About some 1997 OS install...

[Arc]

Has the CMOS battery been changed since 1997? If not that is probably the reason you are having problems.

 

[StrangleHold]

A 1997 computer will have the CD-ROM as a boot option. Having said that he should set the CD-ROM as the first boot device.

I have had quite a few boards from the 90s that didn't have the option.

It just hasn't got the option to boot a CD or DVD in bios,just floppy and Hard Disk.

The bios just has not got the option for CD booting.

 

[Arc]

I have had quite a few boards from the 90s that didn't have the option.

It wont if the CMOS battery has not been replaced since 1997. I bet it is the CMOS battery.

 

[StrangleHold]

If the battery is dead, all it will do is reset the bios every time you shut it down. The battery has nothing to do with options disappearing.

 

[Arc]

Check out the following link. http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/33605/

As the CMOS battery starts to die things like CD-ROMs, Floppy Drives and finally the hard drive will fail. In Windows and Linux your CD-ROM will not show up in the OS as the CMOS battery starts to die because the BIOS cannot detect it. We are not talking about boot sequences. It will not even show up in the OS let alone the boot sequence. The clock will start to fail first but eventually all boot devices will be affected. Trust me a totally dead CMOS battery can stop your computer form booting. Especially the older BIOS systems form 1997.

I should ask if you have ever worked on an old Pentium II style motherboard? They used to have dip switches and jumpers back in those days.

I am not saying fore sure this guys computer will work after changing out the CMOS batter because his BIOS could really be corrupt and with how old it is they wouldn't be able to send him a new BIOS chip.

 

[Cromewell]

As the CMOS battery starts to die things like CD-ROMs, Floppy Drives and finally the hard drive will fail.

Why? None of these are powered by the CMOS battery.

I should ask if you have ever worked on an old Pentium II style motherboard? They used to have dip switches and jumpers back in those days.

Seems more a likely cause than the CMOS battery. That said, if the BIOS has the option to boot from floppy it may not support cdrom.

 

[Arc]

Why? None of these are powered by the CMOS battery.

Seems more a likely cause than the CMOS battery. That said, if the BIOS has the option to boot from floppy it may not support cdrom.

Trust me, a dead CMOS battery can affect the boot sequence options although every motherboard will be different. If you read the link it was the CMOS battery for that guy. I have an old Pentium II/III system from 1999 and replaced the CMOS battery twice. Having said that the dip switches and jumpers do not affect the boot sequence. They are for the CPU clock speed and FSB. Some had Jumpers and dip switches for the AGP as well. The original poster can probably pick up a CMOS battery for $1.00 at the dollar store. I say why not invest a buck?