I just upgraded my mom's computer. I am fairly literate with hardwate and recently built my own. For this one I can't for the life of me get it to recognize a cd drive. I've tried everything-new cables, every different cable connection etc... I'm very frustrated. Any ideas? Is it something in the bios? I'm not too familiar with that and I appreciate any help. Chuck

Is the cdrom not recognised in Windows ?? OR not recognised by boot disk ??

Thanks for the reply. It is not recognized at all. I basically had to load windows on her hard drive using my computer and switch. The computer is not seeing the drive. I was supposed to do this for her for Christmas, but time is running out. If I can't figure this out, I am going to have to pay to have it done. Thanks Chuck

I guess I should add that when it boots and gets to the steps for loading the cd-rom drivers it says that there is no drive present and the drivers are not loaded.

Double check all the connections for the cdrom. 1. Is the jumper set correctly SL if it is slave on the Primary IDE port MA if it is master on Secondary IDE port 2. Coloured stripe of IDE cable aligned to pin 1 on both motherboard port and back of cdrom drive 3. Power cable connected to cdrom drive 4. In BIOS, check that both IDE channels are enabled Look for Integrated Peripherals in the BIOS Onboard IDE = Both 5. In BIOS, all IDE devices set to AUTO Can you get into Windows ? In Device Manager 6. Is there a CDROM listing 7. Are there any problems with hard disk controllers And lastly, I'm assuming it's an IDE cdrom and not one that runs of a proprietary interface card or sound card ?? Krystyna

Okay, I really stupid. I appreciate all your responses. In fact, I may e-mail you for the next (yes there's always a next problem, huh?) problem. I broke down and took it to a shop. I had it unhooked to take it there. The guy sets it on the bench hooks it up and it works. I tried what he did. The difference was I had the machine upright when he had it flat on the bench. He must have been able to firmly connect and I wasn't. I felt really dumb. At least he didn't charge me. I'm a pilot in the Air Force and told him I'd get him a simulator!