I use the system described above as a testbed for various things before installing them on my main system. It has a DVD ROM drive but did not originally come with this. Bios boot order is set to boot floppy 1, CDROM 2 , HDD 3 and I can boot to an XP CD in the usual way for installation/system repair purposes. I have tried to use bootable DVDs a number of times including an instal DVD of Linux Fedora6 and also a bootable slipstreamed XP disk on DVD created as an unattended instal medium. Neither of these would successfully boot on the compaq box but will work in my other more modern systems. Am I right in deducing that the bios of this machine would need to contain some kind of DVD drivers in order to boot from a DVD? I will check on the HP/Compaq website for a bios update but I somehow doubt they will have an update for a system this old that addresses the problem. After all it has a sticker on the front saying it was designed for NT or 98. I used to have a signature but it disappeared and I just couldn't be bothered writing another so please feel free to ingore this.

Go to bios and "remove" the cd so that the dvd is now the only disk. (you don't actually remove any connections, just tell bios there is no cd) Then it should boot from the DVD. When installed you return bios to normal. I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you goober.

There is no CDROM drive to remove. This system has room for only one slimline optic drive and the DVD drive is it. Bios lists it only as a cdrom. As I said it seems the bios in this old unit is incapable of reading a DVD disk. I've also checked at HP Compaq support site and although there is a bios update available it does not include any DVD driver. Oh well. Nothing lost. I'll just get a spare harddrive and use that to experiment in my main P4 system I used to have a signature but it disappeared and I just couldn't be bothered writing another so please feel free to ingore this.

Sorry, I mis-read the cdrom2 deal. I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you goober.

I have an old 500mhz/256mb pc, with only one dvd rom. This will not read some disks. I think you need a bios update, but if it's that old, I doubt if you will get it. Try a different dvd. Before posting try google. Backup. Use anti virus software.

It reads the disk fine with windows running. It just won't boot to a DVD. Put a bootable CD in the drive and it boots up fine. I have given up on it. Thanks anyway for the opinions. I used to have a signature but it disappeared and I just couldn't be bothered writing another so please feel free to ingore this.