I'm attempting to put together a NAS server from computer parts I've got lying around. however in order to install FreeNAS from a disk I need to reconfigure the bios to allow me to boot from disk. the problems comes when trying to access the bios at all. I started with a plain hard drive with no operating system (which was admittedly foolish) I tried swapping out that hard drive with one that had windows installed however even though all fans were spinning, LEDs on and the hard-drive was humming there was no response from the screen.

unfortunately i cannot boot from the nas cd until i set the bios to boot from cd, as it is even with the nas cd in nothing happens, and with no operating system telling me to hit F whatever i have no idea how to access said bios in order to boot from nas.

i think you're misunderstanding. it's not starting, nothing is happening on screen. that is my problem.

i habitually remove literally every component excluding the ram and CPU each time i try to start this rig up, no dice