They say it is impossible to access cd-rom while in safe mode. That's almost true. On some systems, if you depress the CTRL key to access ther Startup menu right before the pc begins booting to Windows, select 'Command Prompt Only', type "win /d:m" (without quotes) and then press enter, Windows should (read might!) start in safe mode with the cd drivers. If that fails (and it may well do as it is by design) you may be able to get past safe mode using the msconfig utility. This can be run from safe mode and it allows you to turn on which files are loaded and which are not.
Try this article from the Microsoft Knowledgebase and see if it helps.
How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 98
http://support.microsoft.com/support.../9/26.asp?FR=0
All the above assumes you have Windows as an OS.
Best!
HA