cdrom drive not recognized & free av sftwr

parker888parker888
edited August 2005 in Hardware
hi, i'm a pc idiot,,,could you perhaps help me w/a hardware problem? i bot a new printer,,,unhooked all my pc stuff & dusted & cleaned up cable octopus,,,rehooked everything up,,,got the printer up to the point where you install the software & my pc no longer recognized my cd drive,,,it wasn't recognizing an ipod in my usb port friday, but it does recognize my digital camera in the same ports,,,i tried troubleshooting the cdrom drive, i did what it says under the add/remove hdwr area on control panel, but from there, there were so many suggestions i'm not sure which to do next

also, what is the best free antivirus software? i have norton net security, but it bullocksed up my pc

thanks!

Comments

  • ronboronbo Connecticut
    edited August 2005
    I hear AVG is a good, free, anti virus software program. On your cd rom, did you try going to device manager and deleting it, then rebooting and see if windows found new hardware?
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited August 2005
    If it doesn't show under device manager at all then check the cabling again.
  • TexTex Dallas/Ft. Worth
    edited August 2005
    cabling or power connector for the cd/dvd. Depending on how the jumpers are set they have to be plugged into a SPECIFIC header on the cable.

    Just a wild guess..... when you cleaned up that octopus of cables and wiring did you eliminate a IDE cable? Like say where the hard drive or other cdroms etc... were on differant cables.... and you consolidated them onto one cable for neatness? Or changed it from being plugged into the end of the cable into being plugged into the closer connector?

    Unless all your drives are jumpered for CS or "cable select" then those drives all need plugged into certain headers on the IDE cable. masters on the end. slaves on the one closer. Slaves should have a master on the end also. Sometimes they work without but its not recomended.

    So.......... did you change anything? I mean do you THINK anything changed in the cabling? Even if you don't THINK it did... you might of accidently changed something.

    Have the cd/dvd on the END of a cable by itself. Make sure its jumpered to CS. Push the cable in REALLY good. Reboot. Do it two or three times. Depending on how screwed up the devices are in the device manager it may take a couple boots for XP to be sure where everything is anymore.

    Tex
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2005
    is it an external drive, i kinda got that notion from the post.. :scratch: maybe it was internal im not sure. let us know if its external or internal.
  • TexTex Dallas/Ft. Worth
    edited August 2005
    I never even thought of that.

    Tex
  • parker888parker888
    edited August 2005
    hi,

    thanks for the suggestions! the cables i cleaned up were all external, it was just a mess b/c i have 2 pc's side by side

    i tried updating the drivers, but no luck,,,working up my nerve to open the case and also uninstall and reinstall the drive - sounds rather involved for me to be doing :(
  • parker888parker888
    edited August 2005
    it's an internal cd rom drive that came w/the pc when i got it,,,i have no idea why it's not working all of a sudden, i hardly moved the box

    and now all of a sudden the usb port's not working

    seems the pc's working like the rest of things are going for me lately lol
  • qparadoxqparadox Vancouver, BC
    edited August 2005
    Not sure on your other problem. But for Free antivirus I use AVG on all my computers and its generally been good to me:

    http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1
  • parker888parker888
    edited August 2005
    thanks! i dl'd it last night :)
Sign In or Register to comment.