Not booting

I tried to hook up my laptop HD to my PC, didn't work out, I think it's dead, BUT while doing this I was messing in the BIOS to see if it was detected and I'm afraid that I made some changes that may have messed something up. Now when I start my computer it says "Searching for Boot Record from IDE-0..OK" then nothing, I've let it sit for hours.. it does nothing. But my PC HD is detected, it just won't boot, so what could be wrong? I dont want to have to wipe it out and reinstall windows, I'd like to be able to save what's on my HD, is that possible?
All help VERY appreciated, thanks!
-Amber

 

I don't think I changed jumpers, all I did was hook it up to my adapter, and hooked it to the middle IDE cable (slave) to be used as a second HDD.
I went to BIOS to see if it was detected.. and nothing.. so I disconnected it assuming it was dead. I didnt mess with anything else. So all that's left now is my original existing HDD which worked perfectly, the BIOS detects it as the primary master, nothing installed as primary slave, secondary master is my cd-rom, and secondary slave is another cd-rom (burner), that's all.. all 3 are detected.
When I start my computer, the HDD is detected, but I get that message "searching for boot record from IDE-0...OK" then nothing. I let it sit for hours. So now I've decided to just reinstall Windows XP, I got a disc from a friend, went to the BIOS and set it to boot from CD-Rom, when I restart the computer, it detects the CD, tells me to press any key to continue.. then absolutely nothing, for hours.
So I tried another disc that my brother burned for me, something he got from the internet, it actually runs through a bunch of things then ends up on the following message..
"[DR-DOS] A:\> _"
I've tried pressing keys... nothing happens.

I really appreciate all the help, I need this computer for work related stuff, thanks so much.
-Amber

 

So you messed with the Bios & now it won't boot? Go back into the bios & find the setting to restore default settings. Does that get you in?

 

I've established that the 2nd HD I tried to install is dead, now I just want my original existing (already working one) to work again. I went back through the BIOS unchanged the things I made changes to.. no luck. I set them back to original settings.. nothing.
I got a new XP disc, went through the BIOS for it to boot from CD-Rom, it reads the disc then tells to me to press any key to continue *press keys*, nothing, it just sits on the screen forever.

Would it be possible that it's my memory? My RAM should be fine, but I don't have any way of testing it.

 

Something new I tried.. I went to www.ultimatebootcd.com downloaded the basic version, burned ISO.. I put the disc in and it fires up the text options, only problem is when I click F1, F2, F3, etc.. as it commands to do for different options.. I get nothing. At the bottom it says will boot 1st harddrive in 5 minutes.. I wait 5 minutes then it goes to a solid black screen with the curser (_) blinking, hitting keys does nothing, it just sits at that screen and doesnt change.. what could that mean?
Thanks..

 

If the OS is XP try this. Don't know if you can boot that far though.

To start your computer by using the Last Known Good Configuration feature, follow these steps:
1. Start your computer.
2. When you see the "Please select the operating system to start" message, press the F8 key.
3. When the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, use the ARROW keys to select Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked), and then press ENTER.
4. If you are running other operating systems on your computer, use the ARROW keys to select Microsoft Windows XP, and then press ENTER

 

I wish it would make it as far as the Safe Mode and other options, but XP doesnt boot at all, just a black screen with all my stats and then it hangs up. Reinstalling XP isnt helping, it reads the CD, says press any key to continue.. then hangs up.
Thanks for the advice though, very much appreciated.

 

I've tried the suggestions, I'm really stumped on this..
A friend of mine brought over a working HD for us to test, it works fine in his computer, hook it to mine and the same message comes up "Searching for Boot Record from IDE-0..OK" then nothing. So we tried some new RAM that he brought me, made sure it was securely in there.. same message. He brought a new XP disc from his work, store bought, never used.. and the CD-Rom detects it but doesn't boot it, it just sits at the same black screen telling me to press any key to continue with CD.. I press keys and nothing happens. Any other ideas? Thanks...