[bongsaber69]

i have 4 hard drives (yea alot lol) i started with 3 but i added another one cus it had an operating system (win 98) but it has low gb (2. something) and my other HD's are totally wiped out. it has that insert system boot disk on it. so i think i should install windows on it (win xp) but i cant cus my cdrom wont read, it has power but wont read, i set it on bios the plug is in tightly i switched cords,tryed diferent cdroms, nothing! . so what i need help on is, getting my HD's to have an operating system (if that solves the insert disk problem) and making my cdrom read [bleep]!

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How old is this machine

When you set the bios, you mean you set the cd-rom as the first boot device in boot order?

[gerryf]

How old is this machine

When you set the bios, you mean you set the cd-rom as the first boot device in boot order?

[bongsaber69]

How old is this machine

When you set the bios, you mean you set the cd-rom as the first boot device in boot order?

not sure how old, but its not any older then xp home edition, and yea i set it as first boot

[gerryf]

did this cd-rom work before this began?

Any cd-rom from the last 5 years should be bootable, assuming your Windows XP cd is bootable--which it should be if you bought it from a reputable dealer.

[bongsaber69]

did this cd-rom work before this began?

Any cd-rom from the last 5 years should be bootable, assuming your Windows XP cd is bootable--which it should be if you bought it from a reputable dealer.

yea it did work be4

[gerryf]

Please, for the sake of these tired old eyes, no leet speak...when you type be4, it takes me 15 seconds to figure out what you're saying.

Ok, you have 4 harddrives, and one CD-rom?

99% of computers only have two ide controllers, each capable of handling two drives each.

In order to install 4 drives, you have to install an additional ide controller. Did you put the CD-ROM on that? If so, you need to put the CD-ROM on one of the motherboard controllers, or, if your motherboard supports it, you need to to look in the boot order for an added choice...odds are, it will not work unless you have a primo motherboard

Better off putting it back on the main ide drive, and putting the added drives on the plug in (read pci-card) controller

[bongsaber69]

Please, for the sake of these tired old eyes, no leet speak...when you type be4, it takes me 15 seconds to figure out what you're saying.

Ok, you have 4 harddrives, and one CD-rom?

99% of computers only have two ide controllers, each capable of handling two drives each.

In order to install 4 drives, you have to install an additional ide controller. Did you put the CD-ROM on that? If so, you need to put the CD-ROM on one of the motherboard controllers, or, if your motherboard supports it, you need to to look in the boot order for an added choice...odds are, it will not work unless you have a primo motherboard

Better off putting it back on the main ide drive, and putting the added drives on the plug in (read pci-card) controller

well i have 3 HD's that are 25 gb, and a 4th thats just an old HD i foudn with windows 98 on it, so i can prolly live with 2 HD's but my computer was built to hold only 3 i think cus thats how it came. Because i got on of those computers were you pull out the HD's and there in a case type thing, that i really hate cus i cant open it up and find out whats the master or not! so i have to reboot on each HD to find out what they are but im stupid and forgot to label them. and i have 2 cdroms and one spare