booting new motherboard please help

i think a friend fried my old motherboard because while it was on he tried plugging a power cord into a hard drive i just put in and the computer just shut down and would not turn back on, so i went on ebay and bought a new one http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6701150556&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT#ebayphotohosting there is the ad for it and i just recieved it today and i installed it in the case and i was having problems getting the cords hooked up to the right places (led lights etc..) but i finally got the computer to actually turn on. ok i was using my friends ram card because i had old cards that didnt fit in this one so he took it home with him when he left and i had another one that wouldnt work in there computers for some reason so i got that in and re- did some things but this time i changed some wires around and now what used to be the reset button turns the computer on, i have to read better on the manual but it was confusing...anyways now that it turns on the only screen that is on says "detecting ide cables" and just stays there and does nothing else, it also has the option to go to the setup by pressing the delete key but that doesnt work....does anyone have any ideas on what to do? any help is greatly appreciated, thank you

(^^;?(I don't know what and how you are doing precisely.)

Make sure that the cable is correctly fastened to HDD and that it can boot from Floppy with HDD removed or not.

Check HDD by diagnostic tool from the maker if it is attachable.

And always have the computer turned off when you are connecting and disconnecting components, so you don't fry anything else.

make sure the IDE cables are correctly inserted into your mb. if u got a new mb u may hav put them in wrong. the striped side of the cable shud coincide with a mark (usually a small triangle) on the mb at one side of the socket. I doubt its this tho as theres only two ways u can put them in after all!