Both the CD/DVD-ROM AND CD-R/RW have "disappeared" from the PC

An apology is not warrented

Hello PeteC,
You must not feel the need to apologize! Windows BBS has done an admirable job.
I think the most likely "diagnosis" is Registry corruption resulting from the cascade effect of incomplete spyware removal, re-removal by download software, and unwarrented Registry restoration by me, which was neither necessary nor effective. When the Registry of a computer operating system such as XP (remember the two optical drives did "return" when LowerFilters were removed, yet the CD-R/RW remained unfixed) is this badly altered, C: drive reformat and an XP reinstallation is probably the only alternative left, even for the gods themselves.
Being at a remote location and only able to describe the repair steps you think will work to individuals of widely varying experience is a very challenging task; you and your colleagues are to be commended for trying. You will often be successful, but even All Star batters will hit .400 during only part of the season.
I will post the steps taken to cure my PC; but it may not be a diagnosis. As a retired physician I've seen patients recover with good medicines, but we were never able to give them a definitive diagnosis.
TTFN,
Scott

 

Scott, thanks for the kind words, its people like you that make the time spent here by myself and others all worth it.

Good luck and regards - Charles

 

Outpost Richland, WA calling Charlesvar, PeteC and others

Relatively good news,
I picked up my Dell 4600 on 06/24 and most functions have been restored. The technician (CBNW) said the multitude of problems described by me indicated to him a badly corrupted Registry requiring reformat/reinstallation of the WinXP OS.
The cold boot problem, which I solved prior to "hospitalization," has reappeared. Will make a second visit to CBNW unless this cold boot stall can be handled over the telephone.
The optical drives are clearly recognized in My Computer
I will attempt burning later today.
TTFN,
Scott

 

Unless I missed it being done I would of loved to have known what would of happened if a boot was done with a boot floppy with CD support before it went into the shop...

 

Striking F1 to continue

Hello PeteC,
If you are willing, we can work on the "stalled cold boot" problem.
F1 used to permit the stalled cold boot to continue. BUT NOT THIS TIME.
The only step to date that works is to open Drive Configuration on Setup(F2) menu and open each of the errant drives:1)Primary Drive 0 (aka Primary Master) and 2)Primary Drive 1 (aka Primary Slave). Change each drive option from Auto to Off and return to the Setup menu. While Setup is still open, go back again to the two errant drives and repetiously change the Off options BACK TO AUTO. Close out Setup with the Esc button (Escape). Three choices appear: I select the Save and Exit option and 'Voila' the cold boot completes without problem! As long as the user only uses the Restart option at shutdown (aka the warm boot option) the OS reopens readily.
But if you choose to TURN OFF the OS you will pay the price of the laborious sequence above to get back to your desktop.
I feel this is as much information as I have to describe the cold boot stall.
I would welcome any thoughts you have. Could this be a BIOS reset issue?

Appreciate your continuing interest; if only your patience would INFECT our politicians!
Scott

 

Responding to Jaylach's boot floppy question

Thanks for stopping by in this days long "symphony, "

Quote:<Unless I missed it being done I would of loved to have known what would of happened if a boot was done with a boot floppy with CD support before it went into the shop...>

I tried this step as the entire cascade of a "dying" Registry got worse; I think there was a point when the boot would not work at all. The floppy boot helped me get back to the desktop, but the Registry remained damaged. Good idea; but I could never return to PC to "normal. "
TTFN,
Scott
PS: help PeteC and me with the cold boot problem if you wish

 

Yes, since I've been to CBNW...

Hello PeteC,
I know returning to CBNW is the correct step to take. I was just hoping that this problem could be solved over the phone or by email.
Pulling all the cables is a pain in the _ _ _ _ .
More to follow.
Scott

 

I agree! Ya took it in and they "fixed" it and charged ya for it. Dosen't sound to me as though it's fixed...

 

I still think this is the thing to try. If the problem shifts over to the secondary controller and if the drives are jumpered correctly, the "primary slave" drive may be the cause and is starting to fail. I think that the problem with the primary slave is giving the drive controller a bad time and dropping both drives out. Otherwise the primary IDE controller might be starting to fail. As PeteC suggests it may also be due to BIOS problems, but I would reset the BIOS (Setup) settings to "default" or "fail-safe" or "setup" depending on what it could be called. I would also check if there was a BIOS update for the system.

I think the most likely cause may be the optical drive failing or the primary IDE controller failing.

If you are going to take it back to CBNW, you may wish to pass on some of our suggestions.

Luck
Matt

 

Follow-up:Out post Richland, WA calling Charlesvar, PeteC and others

Good afternoon Staff and Readers,
This is just a final report of a full return to normal with CBNW's correction of the "cold boot stall" by a complex adjustment of the "couplers" (I think they are called) on both the original 40GB hard drive and a new 160GB hard drive that I asked be installed to increase my internal hard drive space.

BCNW deduced, after several ribbon cable changes failed to cure the "cold boot stall," that the stall returned following installation of the new 160GB drive. The specific coupler changes are too complex to understand and describe in this post. The computer guru just said that the coupler changes "allowed the PC system greater latitude in selecting the sequencing of these two drives during a cold boot." Similar to Einstein's space-time and integral calculus, somethings I just leave to faith.

Take care, I'm sure I'll be back possibly with help in drive partitioning.
Thanks again for your invaluable help.
Scott

 

Hey Scott, thanks for the followup, much appreciated

Regards - Charles

 

Cable Select

Hello Pete C,
Cable select certainly does sound like the process that CBNW described. Can you tell the outer world more about cable select; such as a web link?

You all are a great help as always,
Best to you and your group,
Scott

 

Hi Scott,

It is the way the drive is jumpered, cable select leaves the decision of whether the drive is master or slave up to the interaction of the BIOS, the OS, and the drive firmware.

The OEM that I'm familiar with - Dell - jumpers their drives that way. If I'm not mistaken, your system is a Dell and that's the way the drive would have been configured and any added drive should have been configured that way as well.

This applies to both HD & ROM drives.

Regards - Charles