I have a number of old dell's that i need to get install windows on so they can be used inside a school.

According to the bios they are:

Dell optiplex GX1 L550+

But i am having a slight problem with 3 of them. They canme without any cd-roms(second hand). So when i wanted to go and install windows I first had to put new cd'roms in.

That was no problem. We had a few spare. I first checked the cd-rom player if they were in order and they were.

But 2 of the dells wont detect theyr hd's with the cd-roms in. I tried everything. every master/slave primary/secundary setting we have. Tried putting the cables in every wich way.

Nothing. But when i take out the cd-rom the hd get detected fine. But it wont boot since the hd's have been killdisked.

A third pc will only boot from cd if I eject and insirt a cd i a certain stage of the boot procces.

Can anyone please tell me how to get these things working ?