I believe that some files got corrupted on my HDD since windows would restart itself when it got to the loading screen. I ordered a new disc drive since mine was faulty to use when repairing windows. After plugging it in i booted up my computer and after setting it to boot from disc first got the message "reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media". I found this odd since i had the windows installation disc in the drive. I checked all the connections and they are fine. At one point the message "press any key to boot from disc" appeared and after doing so got the installation screen but, out of all the possible things that could have happened, experienced a power cut. It wouldn't have affected any components because i have a surge protector and i'm still getting the message.

Computer specs:
Asus Maximus formula II
LG DVD drive
2Gb 800MHz DDR2 black dragon RAM
Intel Q6600
250gb barracuda seagate HDD
HIS IceQ 4 Turbo

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Since you had a power outage, I might suggest going back into bios and checking all your settings for plug and play, plus selecting cdrom again as 1st boot device in the boot order. Save changes and try again. Maybe the bios reset to defaults because of power outage. Just a guess though.

Thanks but I have tried that already but still get the same message. Any other ideas?

Well, just to experiment. I'd suggest downloading a Linux Live CD like Ubuntu and burn the download as a iso cd and see if it boots up. You can run it off the cd and not have to install it and that will determine if bios and hardware is functioning properly. You can also access you Windows install using the Ubuntu cd. Worth a try maybe.Download Ubuntu | Ubuntu

Thanks, i'll give it a try.

Nope didn't work, still got the same message. I didn't mention this before but i think it may be of some significance, I had plugged in a new hard drive but assumed that it would still have my old one set as the first hard drive, so after looking through my BIOS saw that my new, empty hard drive was set as first so after changing it to my old hard drive i tried again and this time i get a black screen with a blinking underscore on it after a few blinks it moves down a few lines and stays there.

Does your BIOS detect your DVD drive?

Yes, it's set as the first boot device.

This might be a tedious approach but:

When you boot with the Windows CD/DVD (is this Vista or XP) what LED display do you get on your DVD drive?

Does it flash once? Does it flash more than once? Does it flash and cease to flash? Does it not flash at all?

And just to verify: you are using a Microsoft XP or Vista retail CD/DVD? As opposed to an OEM Recovery CD/DVD?


Also Have you tried loading the Boot Menu from the BIOS POST?

Often this is pressing the Esc key after the drives have been listed.

It flashes on and off till it gets to the black screen with the blinking dash. I am using a retail copy of XP. I can not get to the BIOS POST, after i push the button for it it goes to the black screen.