hi there
can anyone enlighten me on how to install my dvd driver through dos
thanks

You still use DOS! Wow, well if memory serves me correctly you'll need MSCDEX.exe and a driver for your specific DVD drive and include it in your boot sequence. However it is years since I have done it and I doubt any manufacturer actually makes a DOS driver any more. Instead I know there are generic ones. I would download a floppy disk image from somewhere like http://www.bootdisk.com/ where the images come pre-configured with generic DOS drivers that should work.

i'm only using DOS because I can't load an operating system without my cd/dvd which arn't recognised. I've had this empty box for ages and now pulling my hair out. All I want is it working. All the components work I just can't load the driver for the main one (cd/dvd) which would allow me to install an OS. I'll try bootdisk.com and see if I can make any sense of it. Thanks for your help

You may not need to do this to get an OS on your machine. How old is the PC (not that old I'd guess if it is a DVD drive)? Most machines built in the last 6 years will boot from a CD without the need for drivers or anything else. And most modern operating systems from Win 98 onwards and most Linux distros will come on a bootable CD.

When your PC starts up go into the BIOS. See if there is a settign somewhere to set the boot order of devices. If there is set the order to be CD first then hard disk. Then put your bootable OS installation CD in the drive and resboot. You should now find you can boot fropm the CD and install the OS without needing any DOS drivers.

no, can't do that one because my dvd is also my cd rom. So without a cd rom I can't get anything in except W95 which I don't have a copy of. I have 98se, 2000 and me but all require cd support. I think it's closely coming to the time to call it a very big paperweight. I can't find any other way to load anything. Oh hold on, is there a way I could copy the OS over from this computer? If so do you know what I would need. Thanks for all your help

OK, now I am a little confused. If you have a Windows 2000 disk then you can boot form your DVD drive. Your PC's BIOS sees a DVD drive like a CD drive, there is no difference. Now I may have the wrong end of the stick so tell me which of these steps you believe you will be unable to do:

1. Go into the PC's BIOS and set the first boot device to be "CD Drive"
2. Place Windows 2000 (or 98SE) CD in the DVD drive
3. Reboot the PC and let it boot of the OS disk in the DVD drive

Hi there
You are so patient, thanks
Right, for unknown reason my cd/dvd is not recognised at all in BIOS. The boot order is Floppy then Hard Drive, nothing else is there.
The cd physically works in the fact that the drawer will open and close but doesn't read any discs. I have rebooted lots of times. I have also changed the IDE cable, checked the jumper settings and tried a different cd unit. The last one I used is now with my friend and working fine. The problem just seems to be that I can't load the cd from DOS, I am just trying to get to the point of having an OS then Windows should contain all the drivers.
Sorry I confused you earlier, does this make it clearer?

OK, if there is not even the option to boot from CD then it means your BIOS does not support it. I am suprised but it is not unheard of. Your best bet is to download one of the floppy disk images from bootdisk.com that I mentioned earlier in the thread. These will come with generic DOS CD drivers.

I have one more question though. In the BIOS, on the front screen when you go in it will list what drives are on what channels of your motherboard. The very first entry should be for your hard disk. Does an entry come up for the CD-ROM? If not then this problem may be down to the CD-Rom installed incorrectly. I can advise further if this is the case.

Hi Big T
Right I have finally found the problem but don't know how to remedy it. Apparently I have a file (file not drive) missing. This file is MSCD001 and I think it is a relatively common problem. I've got to do something in config.sys and autoexec.bat (Ithink) but havn't got a clue where to start. Still have no OS installed. Sorry for the delay in replying, needed a break from the damn machine

I have the exact same problem, my copmuter does not reconize my cd-rom and the generic drivers do not control it. I have found the correct driver, but I do not know how to get my computer to control it. I copied the correct driver from a to c, but it still doesn't control the drive. Why aren't there any more replies here? Did everyone give up on this problem?