problems with installing windows on a new PC

[sonic_emperor]

hi every1
so my friend brought me his new pc so i can install windows on it...i inserted my cd...but installation doesnt start(yes i did set bios settings so computer does boot from CD/DVD-ROM)
as i said the problem is that it just wont start/boot from cd,as if it was an normal cd
i tried cd from my mothers office but it doesnt work as well(both are winXP w/SP2)
funny thing is that linux cd's i have (ubuntu and openSuse) start the installation,and the motherboard cd (for raid) boots as well
do you have any idea what could cause this?

[Chewy]

windows xp and even vista can't install on a lot of computers that have sata hard drives since they can't see the hard drives

some motherboards take care of this problem by running the drives in ide emulation

if you have a bootable xp cd then as soon as the boot to cd comes up then you see a screen where it says press f6 to load other drivers, you load a floppy and when asked after xp says I can't find the drive, it looks at the floppy and asks you which driver to install

sorry but it has to be a floppy

[sonic_emperor]

well,i have a floppy,but the problem is i cant get to that part where i should press F6
computer just acts as theres no cd in the drive/the cd in the drive isnt bootable

[Chewy]

that is a weird problem, other cd's boot but not windows xp ones?

are those both generic xp cd's?

[Chewy]

what's the controller chipset for the optical drive?

[sonic_emperor]

if you mean generic=original/not pirated than yes
how can i find out whats the controler chipset?
do you think if it works with vista
or how about installing one of linux's and then try somehow to install win?
i dont know im out of ideas

[Chewy]

by generic, I mean not off of a branded computer where the disk might be tied to a particular brand or model?

what make/model of computer is his? homebuilt? motherboard?

[sonic_emperor]

its
ASRock
aliveNF6G
(from manual)motherboard

[Chewy]

SATA Operation Mode
Use this item to adjust SATA Operation Mode. The default value of this
option is [non-RAID]. If you want to operate RAID function on SATA / SATAII
HDDs, please select [RAID].
* If you select [RAID] mode, SATA / SATAII HDDs can not be accessed until you finish
configuring RAID functions in NVIDIA BIOS / Windows RAID Utility.

return bios to it's defaults

turn off raid

[sonic_emperor]

well....it is turned off
sata operation mode -->(non-raid)

[Chewy]

what is the optical drive and what is it running off of?

[sonic_emperor]

i looked up in bios:
PM-ATAPI DVD A DH20A3

[Chewy]

hook a pata optical drive up and install xp from that

something strange about support for that drive going on, maybe bios of the computer or chipset

[sonic_emperor]

whats a "pata opt. drive."?

thnx
i wont open the case as there is still this guarantee label at the back that should not be ripped off,so if somethings wrong my friend can try to get a new one

[Chewy]

pata is parrallel ata vs sata(serial ata)

if that's a factory built computer and you all didn't mess up bios then it's definitely rma time

rma is return for replacement

did it have vista on it when he got it?