cd-rom and cd-r drives bizarre behavior

[Guest]

All of a sudden both my CD-ROM and CD-RW drives are acting strangely. They
are both acting the same, so it seems a Windows problem (XP Home). When i put
in a CD of any type after a restart, it works fine. The next CD I put in
shows up in Explorer labelled exactly like the first one, and if it has an
autoplay function, it calls up the same menu as the first one. I've tried
numerous CDs of several types and the same thing happens.
Example, a game CD starts the game like always. Eject the CD, put in a
program install CD and the game menu comes up. Of course, if I try to play
the game with the wrong CD, it says my files are corrupt or missing.
Another example, one game will autoplay its start menu (if it's the first
one after restart), but when I go through the game setup menu, it tells me to
put the correct CD in the drive (and it is in there already).
I've tried several solutions to no avail (including uninstall and reinstall
the drives--System Restore won't let me restore because the last point was on
a Windows Update)
Any ideas?
Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Hi Ellis,

Just a quick thought here... you should try replaceing your IDE Ribbon Cable
which is the cable that plugs into the back of your cd-roms that goes to your
motherboard not your power supply. Sometimes a the wire on the edge gets
pinched or cut. That wire is the reset wire and it resets it during windows
operation.

Joe
Kemco IT Pro

 

[Guest]

I may try that if no other ideas seem to work. Thanks.