ok, get this. new computer beside me. Everytime you boot the post screen blinks for a second and goes to a screen which says:
ODD0 Asus 1814-BLW
please hit any key to continue...
in BRIGHT green. and it moves past this after 5 seconds. thats the dvdr/cd combo drive. miko suggested that the ODD0 means there is a conflict. the rom drive is IDE plugged into a asus mobo (p5b-vm SE).
everythign seems to work fine. the boot priority is right, and fast boot is enabled, but that shouldnt matter. if i disco the drive this problem goes away. i burned some stuff, installed some stuff. no problems. any ideas?