I really need help!!!

I've just bought my two grandaughters a couple of used PC's for
christmas, they're Time machines with AMD Duron 800 processors and
128mb of ram. The systems came with LG CDR 8521b 52x cd drives, but no
CD/RW, so I decided to buy and install new ones. The drives that I
bought are Lite On LTR52327S drives, but after installing them the
computer's wouldn't work, so I removed them and set the systems back to
how they arrived.

Now, when I power up either computer, the system goes through it's
usual memory test and gives the message 'Detecting IDE drives ...',
then after a few minutes it then says 'Disk boot failure, insert system
disk and press enter'

The CD Roms however won't open at all, so I can't insert a system disk.

If I remove the IDE cable from the CD, the system boots up fine, there
is power to the CD Rom, but obviously it won't work because the IDE
cable is disconnected.

I've checked every connection to make sure that it's secure, I've tried
every permutation on the jumpers on the drive and everything else that
I can think of - can anyone please help me??

On 30 Dec 2005 08:28:45 -0800, "0700-Vans"
wrote:


Now, when I power up either computer, the system goes through it's
usual memory test and gives the message 'Detecting IDE drives ...',
then after a few minutes it then says 'Disk boot failure, insert system
disk and press enter'

You could try going into the BIOS - usually by holding down f8 as you
power up - and see what it's really detecting in the way of CD/DVD
drives. You could also see if it's set to boot from CD as first option
- if it is, change that to hard drive C:. That *might* get it to boot
up, which could make trouble shooting a bit easier.

Make a note of the original settings of anything you alter in the
BIOS, so that you can revert if it makes things worse.

Failing that, boot up with the CD drive(s) ' IDE cables removed, go
into Control Panel/System and remove any drives listed.

Reboot

Shut down

Reconnect one of the drives, make sure it's set as "Master", if it's
the only drive on the IDE cable, and power up again.

If that works, shut down, reconnect the other drive, setting it as
"Slave" if it's the second drive on the cable, and power up again.

That may not work, but it's worth a try!

HTH
--
Dave
Sheffield, England, UK

http://www.gnudawn.co.uk/

Thanks Dave,

I've checked the BIOS with the CD/IDE connected and it doesn't show any
hard drives, and again with it disconnected, but I haven't looked in
Control Panel. I'll try that & let you know.

Roger

Thanks Dave,

I've checked the BIOS with the CD/IDE connected and it doesn't show any
hard drives, and again with it disconnected, but I haven't looked in
Control Panel. I'll try that & let you know.

Roger

Thanks Dave,

I've checked the BIOS with the CD/IDE connected and it doesn't show any
hard drives, and again with it disconnected, but I haven't looked in
Control Panel. I'll try that & let you know.

Roger

Tried all of the above and still no joy, but I'm open to suggestions!

Roger

On 30 Dec 2005 10:40:49 -0800, "0700-Vans"
wrote:

I've checked the BIOS with the CD/IDE connected and it doesn't show any
hard drives

Do you mean CD/DVD drives?

Are you sure you've connected the IDE cables the right way round? They
are usually keyed so that you can only put them in one way, but not
always. The red stripe on the cable should be near pin 1, usually
indicated by an arrow on the socket. Connecting the cable the wrong
way round doesn't do any harm, but it does stop the drive working.
--
Dave
Sheffield, England, UK

http://www.gnudawn.co.uk/

"0700-Vans" wrote in message
ups.com...
Tried all of the above and still no joy, but I'm open to suggestions!

Roger


Change the drive detect settings in the BIOS to autodetect.

Are both optical drives connected to the motherboard using the same EIDE
cable or is writer (or ROM) paired with the hard disk?

How many hard disks are installed?


Stephen

0700-Vans wrote:
Tried all of the above and still no joy, but I'm open to suggestions!

Roger

I suppose you checked master/slave jumper on new CD drive - if it's set
same as on old one...i suppose it should be slave, while usually it's master
when come from store...

--
Visit my web page at http://www.protoncek.com

The "'Disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter" bit means that
the system isn't detecting the operating system on the hard drive.

One thing to try: with power applied to the CD-ROM drive, but the IDE cable
disconnected, does the eject button work? If it doesn't open the drive under
that condition, the drive may be dead. A dead drive can prevent the PC from
seeing a working drive on the same cable. (I don't recall whether it would
affect the PC's ability to detect a drive on a different cable.)

I once killed a drive by disconnecting the IDE cable while power was applied
to the drive. I try to avoid that now.


Address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

"0700-Vans" wrote in message
oups.com...
I've just bought my two grandaughters a couple of used PC's for
christmas, they're Time machines with AMD Duron 800 processors and
128mb of ram. The systems came with LG CDR 8521b 52x cd drives, but no
CD/RW, so I decided to buy and install new ones. The drives that I
bought are Lite On LTR52327S drives, but after installing them the
computer's wouldn't work, so I removed them and set the systems back to
how they arrived.

Now, when I power up either computer, the system goes through it's
usual memory test and gives the message 'Detecting IDE drives ...',
then after a few minutes it then says 'Disk boot failure, insert system
disk and press enter'

The CD Roms however won't open at all, so I can't insert a system disk.

If I remove the IDE cable from the CD, the system boots up fine, there
is power to the CD Rom, but obviously it won't work because the IDE
cable is disconnected.

I've checked every connection to make sure that it's secure, I've tried
every permutation on the jumpers on the drive and everything else that
I can think of - can anyone please help me??