I don't know if i'm in the right area, but this is my problem...i have a compaq presario desktop pc....i installed Win XP Home Edition..I also installed a dvd writer, at the beginning, all was working well..now its not. when i put a cd in either drive(master or slave), the computer will NOT read the info until i restart the computer. While the cd is in, some programs won't respond until i eject the cd. i've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drive, and it still doesn't function right. is this a bios problem? Originally, this pc had win 98 second edition. I've been to the compaq site, and apparently there are no updates, or even my model available..i cannot find my serial number anywhere...and I mean NOWHERE! I'v installed programs that r supposed to find it, and guess what, they could not find it. ANy help would be appreciated.

Welcome to TechSpot

Are you talking about the Serial No. of your PC or the XP-serial?
If the latter, use this attached file to extract it.

For the machine serial-no, go into the BIOS. I think for Compaq that is pressing F1 or F10 at bootup. In there you should find all info that you need, unless a previous owner has deleted it.
If you have the exact model- or Series-no, you should also be able to get further info on HP/Compaq's site.