Hi there folks,

Following an overnight lightning storm last week, my PC rebooted repeatedly (when I started it up and it got to the stage where Windows went to load). I was advised by a friend that the most likely reason was that the boot sector had gone in my hard drive due to the lightning. As a result, I bought a new HD, and set about installing XP SP2 on it. I changed the boot sequence in the BIOS to boot from the CD ROM first, and stuck my XP disk in. At first the computer wasn't that keen on booting from the CD, but booted with some perseverance. I then proceeded to install XP, until it reached a certain part where the PC must be rebooted.
The PC rebooted, and I got the black test screen with all the white writing on it (the one that lists the primary and secondary master/slave) with "Boot from CD:" at the bottom of the screen. Now, the CD ROM seems as if it's doing something for about 10 seconds, then the light stops flashing and, it appears, the CD stops spinning. I am then left in limbo, nothing happens, no matter what keys I press.
In essence, I am left with a half-installed OS, and I am desperate to find a solution. Can anyone make a suggestion as to what I can do to rectify this problem? Many thanks.

GD

Hey there Golddigga!

Welcome to PC Help.

I'm sorry that its taken a while for someone to come to your aid, I have notified someone that your post is here and is unanswered. Someone will be around soon. :-)

PJ

Hello and welcome golddigga...
You could try a couple of things - reseting the CMOS (which is a jumper next to the battery on the motherboard).

and you could try updating the BIOS. If these fail...i'm not too sure of your options other then the motherboard got creamed in the storm.

Hi Golddigga,

Before Discounting the mobo quite yet, check to see if there are any scratches or dirt on your XP CD, if there are scratches try a contraption called the Game (or Skip or Disk) Doctor.

If the disk is pristeen it's probably more serious though.