installed cd-rw/dvd drive and computer does not recognize it

After installing the drive, did you enter the Setup (BIOS) and
enable the SATA port you connected it to?

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/op330/en/ug/setup.htm#wp1160318

In the BIOS, under Drives, there will be SATA 0 thru n. 
Enable the SATA port that you connected the drive to.
The following is the motherboard .....

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/op330/en/ug/mtparts.htm#wp1595238

Items 5 and 8 are the SATA ports 0, 1, 2 and 3.  Identify
which one you connected the drive to and enable that port
in the BIOS.

no, i did not do that - i will try that this afternoon during my planning period

thanks

JD

 

looking thru all that info - exactly which section applies to my situation

i know just enough about computers to get me in trouble

appreciate the help

 

after rethinking and reading thru this yet again - i know how to get in to bios - how do you enable the sata for the cd rom i guess is my question

 

is this the section?

Drives

Diskette Drive

• With diskette drive : Internal is default
• Without diskette drive : USB is default.

This option enables or disables the floppy drive. The options are Off, Internal, USB, and Read Only.

NOTE: If USB is selected, ensure that the USB Controller setup option under Onboard Devices is set to On.

SATA 0 through
SATA n

Identifies and enables and disables the drives attached to the SATA connectors on the system board and lists the capacities for the hard drives.

SATA Operation

(RAID Autodetect/AHCI default)

 

Options for Mini Tower and Desktop:

• RAID Autodetect/AHCI (RAID if signed drives, otherwise AHCI)
• RAID Autodetect/ATA (RAID if signed drives, otherwise ATA)
• RAID On (SATA is configured for RAID on every boot)

NOTE: When in Autodetect mode, the system configures the drive as RAID if a RAID signature is detected on the drive. Otherwise the drive will be configured as AHCI or ATA.

SMART Reporting

(Off default)

This setting determines whether integrated drive errors are reported or not during system startup.

 

that did the trick - thanks for the tips

we have another computer here at school with the same deal - i went in and set it up the same way - when you  boot it up though it says (on a black screen) something like - going into auto power save - then the windows xp starts to boot up - it takes several minutes and then the screen goes black (blank) except the mouse cursor shows up (but won't move) any ideas??