I tried several times, but apparently I cannot boot from theAvira rescue cd, arrgh!! Maybe I am missing something?
I went into my system BIOS, as below, but here is what happened:
I tried going into the boot sequence by hitting f12 and I hit 4 for the IDE Cd-rom device, but it booted into windows.
I then tried to reboot and hit f2 for the system setup, then I went into the boot sequece and moved the IDE - CD rom Device into spot 1, but it booted into windows.
I then rebooted, hit f2 for system setup, this time I moved the hard disk to slot 3, and it booted into windows again.
I rebooted again, f2 for system setup, then I chose to disable the diskettte drive and the hard disk drive C, so I only had the IDE Cd-Rom device chosen for the boot.
this time I just kept getting the following message : strike f1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility
I hit f1 a few times, but I just got the same message. I then tried putting the rescue cd into my 2nd cd drive, but I got same message about striking f 1 to rety boot, f2 for setup utility
eh should I try to mess around with the boot sequence option 7 : boot to Utility Partition?
I tried the IDE Drive Diagnostics under the boot device menu and it says the following info:
My primary IDE: Drive 0 : ste with some numbers - Pass, drive 1: no IDE device
My secondary IDE : Drive 0 - Lite-on combo - diagnostics not supported, drive 1: no IDE device
I don't know what else to try....I was thinking a different rescue disk but I fear it will have the same outcome.
I am certainly willing to try a different rescue disk and open to any other suggestions, I feel like I hit a brick wall at this point.
Thanks for all your time and suggestions and expertise thus far.