CD dive Error

Hi, First, check the jumpers on the cd if you are using the same cable, the cd must be set as slave. Also BIOS must be set to boot from cd as first choice. Then it will boot to the cd no mater what.
Second, check the cabling to be sure theends are tight and firm.
Third, in BIOS system you should show the cd.
If so then continue. If not you have a cd problem.
Connect cd to secondary cable from MB and see if Bios sees it. If running on secondary cable your jumper on cd should be set to master.
You do not state the HD maker. If WD no jumper is needed with only one HD.
Also, The drive letter for your cd will change up one [ C to D] in a boot from floopy situation. No matter as most boot disks just need totype "setup" no quotes and the installati0on should begin.
Also, If installing win 95 you must follow command procedure as 95 is not self booting from cd.
Hope this helps and add comment to your question and I or someone will continue to assist.

I presume you are using a boot disk instead of booting from the CD. It sounds like either your CD-Rom driver or mscdex is may not be loading correctly. When you start the boot disk note if the drivers are finding the cd-rom. On the driver it should state the the device was found, then make sure the mscdex assigns a letter. If not then there is probably a problem with the jumper setting on the cd-rom or hard-drive if using one cable to connect both to the motherboard. If all the hardware checks out replace the CD-Rom, sometimes they will show that they are working fine, but their not.

Silly question, but it could be that you're not looking at the correct drive letter.

How many HDD's do you have?
Even more important, how many partitions do you have?
It could be as simple as thinking the the CD is drive D: when it's actuallyE: or F:

Many of the older versions of BOOT disks may not be able to deal with newer IDE controllers and drives.

Try one of the "customized" boot disk images from either http://www.madboot.com/
or, www.bootdisk.com

Next, where is the CD drive connected?
Most motherboard manufactures do NOT support connecting the CD drive to any on-board RAID or auxiliary IDE controllers.

I have even had problems with CD drives installed as Master device on the Primary IDE controller.

Many CD drive manufactures recommend AGAINST using 80 conductor UDMA 66/100/133 cables with the CD drive.

If all else fails, please provide some system details:
Motherboard
Version of Windows
CPU
RAM

Chas

Based on your error it seems the system sees the CDROM drive. The boot disk creates a virtual or temporary partition called a RAM drive. It takes the normal place where the CDROM would be. So for however many drives or partitions are in the PC just consider that when using the boot disk the CDROM will be up one more drive letter than normal. I don't think this is your issue because if you thought you had acessed the CDROM but were actually opening the virtual drive you would not have gotten theerror.

Start with the basics, first try another CD disk. The disk being used may have problems. Get a music CD and plug speakers or headphones into the connector in the front of the CDROM drive. If it plays then you'll know the drive is working. Also clean the disk. Does opening and closing the CD tray work correctly and not take a long time?

Usually the CD drivers included on the boot disk works for most but you may need to install the DOS drivers that came with the CDROM drive.

Check the installation of the CDROM drive. Tottaly disconnect it and start over. You may have overlooked something.

Make sure the ribbon cable is correct. The strip on the cable is for pin one. On the drive connector pin one is located next to the white power connector. That goes for all hard drives and CDROMs.

Don't use screws that are too long, and make sure the drive is securely installed. Vibration can cause problems.

The jumper setting for the CDROM is master, slave or cable select. If the drive is connected to the hard drive and those are the only 2 IDE devices installed in the system put the CDROM on a ribbon cable by itself. Set the jumper to master.

Change settings in the BIOS to AUTO detect for everything concerningthe IDE channels.

Ultimately you may need to get another CDROM drive to try out.

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