Trying to install an OS !!HELP!!

N

N3rd

New Member
Well I finished building my computer, the mobo boots up, all the fans come on.

I dont really know what to do from here because I am stuck. I keep getting a disc boot failure. Tells me to insert system disc and press enter I re-insert the disc and hit enter still says disc boot error.

Here are my specs:
WD 250GB SATA hdd
WD 500gb SATA hdd

Lite On IDE DVD drive

Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L mobo

Am I missing a step here or something?
 
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Apparently you set the cd rom option as the first and only boot device in the boot order seen in the bios setup. Once all setup files are copied onto the hard drive and the system is restarted you need to re-enter the bios to change the first from cd -rom to the hard drive setting there.

The second item can be left at cd rom or simply disabled since the post is looking for a boot disk like the Windows install disk or a boot floppy without the hard drive being search for boot information placed there by the installer. When reinstalling Windows here the board offers a press F8 key option to bring up a list of drives to choose from like floppy, hard drive, or optical while leaving the boot order set to hard drive in the bios.

Once all files are copied and the system restarts the hard drive is already set as the boot device since the boot menu allowed choosing the optical drive to boot up with the installation disk for the one time needed. Probably being new you simply forgot to change the boot order to see hard drive listed first and can be set as the only device to force the system to look at the hard drive and not the optical or floppy for boot information.
 
I dont even get to the setup files though.

Here is what I have been doing, sorry If i dont follow what your saying.

I enable the cd-rom as the first to boot (so it can read vista cd?)

I save and exit the computer resets like two times then goes to the post menu or whatever and it says disc boot failure blah blah.

or do you mean AFTER I save and exit and it resets I have to go into the bios AGAIN and select the hard drive to be first boot before I try to install?
 
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If the board has a boot menu option by an assigned key you can leave the hard drive set as first in the boot order. At post you simply press that key like F8 or F12 to bring up a menu for selecting the drive to boot from while the Vista dvd is in the drive. Once you select that drive the system will boot from the install disk for a one time session until all setup files are copied onto the hard drive.

When making any change of setting in the bios you either press F10 to save the change made or select the "save and exit" choice when leaving the bios. The system will then restart like you pressed the reset button and the post tests begin all over again. When trying to boot from the optical drive like booting with the Vista dvd the onscreen message will be press any key to boot from cd rom.

That's when you press enter or another key to see the Vista disk booted from once that is seen. The installer will then be the nest thing you will see come up on the screen if you press enter/return or another key to see the disk booted from. The only problem that can be usually seen is a finger smudged disk not being read or the lens in the optical drive needs cleaning if the drive is still good.
 
I am still having trouble for some reason....

I have only 1 HDD plugged in I unplugged the other one.

I have my main HDD in the SATA0 connection. (if that matters)

The only thing I have touched in bios is the boot drive 1st which I put to hard disk, I disabled the other two. I save and exit. The computer restarts. I go to the boot menu and select boot from cd-rom it goes to the next screen and says Veryfing DMI pools or something along those lines then comes up with the disc boot error I try to reinsert the disc same thing.
 
As far as the Sata 0 connection that shouild also be seen as the primary master with Sata 1 as the primary slave. With more then two ports like 4, 6, or 8 you then see secondary master or slave according to the port used.

In the bios not noot order but intregrated peripherals or similar the hard drive item when highlighted and the enter ksy is pressed a list of all hard drives is seen in the screen that comes up where you move the intended OS host drive to the top of that. Then when the hard drive is set as first in the boot order that becomes the default boot drive there.

The drive plugged in now will see Window go on there and may have ot be moved again to the top of the list once the other drive is plugged back in afterwards. Sometimes even while on a second port one displaces the other as first there. But the thing that may be the problem for you is having the Lite-On ide drive's jumper set wrong like master if plugged into the middle connector or slave or cable select if plugged in on the end connector needing to see that moved to the master position.
 
Dunno what I did but I managed to get it working, I plugged the middle ide connector on the ide cable into the disc drive (even though that little tab is on the master selection).

That is still like that hope that wont cause a problem.

I tried using my other computers cd-rom didnt work then I plugged in my new dvd rom and it work (still using the slave connector, middle one) and it worked.

I am up and running.
 
The jumper should be at slave(SA or SL) or cable select(CA usually) while optical drives are generally more fussy about master for end and slave for the middle. With the jumper set wrong you won't get anywhere fast. For a single ide drive the best position is to master it at the end unless the cable is the problem.

The usual grey colored flat ribbon cables are a dime a dozen and usually are not anywhere as good as a good brand of round cable for the higher price seen on those. The Antec Cobra round cables are about the best while the shipping costs are more then the price seen on a single cable unless you find it in a retail store! Try $9.28 to $14..99 for the cable and $14.95 for shipping! :eek: http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=77226
 
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