PC is not booting from Hard drive. It will boot from a bootable CD but will not boot from windows xp bootable cd so I am unalbe to do the recover consel. I have already removed and reseated thel RAM, PCI cards etc no change.
I have reset BIOS to default. I am able to see the data when I plug the Hard drive into another PC.
PC is not booting from Hard drive. It will boot from a bootable CD but will not boot from windows xp bootable cd so I am unalbe to do the recover consel.
Your PC isn't booting from the hard drive - What happens on the screen, what do you get?
You are saying it will boot from a bootable CD but will not boot from the windows CD.... so is the windows CD, dirty, scratched or the slightest of blemishes - just a speck of dust may cause this.
One confusing point is what CD does the machine boot from?
You need to inspect the CD very carefully in a good light for the slightest of spots, also if the top layer is damaged or scratched in anyway this will also make the CD useless.... but there might be a way round this!
The info is burned on to a etching layer between the top label and the inner surface of the CD... the top cover on the inside is silver to help reflect the return laser beam to the optical pick up sensor, it also prevents the backing layer from being opaque... we don't want the laser be firing straight through the CD, we wanna be reflecting the beam on to the sensor in the laser assembly - all about polarized light.
Also the bios may have to be set so that the CD is the first bootable device otherwise it 'may' attempt to boot from the hard drive every time... another probability.
So check the CD very carefully, especially the top label for scratches or damaged surface.
PC Not booting 
Linear Mode
