When your PC boots and displays the HD settings is it ATA 33 or higher?
If not a 5400rpm 8Gb HD is not capable of pushing 3Mb/sec to the CDROM (IMHO).
Set the speed as low as possible (1x = 150Kb/sec) and try, if it works increase the X till it don't.
Get CD RW media as they are cheaper at 18 CD's for a copy.
