Cannot boot from cd to reinstall

[alumahai]

So its not really windows 7, but I always get the best help from you guys so I figure I'll ask here anyway. A friend has asked me to set up a really old computer, a dell dimension 4300s. It was originally running windows xp, and that has been completely screwed up. It blue screens withing 10 seconds of booting normally or safe mode. I tried to reinstall xp with an original disk, but the computer refuses to boot from CD. Any suggestions on how to get it to boot so I can reinstall?

 

[Devux]

It should be F12 to get into setup once you see the BIOS screen, from there choose boot from CD rather than Hard drive

 

[alumahai]

Sorry. I forgot to mention I know a bit about computers. I went into bios and set the cd drive first, and it still went straight to the hdd. So, I pressed f12, and it gets an error trying to boot from cd.

 

[theog]

Before install I would
Check the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic tools.
Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.
HD Diagnostic

 

[theog]

Sorry. I forgot to mention I know a bit about computers. I went into bios and set the cd drive first, and it still went straight to the hdd. So, I pressed f12, and it gets an error trying to boot from cd.

Clean the CD disk
clean CD Drive.

 

[alumahai]

I'm thinking it might be an issue in the bios, as we have a cd burner and a dvd reader, neither of which work. That, or both drives are dirty/busted.

 

[theog]

May be the IDE port or controller.

 

[alumahai]

I finally got tired of screwing around with it and just plugged the hard drive into an external enclosure. I then installed the OS on it through another computer, and then put it back in. Everything is working fine now.

 

[theog]

Installing on a another PC is some times a good workround.

Well done.