Blank screen, is fixing possible?

I have got this far….

2. Set your boot priority in the BIOS to CD-ROM first, Hard Drive Second
◦Start the computer/press the power button
◦Immediately start tapping the appropriate key to enter the BIOS, aka "Setup"
(Usually shown during the "Dell" screen, or "Gateway" Screen)
◦Once in the BIOS, under Advanced BIOS Options change boot priority to:
CD-ROM 1st, Hard Drive 2nd
◦Open your ROM drive and insert the disk
◦Press F10 to save and exit
◦Agree with "Y" to continue
◦Your computer will restart
I then get "Boot from ATAPI CD-ROM Failure.

it then runs on to normal boot and the message as in the previous post.
"It goes to a screen that states “ a problem detected and windows has been shut down…..”
Unmountable_ boot _volume message at one pointTech information:
STOP: 0x000000ED (0x81B977C8,0x0000032,0x00000000,0x00000000) (note bold is a different number to original)
Will not boot to safe mode, the above message appears.
Will not boot to last known good configuration, the above message appears.
."

Do you know if the cdrom works correctly? BTW is it a cdrom or a dvd player?

I checked the DVD in this PC and it has all the files in it. On the sick PC it has DVD written on where it is inserted. It has another drive as well but not sure what that is as I rarely use DVDs or CDs it has Compact disc RW 48-16-48 written on it.

Hmm the sick pc has two optical drives huh? I'm wondering if one is not operational? Have you tried using the other and booting up with the disc in it?

Yes I have tried it in both I also tried 2 seperate burns (on 2 discs) and neither work. Also inserted them upside down just in case. I think the 2 drives stem from the days of disc copying. The drive certaily runs for a few minutes before I get boot failure. I also get a 1 second flash of the windows screen at some point.

Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, try the Hitachi DFT CD Image version of the software

Thanks to Broni for the instructions

Thanks, I am off to bed but will get back on the case tomorrow. Scudo

I probably havent done this correctly, this is what I have done. I opened the tower and it is a Maxtor hard drive. so downloaded this from your link above… "Maxtor PowerMax 4.23 Bootable CD .ISO image file (08.02.2006) The POWERMAX utility is designed to perform diagnostic read/write verifications on Maxtor/Quantum hard drives. These tests will determine hard drive integrity. The POWERMAX utility is effective on all ATA (IDE) hard drives with a capacity greater than or equal to 500 MB. Maxtor recommends the use of this utility for troubleshooting potential hard drive problems." I burned this on to a DVD and from the bios inserted the dvd and pressed F10 No change and still a failed boot.

Did you burn the disk per the instructions? If you burned it attempting to make it a bootable disk it will not work. What program are you using to burn the disc?

I used BurnCDCC ISO Burning Software (as in previous post) I think I did try and make a bootable disc. I will go back and re read and see if I can do better this time.

Just choose the ISo file using the burncdcc and it should make the disc bootable on it's own.

I am getting a bit confused with this. Is it this I should be downloading as I may be downloading the wrong file… For Maxtor hard drive SeaTools for DOS v2.23 (Graphical) (02.09.2011)

If you are using SeaTools then you need to get Seatools DOS cd ISO.
IT will be the most compatible with hard drive manufacturers.

I think I need to give up I just cant get the burning to Cd part to work everything I try leads to `boot failure` Scudo

Either the disc is not burning correctly or your boot sequence is not set right. The only other option is the cdrom drive is not working correctly.