CD ROM player & DVD burner not recognised

AyeLaddieAyeLaddie
edited June 2009 in Hardware
Ever since virus problems and an apparently successful repair install of XP Pro back a few months ago, my computer doesn't seem to recognise my CD ROM & DVD burner.:confused:

Dropping a disc into either one doesn't produce any action. Nero can't find the burner.

Can anyone provide some wizardly advice?

Thanks!

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2009
    Give this guide a shot: http://icrontic.com/articles/office-hours-4
  • AyeLaddieAyeLaddie
    edited May 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    Give this guide a shot: http://icrontic.com/articles/office-hours-4

    Thanks Thrax! Followed most of the instructions but couldn't quite get it right - I highlighted Lower Filters (Upper Filters wasn't there) and hit Delete rather than Right Clicking and choosing Delete as the instructions specified:crazy:

    Rebooted and problem still exists - doesn't recognise drives. When I run regedit and go back to check, there are neither upper filters or lower filters listed.

    Have I just made the problem worse?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2009
    No, you did the right thing. Can you post a screenshot of your device manager, please?

    You can access device manager by going to START -> RUN -> Type: devmgmt.msc -> PRESS: Enter.
  • AyeLaddieAyeLaddie
    edited May 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    No, you did the right thing. Can you post a screenshot of your device manager, please?

    You can access device manager by going to START -> RUN -> Type: devmgmt.msc -> PRESS: Enter.

    Thanks again - here is the screenshot (I blocked computer name as it identifies me!). I'm hoping that the DVD/CD-ROM drives is the only one you want expanded.

    THX - John
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2009
    Yep, that's totally fine. It looks like you have a virtual CD/DVD drive from Alcohol or DaemonTools installed, and your other drives definitely aren't appearing.

    Tell me, are your optical drives connected via SATA (thin cable) or IDE (fat grey cable)?
  • AyeLaddieAyeLaddie
    edited May 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    Yep, that's totally fine. It looks like you have a virtual CD/DVD drive from Alcohol or DaemonTools installed, and your other drives definitely aren't appearing.

    Tell me, are your optical drives connected via SATA (thin cable) or IDE (fat grey cable)?

    Both connected with IDE (wide flat cable)
  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian
    edited May 2009
    On the back of the drives, the jumpers.

    What positions are they in?

    Make sure both say Cable select (I know.. you haven't moved those ever, so it shouldn't matter)
  • AyeLaddieAyeLaddie
    edited May 2009
    RyderOCZ wrote:
    On the back of the drives, the jumpers.

    What positions are they in?

    Make sure both say Cable select (I know.. you haven't moved those ever, so it shouldn't matter)

    I'm a little restricted in my movements at present and can't easily access the back of the drives but nothing has changed there since install a couple of years ago.

    Thanks

    J
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2009
    I wonder if it's just a bad cable.
  • AyeLaddieAyeLaddie
    edited May 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    I wonder if it's just a bad cable.

    Maybe - but the CD-ROM unit and the CD/DVD burner are separate units with separate cables - are those the cables that you refer to?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2009
    Well damn, there goes that theory.

    Do you know how to get into your computer's BIOS?
  • AyeLaddieAyeLaddie
    edited May 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    Well damn, there goes that theory.

    Do you know how to get into your computer's BIOS?

    Maybe - Tap F8 as it restarts?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2009
    You can spam several keys. One will work:

    F8, insert, F2, delete, home, F10.
  • AyeLaddieAyeLaddie
    edited May 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    You can spam several keys. One will work:

    F8, insert, F2, delete, home, F10.

    O.K. ...
  • AyeLaddieAyeLaddie
    edited June 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    Well damn, there goes that theory.

    Do you know how to get into your computer's BIOS?

    Hi Thrax - I'm still stalled at this stage. How do I get into my computers BIOS and what do I do once I'm there?

    Thanks

    J
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited June 2009
    Follow this guide: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ht/accessbios.htm

    Once there, you're looking for the section that lists your hard drives, or your optical drives. It will come under many different names: hard disks, disk drives, disk configuration, disk configuration, hard drive config... Something that mentions your drives.

    Once in that menu, you need to see if it lists your optical drives. There will be 3 or 4 devices listed in this screen if it's correct, and if you're not sure, you can take a digital picture with a phone or camera and post it to Icrontic, and we can tell you.
  • AyeLaddieAyeLaddie
    edited June 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    ... (snipped some ...)

    Once in that menu, you need to see if it lists your optical drives. There will be 3 or 4 devices listed in this screen if it's correct, and if you're not sure, you can take a digital picture with a phone or camera and post it to Icrontic, and we can tell you.

    Thanks Thrax - am attaching a jpeg. CD-ROM and DVD burner are both listed and appear to be disabled. Is it simply a matter of enabling them?

    J
    BIOS.jpg 123.3K
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited June 2009
    Actually the "disabled" is just an option that lets you disable them in the BIOS. What we have successfully just proved is that whatever is going on with your CD/DVD-ROMs is definitely happening inside Windows!

    Go back to the Windows device manager. Right click and hit "uninstall" for everything listed under the IDE ATA/ATAP controllers section. Don't worry, though, as they'll be automagically reinstalled when you restart the PC. Once you've uninstalled them all (make sure to hit "no" to Windows request to reboot the PC for each one), THEN reboot the PC and see what happens.
  • AyeLaddieAyeLaddie
    edited June 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    Actually the "disabled" is just an option that lets you disable them in the BIOS. What we have successfully just proved is that whatever is going on with your CD/DVD-ROMs is definitely happening inside Windows!

    Go back to the Windows device manager. Right click and hit "uninstall" for everything listed under the IDE ATA/ATAP controllers section. Don't worry, though, as they'll be automagically reinstalled when you restart the PC. Once you've uninstalled them all (make sure to hit "no" to Windows request to reboot the PC for each one), THEN reboot the PC and see what happens.

    Succcess!!! Many thanks Thrax (:respect:) - that seemed to do the trick - my burner doesn't ID as Sony any longer, like it once did, but seems fully functional, as is the CD-ROM

    Thanks again! :D

    John
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited June 2009
    Great! :) Glad I could help.
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