Bios is not detecting cd rom

[winners6]

Hello,
my pc was automatically restarting then i thought i should either repair or format the pc but then bios was not detecting cd rom. suggest me what should i do?

 

[dragonorb13]

Step 1) pull out the CD-rom drive, then reboot it. The whole issue may be as simple as your CD-rom drive went the way of the dodo. 2) If that doesn't fix it, frankly, it might also be the your RAM. I've seen RAM issues cause some REALLY odd problems. Yank one stick out (or pairs, depending on how your motherboard is programed) and reboot. If that doesn't fix it, put that one (or two) back in and yank the next one/pair. 3) If THAT still doesn't fix the boot issue, put in a known good CD-rom drive into it (as in pull it out of a working computer, get one off a friend, or -as a last resort- buy a new one) and see if you can boot your OS disk from there to reformat the system.
4) If THAT still doesn't resolve the problem, then your motherboard has bit the dust and you need a new one. At that point, just get a new computer unless the PC is still under warranty period (which I'm doubting if you have XP on it). Probably cheaper than a new motherboard. I saved this possibility for last because, though the most likely issue, it's the least resolvable issue short of total computer replacement.

The assessment that it's probably your motherboard is based on the information that your computer keeps randomly rebooting. Either the motherboard is shot or your computer is overheating. And since the sudden absence of fan operation would be noticeable, it overheating would probably be caused by the motherboard to pot (unless you've got one of those uber-silent ones that gets overridden by your own breathing. If you do, check the fans.). Hope this isn't the case, but it's about 90% likely.

 

[winners6]

Thanks for your reply. I have already tried your suggestions before I posted my query here. I have gone through lots of suggestions offered over the internet. Then I came to the conclusion that if I could format my pc then also it would be ok to have it again usable. So lastly I tired to boot my pc through my HP usb pen drive. I downloaded the cp006049.exe (45 MB) from http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&swItem=MTX-UNITY-I23839&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN[/img]

Then I formatted the pen drive but now I do not know how to make it bootable. I need step by step procedure to follow in simple language. Because I am a non technical person with least knowledge about hardware.

Waiting for your reply.

 

[dragonorb13]

If you just want to format your computer, follow the following steps, they'll be the easiest I can think of with out a stick of TNT. I'll even give you two options, depending on the hardware you have available. Both require a second computer, but one only requires the ability to burn a CD, while the other take at least a little hardware knowledge.
A) Using windows to wipe it. This can be done with pretty much anyone's computer that has windows, though they gotta trust you at least a little, or you them.
1) Find a computer you can add another hard drive to.
2) Remove hard drive you want to format from first computer
a) Power down and unplug computer
b) Remove side panel from tower
c) Locate hard disk (normally near the front panel in a shelf about half way up the case)
d) remove mounting screws and ribbon/power cables (just ribbon if it's a SATA connection)
e) carefully remove drive from enclosure
3) Insert drive into secondary computer, following removal instructions in reverse order and procedure.
4) Boot secondary computer
5) Open the start menu and right-click on (My) Computer, then click Manage
6) Locate the Manage Disks option and click it. In the top window on the right side of the window, locate your drive. It will probably be the letter furthest from A:\, and compare the drive size to what you expect (you usually loose about 5-15% from what the box says, my 500 gig only shows about 465 gigs). If there are multiple drives with the same size, you can open (My) Computer and look through the files until you find the right one, just to be certain.
7) Right click on your drive and locate the Format option, click it.
8) In the Format Drive box that comes up, tell it to do a FULL format, not a quick one. Then click format.
9) Wait. It takes about 10-30 minutes, depending on the size of your disk drive.
10) Follow steps 2) and 3) to replace your hard drive into the original computer.
11) Boot computer with OS disk in the CD drive, and run your OS installer of desired flavor.
12) Immediately install antivirus, popup blocker, and spyware removal tool of your choices. I like AVG, SpyBot, and Stopzilla. They are all free and receive regular updates.

Your second option is a little more computer illiterate friendly, in that you do not have to crack anything open. Unfortunately, this method only works if your computer is capable of booting from USB. If your computer is less than 2 years old, hi probability that you can do it. If it's older, it gets iffy. You also need one blank CD.
B) Reformatting by installing Linux as a placeholder OS.
1) Go to a computer capable of burning at least CDs.
2) Download the Ubuntu Linux distribution at this link: http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download Version does not matter. I suggest the 32-bit, simply because it will install on any system, where as a 64-bit won't. And you won't be keeping it.
2) After downloading the file (might take upto 20 minutes on a cable connection, more if you're using *shivers* dial-up), burn it to disk using a free program like Nero, or ImgBurn (my preference, personally) with the Burn Image command (NOT burn file, that will just copy it. A .iso file is an file that has all the files of a CD/DVD in it, with instructions on where to place them on the disk so that they will read right.)
3) Reboot the computer with the Linux CD still in the drive and tell the computer to Boot from CD.
4) use the "Try Linux without making changes to your computer" option. Should be the first one. This will boot Linux from the disk, rather than trying to install it.
5) Make sure your USB drive is attached to the computer.
6) Once Linux boots up, go to the System menu.
7) Go to the Administration option.
8) Click the "Create a USB startup disk"
9) As long as it tells you that you've got the room on your thumbdrive, click "Make Startup Disk" button in the bottom right corner.
10) Once that finishes, take your thumbdrive and go to your computer, attach it and boot.
11) As your computer boots up, press the button it requires for changing the Boot Device.
12) Tell your computer to boot from your USB drive.
13) Have it install Ubuntu, telling it to use the Whole Disk. That will format your drive, giving you a fully functional OS.
14) Simply reinstall original OS.

Hope this helps a lot.

 

[aford10]

Here's a nice guide to creating a bootable flash drive.
http://komku.blogspot.com/2008/11/install-windows-xp-using-usb-flash-disk.html