Computer problem! Please help!

I think I need to know how to boot from CD-Rom. I keep reading on help sites to “set bios to boot from CD-Rom” but it never says how to do that! I thought it was something to do with hitting a function key while it’s booting but I haven’t gotten that to work so far. Or maybe a boot disk would help? I’m thinking reinstall Windows is my best option at this point. The problem is, the computer crashed and I restarted. The Dell symbol came up, then the Windows Me screen, then the password thing came up. I hit OK like I always do and a light blue background screen comes up and I have a working mouse but no icons and no programs running. You can restart as much as you want, you won’t get anything else. So can anyone tell me how to boot from CD or tell me anything else that might help?

if I remember, you need to hit the 'Delete' (DEL) key when the Dell symbol pops up (sometimes, F1 or F10). that puts you into BIOS and then you need to look for 'Startup options' and then set the cd rom drive to the first device.

That sounds about right. I'll try that when I get home.