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CD Drive will not recognize any disks.

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by macpez, 2004/06/23.

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  1. 2004/06/23
    macpez

    macpez Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hello,

    Problem: CD Drive will not recognize any disks. When disk is inserted, indicator light shows that drive is active, but when "D" drive is opened the window is blank.

    Note: I have reviewed all the current forum entries/threads on this subject and none have solved my problem.

    Computer: Dell 2350; OS: Win XP professional; CD drive: internal Samsung CD-R/RW SW240B

    System Information:
    Computer is set to boot from CD drive 1st, Hard Drive 2nd, Floppy 3rd.
    No new applications installed. All anti-virus scans up to date. Ran Norton System Works and all files were OK.

    ACTIONS TAKEN:
    I updated the driver. Device manager says driver is up to date.
    I ran troubleshooting and it said CD drive is working correctly.
    Launched Roxio CD creator 5.0 and it recognizes CD drive but not the inserted disk.

    Symptom: When computer boots, system tray shows message that new printer hardware is installed, (only one Lexmark printer is connected to computer, and it is working fine.) When I run the Hardware install wizard it says it cannot find software (on system and on internet) and I close the window.

    Of interest, when I select the Samsung CD drive in the control panel for System / Hardware and selected scan CD hardware, the same "found new printer" window appears in the system tray.

    Summary:
    It appears that either a file is corrupt or the optical drive is bad.

    Everything indicates that the computer recognizes the drive, but the drive will not read any disk.

    Question: Is is worthwhile to try and run a cleaning disk? Are there any other tests I can run?

    Many thanks,
    Macpez
     
    macpez,
    #1
  2. 2004/06/23
    RayH

    RayH Inactive

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    The drive could be going bad. Do you have another CD drive in the computer?
     
    RayH,
    #2


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  4. 2004/06/24
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    macpez - Welcome to the Board :)

    A solution which worked recently on a computer I was involved with - this one (XP) lost it's optical drives, not quite the same problem I know, but worth a shot ....

    In Device Manager remove the secondary IDE controller, reboot and let Windows find it again. Worked a treat on the above m/c where other solutions failed. I am assuming here that your Samsung is attached to the secondary IDE controller and not the primary. You can check this inside the case - if the Samsung is not on the same ribbon cable as the hard drive, it's on the secondary controller.

    And in passing ....
    A little unwise I feel - if you ever needed to use a boot disk you are stumped. You do have a floppy drive? If so I recommend you change the boot order in BIOS to CD> Floppy > HD
     
    PeteC,
    #3
  5. 2004/06/28
    macpez

    macpez Inactive Thread Starter

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    CD drive problem partially solved

    Thank you Pete C.

    Your suggestion to uninstall the secondary IDE controller and reboot confirmed that the internal CD drive IS being recognized by the computer. It appears that the drive's optical reader is bad, which I will replace. When I get the drive working again I will post the final results.

    Thanks again to everyone, Macpez
     
    macpez,
    #4
  6. 2004/07/06
    macpez

    macpez Inactive Thread Starter

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    CD drive recognized as a printer?

    Hello,

    Problem: CD drive not recognizing disks, but CD drive is being recognized by the computer.

    Using information listed above from Pete C., I confirmed that the computer is recognizing the internal Samsung CD drive and driver is up to date.
    Unfortunately, the drive will not recognize any type of disk. As mentioned, all computer maintenance is up to date.

    A secondary problem may be related:

    On start up, the computer shows a window that "new hardware" has been recognized and searches for the software. The system tray window says the hardware is a "printer" (no manufacturer name).

    I close the "search for software" window and a system tray window then says "printer may not function correctly. "

    Only one printer is connected to the computer (Lexmark X73) and it works correctly.

    I uninstalled all printer software and restarted the computer. The same "new hardware" and "printer" windows appeared.

    Of interest, when I clicked on the Samsung CD drive in the device manager, the same "found new hardware" and "printer" windows appeared.
    Yet when I removed the secondary IDE controller, the Samsung CD drive was correctly recognized on reboot. (See Pete C's note above.)

    I ran "Registry First Aid" and did not see any registry entries for any type of printer other than the Lexmark, which I removed prior to reinstalling the Lexmark software and updated driver.

    QUESTION #1: Could there be a corrupt file that is treating the Samsung CD drive like a printer, for which there is obviously no software?
    Since the CD drive will not read any disks, I cannot use a cleaning disk or run any tests.

    QUESTION #2: If the CD drive is confirmed to be bad, can anyone recommend an external CD drive.

    Many thanks for everyone's help, Macpez
     
    macpez,
    #5
  7. 2004/07/07
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    A few suggestions here - it sounds like the CD drive has gone down, but the Add New Hardware is very puzzling.

    If you feel competent do the following (optional, but maybe helpful) ....

    Close down the computer and turn off the power. Open the case and disconnect the power lead from the CD drive. Power up and reboot.

    Does the Add New Hardware Wizard still appear? If it does not appear it would seem that the CD drive is fouling up Windows and should be replaced. If it does reappear, shut down the computer, power off and reconnect the power lead to the CD drive. Reboot.

    What happens if you power up the computer with the printer disconnected?

    Normally I would suggest running System File Checker, but this requires an operational CD drive.

    I think you have to bite the bullet and replace the CD drive.

    Why do you want an external CD drive - replace the existing - they are very cheap - £20 ish over here.
     
    PeteC,
    #6
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