If the Windows boot disk isn't seen either, then the BIOS doesn't see the cd drive, and your troubleshooting has to head off in a different direction.
Have you just tried an external USB cd drive until after school? On Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 7:53 PM, Robert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Now decide to reformat primary hard disk and reinstall OS. Question: how? > Optical drive doesn't work. A gamble to reformat hard disk, hoping optical > drive will start working after reformatting. What to do? ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************