Boot Device Media Search

Clarifications

[i]"I put in the disk and BIOs says it see's my CD/DVD Drive... ...I search my BIOs to select the CD/DVD as a Boot device but it only lists my two Hard Drives the Floppy..."[/i]

So which is it?

Without knowing what type of computer you are using and not knowing the operating system is it safe to assume that the machine will not boot on its own?

It boots up and says: requires boot device media?

How do I get to look at the CD?

To boot from CD there is usually a prompt that does not last long, it says something like: F12 for boot menu, some desktops do not have this and it has to be set in the BIOS.

You could just try reinstalling Windows but keep in mind that should cost you any data on the hard drive.

If your BIOS does not offer the CD/DVD drive as a boot option, it does not support booting from the optical drive.

If you have access to the internet, you can download a boot floppy with CD support from http://www.bootdisk.com/. My recommendation is the Windows 98 SE OEM boot disk; CD-ROM drive support is included.

Follow the instructions to transfer the image to a diskette, then insert the diskette into the floppy drive and boot the PC. The system will notify you which drive letter is assigned to the CD-ROM drive during the boot sequence.

Now insert the Windows CD in the drive and type the commands below, pressing enter after each:

d: (the drive letter for the CD drive followed by a colon)
SETUP

This will start the Windows setup routine from the CD. You should be able to recover from there.

Edit: clarify