can live cd be run w/o hdd?

[mojo jojo]

well I know in knoppix you can tell it not to look for a HDD

[CP]

It sounds like the IDE controller is probably f*cked, and as it tries to look for hardware it finds it, but can't initilize or something. Try disabling the IDE controllers in the BIOS.
CP

[trickster]

On Dell computers, you can usually tell the BIOS there is no hard drive. However, laptops usually have only one IDE controller. Master for the hard drive and slave for the cd. If it is the IDE controller that is damaged, then it might not work anyway.

[Dswissmiss]

hmm...thanx guys, you might be right about the IDE controller, but for some reason i feel good about it because i am at least able to begin booting off the cd, false hope maybe. i'll give knoppix a try (just downloaded it and it seems to have more boot options), and hope for the best.