turning my external DVD-RW from slave to master

[dr_webber]

Ok heres the thing
I reinstall windows xp every 16 months and its that time of year again,
all internal DVD-RWs that I bought had a tendency of breaking
so I bought an external DVD-RW
now the problem is that I cant get the computer to boot from the windows CD when I restart.
I also have a CD-ROM in the computer although its set to slave

I want the external DVD-RW to be master
on device manager it says that that the DVD-RW is a
TSSTcorp CD/DVDW SH-S182M USB device
its from samsung

can someone help?

PS
I also screwd up the windows installation
but that will be posted in the windows xp category

 

[jsc]

With an external USB drive, there is no master or slave.

Selecting a boot device in BIOS has nothing to do with whether or not that device is an IDE master or slave or a SATA device. Assuming that your hardware is properly configured (your CD-ROM drive has a corresponding "master" device on the IDE cable), you should be able to designate the CD-ROM drive as the boot device.

If your BIOS recognizes the external drive when your system POST's, you can use it as a boot device.

 

[dr_webber]

the CD-ROM isnt working
how do I set the external DVD as a boot drive?
im not very familiar with the BIOS

 

[dr_webber]

SO WHAT DO I DO?

 

[evongugg]

Go in the Bios and select to boot a USB drive, if your computer has that option.
Or boot from the internal CD-Rom. Set the boot order appropriately.

 

[runswindows95]

If anything, order a cheap DVD-ROM from Newegg and replace your internal CD-ROM that isn't working.

 

[dr_webber]

Go in the Bios and select to boot a USB drive, if your computer has that option.
Or boot from the internal CD-Rom. Set the boot order appropriately.

Im no expert with computers but I will try to do that