no hdd present

I am working on a Dell, not sure what version or SP, of XP. Upon boot it says the file config.sys is either corrupt or missing. Try to boot from CD and it gives me the option of "repair" or continue from cd. Either one I select ends with, no hdd present. The hdd shows up in bios and is on the boot sequence list. The machine came with some diagnostice program that says everything checks out good. I can load Knoppix on it from cd and it sees all the files on the 0 drive. Cant seem to boot from floppy either..Any suggestions as to what I am up against..
Thanks

 

Hey read the article and it seems to make sense. Thanks we'll give it a shot and let you know.. Just am curious as to how that setting would have gotten changed?? Thanks again.

 

Thanks zbd21, that worked.. now to get past "cant find asms file" on reinstall
thanks again.

 

Thanks, I too found that article. I have not attempted it as of this response. I am curious as to when (in the article) it states "if the path in the error message is correct ...." the path that comes up for me is:
GLOBALROOT\CDROM\I386.. Then the other option in the drop down arrow is c: I have attempted to enter D:\etc..... but to no avail. It is the original disc that came from Dell, so that "should" not be part of the issue..
Thanks for all your help!! I will attempt all of this Sat.. I'll keep you informed.