windows wont allow a reinstall/reformat via cd

[dezzemm]

I am trying to reinstall xp onto a computer. It needs to be reformatted 1st.

I placed an xp cd into the cd-drive and on boot-up get asked to boot from cd – when I do this it still goes to windows and the set up does not continue. I have tried both cd drives and different xp cd’s. They work ok on other computers

If i go to bios to disable all options except cd boot it still goes to windows even after pressing the key to get the only the cd to boot.

I also noticed that there are two lines 'boot from cd:' that appear when there is no cd in the drive and then if there is a cd - you get the other message above afterwards.

I have recently reformatted this computer and have done so a few times with no problems before.

What options do i have?

 

[GrimR]

Sounds like a CD ROM issue. Did you pull a CD ROM out of the machine that is working and try that.

 

[dezzemm]

It has two cd-roms - I tried both with no success. Other cd's run fine on both cd-roms. I suppose I could try another one from a differnt pc

 

[BernardStewart]

Can u specify your hardware set up - Type of hardware drives, which version of XP are you using (XP pre SP1, XP with SP1, XP with SP2?

 

[xwb]

Check your initial diagnostic display. Some CDs won't boot unless they are on a primary drive. You should have 2 primaries and 2 secondaries. Make sure that at least one CD is on a primary drive and try booting from that one. If they are both on secondary, try switching the cabling inside.

 

[dezzemm]

Hmm - a bit redfaced - but its my son's pc and he has wireless keyborad and mouse - it seems that although I could get into the bios by pressing 'del' it was not reacting to the keyboard prompt to press a key to boot from cd - so connecting a 'normal keyboard' enabled the 'press a key prompt' to be activated and the setup program has started!!

Thanks for all the input, very much appreciated!

:-Dz