[iAmXquisite]

Hey everyone so I am trying to fix this old Compaq GX5000Z the computer I tried re-installing windows but non of the CD drives worked neither did the USB drives.
So what I did was that I used a CD drive from another computer I have to get it installed and everything worked fine!

So now it has a clean install of windows XP but I couldn't leave the CD drive there since it was from my personal computer. Once i took out the cd drive the computer turns on but it seems like its not reading the Hard Drive!

Do you think that removing the CD Drive is causing the hard drive not to be read?

[Advertisements]

The title of this post is a little misleading. You say it displays nothing, but then you say it simply will not boot. To answer your question, yes there are reasons why removing a CD drive can cause your computer to not boot, but there are also a lot of other things that can be causing this issue.

If I am understanding correctly and windows is not booting then all you should need to do is change your boot priority in bios. If you need help with how to do that just ask. Otherwise your system might not be configured to boot properly which means you should they to repair the files by booting with an XP repair disk and using the function provided by that disk to repair your boot files. Considering the other issues you are having with peripheral devices there might be an problem with your cables or ports. Can you detail what you did when you took out the CD drive, and what kind of connections you are using (SATA or IDE.) Lastly the power supply might be your problem, and perhaps the cables you are hooking up to the other peripherals are bad and you were using a good one on the CD drive.

I know there is a lot here but if you are confused at all please start by explaining in more detail what is actually happening when you turn on the computer. Does it beep? Do you see the bios screen? (usually a logo of the manufacturer with options at the bottom such as [del] enter bios, [tab] display post, or something of that manner.) Does it tell you there are no bootable devices found? Or as the title of the post implies does your screen display nothing when you try to boot the computer?

[Rusbel]

The title of this post is a little misleading. You say it displays nothing, but then you say it simply will not boot. To answer your question, yes there are reasons why removing a CD drive can cause your computer to not boot, but there are also a lot of other things that can be causing this issue.

If I am understanding correctly and windows is not booting then all you should need to do is change your boot priority in bios. If you need help with how to do that just ask. Otherwise your system might not be configured to boot properly which means you should they to repair the files by booting with an XP repair disk and using the function provided by that disk to repair your boot files. Considering the other issues you are having with peripheral devices there might be an problem with your cables or ports. Can you detail what you did when you took out the CD drive, and what kind of connections you are using (SATA or IDE.) Lastly the power supply might be your problem, and perhaps the cables you are hooking up to the other peripherals are bad and you were using a good one on the CD drive.

I know there is a lot here but if you are confused at all please start by explaining in more detail what is actually happening when you turn on the computer. Does it beep? Do you see the bios screen? (usually a logo of the manufacturer with options at the bottom such as [del] enter bios, [tab] display post, or something of that manner.) Does it tell you there are no bootable devices found? Or as the title of the post implies does your screen display nothing when you try to boot the computer?

[iAmXquisite]

The problem is that the bios won't even show. No logo comes out whatsoever! There is a little lag happening though the computer is a little old so it's connected using IDE cables. When I sometimes switch the IDE from one IDE slot to the other is will turn on and work properly. But once shut down the computer won't show anything anymore next time I turn it on. No bios no nothing that's why I'm not sure what's going on.

[Rusbel]

Ok so it sounds like you don't have the IDE devices set up properly. You need to make sure there is only one master and the other drives are set to slave and there are various ways this is accomplished. First there are jumpers on the IDE devices that let you set to to master, slave, cable select and so forth. The second method is through the cables that are plugged into them. Some cables have a position for the master and slave devices. And lastly motherboards sometimes have primary IDE ports. Make sure that your main HD is set to either master, or in the case of cable select that it is set to recognize that and that you are plugging it into the part of the cable labeled master, and that cable is plugged into the primary slot. If that doesn't solve your problem I would suspect something is going on with one of the other devices. First disconnect all of the other IDE devices and see if that works. Next try plugging the HD in with a different IDE cable and into a different port if that is ok with your motherboard. Next try different plugs from the PSU.

If none of that helps you probably want to look into whether this is related to your USB ports not working. What are the USB ports provided by, an expansion card, the case, or the motherboard?

Also are you hearing any beeps when you turn the computer on and do you understand what those beeps mean?

[iAmXquisite]

There is only one IDE device connected which is the HDD none of the CD drives that were in the computer work.

I have tried what you said before and put master with master IDE you know it might be the USB there is some on the motherboard and some that are from the computer case.

The speaker for the computer is burnt out looks like the cables touched with the case and burned. I'm going to solder it back tommorow so that I can hear what beeping sounds it does maybe that way you can help me. I'll get back at you tommorow with what I get.