Hi

I am having problems using Vista with Sony NEC Optiarc SuperMulti (AD-7170A) OEM DVD Burner.(http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=3110653&sku=O451-1000&CMP=EMC-TIGEREMAIL&SRCCODE=WEM1474C).
I have built a Intel Core Due desktop as below. I have my HD0 (IDE) with slave jumper setting connected to the slave side of the IDE cable and the DVD burner with Master jumper settings connected to the master side of the IDE cable (all 3 DVD burner I tried). I initially had problems installing when using a OEM DVD Burner - idvd16dd. So I replaced it with Sony DVD burner - retail DRU-840A. The system then ran fine, I could install Vista Home premium, then the Drivers for my graphic card, other drivers for my motherboard IP35-E (DirectX9, audio etc), Norton AV 2007 and update the vista and Norton online.
After this, I replaced the DRU-840A with a cheaper OEM Sony NEC AD-7170A to reduce the cost. However, after I installed the new DVD burner, the system will not boot correctly , when Boot from DVD, it gave me an option to repair, which I did, but without success. After a few tries , not it does not even boot from DVD. I changed the boot order in several fashion but no success. I removed my IDE hard drive to load Vista on my second SATA HD, but when I boot from DVD, it goes to 'Verifying DMI pool Data', stay there for like 20 minutes and the errors out 'Couldn't find BootMGR'

Case -- ATX Mid-Tower (ULT31795)
Motherboards -- IP35-E ATX
CPU (Processor) -- Intel core duo 2 E6750
Graphic Cards/Video Cards -- PNY GeForce 7600GS , PCI Express, 512MB DDR
Memory -- 2GB (2x1GB) PC26400 DDR2 800Mhz 240-pin DIMMs crucial
Software (O/S) -- Vista Home Premium OEM
Hard Drive0 -- 200 GB ATA Maxtor L01P200 200GB 7200RPM 8MB
Hard Drive1 -- HITACHI Deskstar T7K500 HDT725025VLA380 (0A33423) 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive OEM
DVD Writer -- 16 x Writer idvd16dd / Sony NEC AD-7170A / Sony DRU-840A
Power Supply -- Coolmax V-500 - 500 W with 120 mm fan
fans -- 1 x 120 mm + 2 x 80 mm


any suggestions?

It could be a bad DVD. There should be no difference between an OEM and Retail DVD other than the latter will come in a box and usually has some burning software, usually Nero, the the drives themselves should be the same. Usually it's best to have the hdd as Master and DVD as Slave but that doesn't sound like the problem if the retail DVD is working but could try switching them

problem resolved after calling microsoft support. we couldn't find out what was wrong but the following steps helped to resolved. I kept my DVD burner - Sony DRU840A as master , IDE HD as Slave and connected a secondary DVD (Idvd16DD) as external (slave). This step took us to a point where I got past the 'BOOTMGR is missing' and started to see 'Boot from CD or DVD...' However, i got stuck at this step. I removed the external USB DVD burner and re-boot and it went successfully. However, It still dones not see my second HD (SATA) and shows a extra Floppy drive (I do not have a floppy drive)

It sounds like you have 2 SATAs, is at least one recognized? Does the one that isn't recognized have Vista installed? Is the SATA recognized in the BIOS? Have you tried a different mobo connection and/or cable on the drive that isn't recognized?

I have only 1 SATA .Thie 1 sata is the 2nd hard drive for the system. Its recognized in the BIOS but in the Vista, there is no 2nd HD, howevere vista shows a A drive - Floppy and i don't have a floppy. -Inbetween my trouble shooting, I have an unsuccessful run to flash the BIOS from a CD which had launched a DRDOS with A drive

First, clear your CMOS if you have an unsuccessful BIOS update? Instructions should be in your mobo manual? Then see if you can get into your BIOS and make sure your SATA drive is enabled