Hello everyone! :-D Alright... I had thought this computer didn't have CD boot, but when I looked on the BIOS setup, it did! But... How come it won't work? Here's what the BIOS says when I go in Security>Start-Up Center: The start-up priority follows the order of the devices listed below. Start from Network [Disabled] Start from Flexible Disk [Enabled] Start from CD=ROM [Enabled] Start from Hard Disk [Enabled] As you can see, it should work... I tried some Linux discs, which are suppossed to be bootable, and the Compaq WinXP CD, which definitely is bootable, and none worked... Does anyone know what the problem is? Thanks! ;-) http://sulfurmidis.com/sulfursoft http://tsfc.ath.cx ftp://tsfc.ath.cx hotline://tsfc.ath.cx If I connect my microwave to my PC, will I be able to download food?

Well there Could be one issue, Are those linux cds downloaded then burnt or bought from retailer? And Normally There is a coding in compaqs xp cd that makes it unbootable to all but compaqs. Oh and if your linux discs are burnt make sure they were done right. SOLUTION. Try the disks on a different computer. If it doesnt work with it then we all know that the discs are bad. and if they do, then who knows what. try updating your bios, or setting it back to defualt setting and give it a try. Let us know what happends. Best Of Luck!! _-=EMUSE=-_

I've seen some old computers that will only actually boot a bootable cd in a drive if it is first in the boot order. Going by the specs of your computer, it may have other old components. Old CD drives do NOT support recognizing a bootable CD. Also, they may not be capable of reading CD-R, and, especially, CD-RW disks. You can verify whether it will recognize bootable cd's by connecting the cd drive to a newer computer, or by looking up it's specs on the web.

There are several aspects to booting from a CDROM The motherboard must support this It must be in the "boot order" BEFORE the hard drive. Why motherboard "boot order" selections are so screwed up, is beyond me. I usually set my 'boot order' to floppy, CDROM, hdd Next, the cdrom must be new enough to support booting, and be properly cabled and jumpered. The CD itself must be bootable. The cd, if "burned" may not "read" properly in your CDROM, depending on age, or even if the CD was a "good burn." I would not depend on a "burned" cd for testing a boot situation. So far as I know ALL XP Cd's will boot. including UPGRADES NO ME, or 98, or earlier UPGRADE cd's will boot NO 98 RETAIL cd's will boot--the store bought "full" version. ALL 98 "OEM" (to be supplied only with a new PC) will boot. This is what everybody calls a "full" version. NO '95 cd's will boot.

Hmmmm... Crap... Well, I remember I once tested this Compaq XP CD on a Toshiba laptop, and it worked, so it's not that the CD doesn't boot cause it's Compaq... I tried updating the BIOS, that worked, I tried updating the CD drive's firmware, I got a big red "FAILED" on my screen, I tried updating my video BIOS but I got an error complaining about no MGA card on the system... Anyone has any more causes? Thanks very much y'all! ;-) http://sulfurmidis.com/sulfursoft http://tsfc.ath.cx ftp://tsfc.ath.cx hotline://tsfc.ath.cx If I connect my microwave to my PC, will I be able to download food?

"... I tried updating the BIOS, that worked, " If the update release notes did not mention making a bootable CD in a CD drive work when it didn't before, you had no valid reason to do that - there was no point to flashing the bios, and you took the risk the flash chip could physically fail. Besides, the ability to boot a bootable CD was already in the bios Setup. "I tried updating the CD drive's firmware, I got a big red "FAILED"" Oh oh. Does the cd drive work properly? If it does, that means you did something wrong while flashing, but it didn't erase the contents of the flash chip. If it doesn't work, you might as well take it out, throw it away, and get another one, because that means the flash chip has physically failed - the same thing commonly happens to mboard bios flash chips. Even if the flash chip is in a socket, it isn't worth going to the trouble of getting another flash chip in the case of a Cd drive, which has to be flashed with an EEPROM programming device before you put it back in, if you can get one at all. Even in the case of a mboard, most people just get another mboard when the flash chip physically fails (you can get the chips, already flashed, for about $50 US). I doubt very much it would have given the CD drive the ability to recognize a bootable Cd if it didn't have that ability before in any case - if the update release notes did not mention that, there is no point to flashing the firmware (the CD drive's bios). If the CD drive still works, tell us what its make and model is - you may have to take it out and look at it's label if it's model is not listed in Device Manager. "I tried updating my video BIOS but I got an error complaining about no MGA card on the system..." What has that got to do with recognizing a bootable CD? And it sounds like you were trying to use the wrong update! You don't seem to get it. Flashing is a last resort. You don't flash a mboard bios, or a CD drive's firmware, or a video cards' bios unless you are having problems you can't solve otherwise. The flash chips in all of them can only be flashed a small number of times, and there is no guarantee the flash will work - the flash chip could physically fail the first time you try, or the tenth, or the twentith. It is for this reason there are warnings on virtually all mboard sites where you download bios updates that you should never flash your bios unless you are having problems, that is, problems you have definite proof (in release notes for the updates) flashing your bios will solve. If your drive still works, you could try using a laser lens cleaner cd - see my posts in this: http://www.computing.net/windowsxp/wwwboard/forum/147149.html

"...and you took the risk the flash chip could physically fail." WHAT?! I didn't know that! O_O I'm guessing the reason for the FAILED message was because that's not the correct drive... I might sound stupid, but it's not the same color of the rest of the case... I'll take it out and look at the model number... And for the video, it was irrelevant, I just did it because it was on the HP site and I wanted to update everything... But thanks for telling me that it could physically fail - I didn't know... :-| I'll tell you if it's a different drive thanj what came with the computer... Thanks! ;-) http://sulfurmidis.com/sulfursoft http://tsfc.ath.cx ftp://tsfc.ath.cx hotline://tsfc.ath.cx If I connect my microwave to my PC, will I be able to download food?