? Can you look at bios and see if the CD is detected? Are the jumpers correct. Does the (junk) parts have any proof that they still work? Did you observe ESD? Your CD must show up in Bios. If your system is capable of booting to a CD then you will be able to select it as a choice (#1) the boot sequence in bios.

thanx for your concern but i figured it out