I've recently formatted my hard drive and tried to install Windows ME (I know I know "BOOO!!!!") but I can't pop $400 for XP and this laptop isn't worth it if I could. For some reason when I put the ME setup CD-ROM in I get an error message that reads "CDR101: Not ready reading drive F Abort, Retry, Fail?" I've tried running setup on D, E, F, and G which doesn't even exist but I figured what the hell why not. More frustrating is the fact that when I put in a Windows 95 Setup CD it works fine. I know the Windows ME CD works though, becuase I've used it on two other laptops and I haven't damaged it. If anyone has a clue what I should do about this, it would be greatly appreciated. Its a Sony Vaio from like 1999 or 2000 if that helps at all.

That error message indicates that your CD-Rom drive is not "seeing" the CD and reading file system information from it, hence the mounted volume is "Not Ready". This is common when the CD is damaged or dirty. Make sure the bottom surface is real clean. This is also a problem with drives when they age. They start having problems reading some CDs. Sometimes making a copy of the CD on another system with a CD-RW drive will allow you to read the copy of it. But if you can boot with a Windows ME Startup diskette and find other CD's in the drive, it normally points to a smudge or scratch on a critical place that your drive just can not read, while others can. It is also possible that your CD drive has dust on its lens and needs to have it blown out.

Cava1105: How did this problem resolve, or did it?