computer won't boot past installing the CDROM drivers

[SarverSystems]

Brand new Asus A7n266-VM motherboard and Kingston DDR RAM.
Everythign else is original compaq stuff.

When I go to boot up to install the OS (WinME) I get the following:

Attempt A: (Windows ME CD)
Boot from CD or boot from hard drive...I choose CDROM.
Start windows setup from cdrom, start windows with cdrom support, start windows without cdrom support...i choose start windows setup from CD.
Then it attempts to load the CDROM drivers. It hangs.

Attempt B: (bootable floppy disk)
Starting Windows 98
Then it hangs at the CDROM drivers part again.

Attempt C: (boot from a Windows XP CD)
Everythign works fine.

The problem is, it's a 750MHz Duron, and he doesn't want XP on the system yet.

What can I do to get this system to boot from a CD???

 

[punisher]

Double ck the CD, make sure it is spotless and has no scratches. Fubarred OS CDs are the most common source of bad installs, especially when it hangs in the same place.

 

[SarverSystems]

But it won't even load the CDROM drivers, even though somehow the CDROM works fine to get me to that point.

I will try my Win98 CD just to see what happens though.

 

[SarverSystems]

Nope. I tried my Win98 CD, and it does EXACTLY the same thing. As soon as the drivers start to load, it stops. As if it can't find the drive or soemthing.

My WinXP Pro CD works flawlessly though. I didn;t see it load any CDROM drivers though.

 

[SarverSystems]

The board is being RMAed.