Just like "most" floppies will not Boot a computer, a CD-ROM must be
specially written to do this.  In most cases, this means you need to
"burn" one yourself with a CD Burner that can put the proper system
files, in the proper way, on to the CD.
The following is from Adaptec help file:
What is a Bootable CD?
A bootable CD is a disc that contains a bootable image in an ISO 9660 file
that is an exact representation of a floppy or hard drive from which you can
boot your system.
Easy CD Creator implements the El Torito standard which was developed
by Phoenix Technologies and IBM and specifies a bootable CD-ROM format.
             Rick Glazier
----- Original Message -----
From: Bill Nussbaumer <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [PCBUILD] Booting from CD ROM
Is it necessary to have a CDROM specially designed for this purpose of
should any CD-ROM work so long as the feature is supported in the BIOS?

                  Visit our website regularly for FAQs,
               articles, how-to's, tech tips and much more
                  http://nospin.com - http://nospin.org