Hi piita,

That message means you need to boot to the BIOS (F2) and verify the correct BIOS settings. Once that is done, then boot to your Windows disc and install the operating system onto the new drive if you intend for this to be the system drive.

What would be the correct BIOS settings? To me it seems like everything is how it's supposed to be but I'm not really sure. And I tried inserting my Windows XP disc (it's a Dell Windows XP Service Pack 2 disc) but the computer isn't reading it. Thanks for your response.

Here's your manual.

Boot to the BIOS, then arrow down to drives and enter that sub-menu. You'll see drives 0 through 3, or possible channel 0 primary and secondary, and channel 1 primary and secondary. Drive 0, channel 0 primary should list your hard drive, and drive 2 channel 1 primary should list your CD drive. 

Also go to the Boot Sequence menu. Your CD drive should be first on the list, then your hard drive.

Maybe the CD drive isn't working? But it shows up in the BIOS...

Do you think I should get professional help?

Did you boot to the BIOS? You have to do that to stop the "F1 to continue..." error.

Evertytime I press F2 I am taken to setup utility. When I exit setup utility, the "F1...F2" screen comes up again.

The problem is that a setting in your BIOS does not match your actual hardware. I'm not sure what, but that's what you need to fix.

Okay. What if I were to show you my BIOS settings?

Drive Configuration

          Diskette Drive A                                       3.5 Inch 1.44 MB

          Primary Master Drive                              Hard Drive

          Primary Slave Drive                                OFF

          Secondary Master Drive                         CD-ROM Device

          Secondary  Slave Drive                          OFF

          IDE Drive UDMA                                       ON

Hard Disk Drive Sequence

           1) System BIOS boot devices

            2) USB device (not installed)

Boot Sequence

           ✓ 1. IDE CD-ROM device

          ✓  2. Hard Disk Drive C:

          ✓  3. Diskette Drive

Memory Information

           Installed System Memory                        512 MB DDR SDRAM

           System Memory Speed                           333 MHz

           System Memory Channel Mode             Single

           AGP Aperture                                             128 MB

CPU Information

          CPU Speed                                                 NORMAL

          Bus Speed                                                  533 MHz

          Processor 0 ID                                            F41

                  Clock Speed                       2.80 GHz

                  L2 Cache Size                    1024 KB

Integrated Device (Legacy Select Options)

          Sound                                                          ON

          Network Interface Controller                   ON

          Mouse Port                                                 ON

          USB Emulation                                         ON

          USB Controller                                          ON

          Serial Port 1                                               AUTO

                      Parallel Port

                                      Mode                        PS/2

                                       I/O Address           378h

Diskette Interface                                             AUTO

Primary Video Controller                                AUTO

Onboard Video Buffer                                     1MB

Power Management

                      Suspend Mode                            S3

                       AC Power Recovery                   OFF

                       Low Power Mode                        DISABLED

System Security

                     Password Status                        UNLOCKED

                     System Password                       DISABLED

                     Setup Password                          DISABLED

                      Post Hotkeys                                F2 and F12

                     PXE BIS Default Policy                ACCEPT

Keyboard NumLock                                           ON

Report Keyboard Errors                                    REPORT

Auto Power                                                           DISABLED

Fast Boot                                                              ON

OS Install Mode                                                   OFF

Limit CPUID Value                                              DISABLED

IDE Hard Drive Acoustics Mode                        PERFORMANCE

System Event Log                                                READ

Asset Tag

I was told that it might be the CD drive or the XP disc. I tested the disc in another computer and it works, so it must be the drive...

Yes, it's possible the drive is just not working.

Maybe the CD drive isn't working? But it shows up in the BIOS... Do you think I should get professional help?

It's cheaper to get a SATA card and a SATA DVD drive. (Newegg should be able to supply both for $35.) Professional help is $$$.

rdunnill,

But I would also need an adapter, right?

What if I try booting from a flash drive? I have one I could use. But the computer I would be using to format the drive is running Windows Vista, not Windows XP. Is that okay?

I'm not sure the Dimension 3000 supports booting to a flash drive.

An IDE DVD drive will cost you $15-20.