Won't boot from CD-R

My computer is a dell 5100 inspiron. It has a cd-r/w dvd-rom combo drive (HL-DT-ST RW/DVD GCC-4241N). I can't boot from a cd-r,regular cds are fine, also I get the same thing in windows. I did firmware update and bios update. I have run out of ideas. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

Do you mean it wont boot from it when you first turn your computer on, or it wont auto load when you insert a cd-r in windows?



For the non-booting before windows problem, it could be because you dont have a boot image on the CD-R. Whats on the CD's?