cannot see CDROM

[gillro1]

Hi
I have a Dell Optiplex GX1 running Windows 98 which has imploded.
It was fine until Wanadoo wireless lost its drivers.
My problem is that I can no longer see the CDROM to reinstall Windows. I have changed the boot device to the CDROM in the BIOS but it bypasses it.
Don't want to FDISK, just reinstall windows.
Any suggestions pls?
thanks

[gillro1]

forgot to mention .. on boot it gives Windows protection error. You need to restart your computer.

[Panama Red]

Can you try that CD rom in another pc? Might be that it has failed too.

[GaryRouth]

I like the idea for testing the Cd-drive, too.

Another quick fix try: Boot the system with a floppy diskette (you can use a bootdisk that matches your version of Windows from http://www.bootdisk.com ) and from the command prompt, type

scanreg /restore

and see if there's a saved registry old enough to be prior to the CD-rom's disappearing act.

_____________

You mentioned you were in the Bios = did the CD-rom show up on the screens that show the IDE devices? [& of course, you usually want that connector set to "Auto" and certainly not to "None" or "Not Installed"]

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[ & hi there, Panama! ]

______________
late edit: couldn't hurt to test some of the rest of the hardware, too, just in case - especially the memory and the hard drive. And Aumha.org has some pretty good troubleshooters for Protection errors http://aumha.org/win4/kbewpe.php . . . I've usually come across the missing CD problem on WindowsXP computers, where folks have had troubleuninstalling cd/dvd recording software

[edfair]

If you created an emergency boot disk it will have everything required to enable the CD in DOS mode. The drivers that load give some additional troubleshooting support.
You might want to try one of the cleaning disks.