I recently purchased a new computer and to cut costs didnt buy a new cd-rom drive figuring I could use the one from my old computer. If the drive is connected to the computer I cannot get past post as the computer RESETS when checking for ide drives and am unable to get to bios. If I wait to plug in the drive till the computer loads up XP, it immediatly resets and continues resetting when it checks for ide drives.
I have TRIED using either ide port on mobo and switching the drive from master to slave with no effect.

My computer specs are:
AMD X2 3800 AM2 CPU
320GB SATA II 7200RPM HD
GIGABYTE AM2 NF4-SLI m55SLI-S4
Generic CD-RW IDE Drive
500W PSU
1GB DDR2 PC6400 Ram

Would appreciate any help or suggestions. ThanksHow is the drive jumpered and on what cable? Is the CD seen in the BIOS/setup screen?The drive is the only one on an IDE cable connected to the second IDE slot atm. It is jumpered as master but I originally had it as slave. I am unable to get to the BIOS with it plugged in as it resets before i can.Do you have ANOTHER drive to try with? Do you have a warranty on that motherboard?

You surely don't mean that you are plugging in a device when the machine is running? Lol... yea i kinda wondered about the wisdom of plugging in the drive while the comp was on but i was desperate. :-/ I was putting off trying a different drive but if you think it will help i will try it now. The computer is brand new so i would hope it isnt the motherboard being broke that is causing the problem, but yes, i do have a warranty.
THANKS for the response
Tried a different dvd-rom drive and am having no problems with it. Thanks for the push in the right direction GX1... just needed to get off my lazy but and troubleshoot i guess.
Really, really appreciate the help.You're welcome and thanks for posting back.

Now you have a totally new machine, right?