Umm.....having it outside of a case isn't going to greatly affect the amount of "radiation" you will be "exposed" to. Furthermore, electromagnetic radiation hasn't been scientifically shown to cause any adverse effects, even when due to high voltage transmission lines on the order of hundreds of...
If the BIOS can't see it, you won't be able to boot off of it. The Windows install can see it because it loads drivers for your ATA controller separately. Until you can get the BIOS to see it, you are SOL on booting from it.
There are a couple of things that might be going on:
1) You...
Well, after applying the right type of pressure, I received a DHL tracking number today. So far it hasn't shown up on their website, but I'll give it a day.
Regardless, the hoops I've had to jump through just to get something I paid for shipped to me have been ridiculous.
I have more...
I just got taken by this puke, too (on 2cpu.com). $53 for a rackmount case. Not as bad as some of the guys above me here, but nonetheless, ticks me off. Got the runaround - wife forgot to send it, just got back from a trip, I'll check it in the morning, etc. Should have done some more...