DVD drive not recognized

[rb608]

This one ought to be a challenge, but there should be a lot of info in here
to help you help me:

For unknown reasons, my PC simply stopped recognizing my recordable DVD
drive. In the Device Manager, it was still there, but had that pesky yellow
exclamation mark. The Properties said that the drivers were installed but
it could not find the hardware.

The drive is a relatively new Sony DVD writer (Sony DRU-530A), and it
occurred to me that it had simply failed, so to test that theory, I removed
it & installed an old Mitsumi drive from a discarded machine and installed
it here. Same problem. So now I know it's neither the drive nor the ribbon
cable. Okay. I'd had the PC rebuilt about 6 months ago (new motherboard,
processor, etc.), so I hauled it up to that shop figuring it was their
problem. They, being the experts, knew exactly what the problem was,
deleted a couple of registry keys, and the drive was back in action. Walla!

Thinking my problems are over, I head home again and start thinking it's
about time for a data backup. The Sony drive came with the Sonic "Record
Now" software, and I click the quick launch icon to start. Error message:
"No compatible Recordable or Rewriteable devices could be found on your
system." Well; nuts. I had expected the possibility that I'd need to
reinstall the recording software, so I removed it, rebooted, reinstalled it,
rebooted. Start the software. Same error.

So now I'm saying bad words and considering a reinstallation of the OS
(WindowsXP Home). Does anyone have any suggestions for a less radical fix?
What are the negative consequences of reinstalling the OS? I don't mind
much having to reinstall all my application software if it comes to that.
Will that completely replace the registry with a "clean" version?

TIA,
Joe F.

p.s. Here is some additional info FWIW:

Operating system: Windows XP Home. I have downloaded and installed all of
the patches available from Microsoft. In fact, I can't discount the
possibility that the drive failed around the same time I did that. I didn't
use the drive for a while, so I'm not really sure when it went south.

Because my son is accessing the net frequently, I am also doing virus scans
(Norton) and spyware scans (SpyBot) daily. In correcting some problems
detected with SpyBot, I have deleted suspicious Registry entries, but I have
been very, very careful that these have not been associated with Windows
system files or known applications. Still, I have to consider the
possibility that I f*cked up.

I have been plagued lately with a disturbing volume of spyware that is
creating registry keys, though none of it has resided for more than a day.
There have been no virus infections found by Norton, except for a couple of
Trojans (not during the same time period).

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

See if this helps:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpcd.htm

Under section 8 - Problems - there is a link to a patch that often resolves
this problem

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Windows
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[rb608]

No dice. IIRC, that's pretty much what the shop folks did to get the drive
back, but it doesn't resolve the problem with the recording software not
recognizing the device.

Would the "System Restore" utility help with this, say if I went back to the
last date I remember using the drive?

Tx,
Joe F.

 

[DennisLazo.com]

let me get this straight. you did not reinstall windows after you upgraded
your mobo? sometimes you need to do that as changing the mobo may wreck
havoc to the registry.

one of those things that you would need to do prior to reinstalling windows
from scratch is to back up all your data.

i hope this helps, even if a bit.

--
Regards,
Dennis Lazo

the email address from where this message has been sent from is unmonitored.
your replies may not be received. replies may be sent at
http://dennislazo.com/email/.
information herein is provided as is with no warranties, and confers no
rights.

 

[rb608]

WindowsXP was installed at the same time as the hardware upgrade back when.
No, the havoc to the registry happened much later. Yeah, there's that Catch
22 with the data backup. I need the DVD/RW drive to back up the data before
reinstalling the OS, but it looks like I need to reinstall the OS before I
can access the DVD/RW. What a bite.

Tx,
Joe F.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

It won't hurt to try System Restore, but I don't think it will help. The
problem of not being recognized is a software issue with the program you are
trying to use. The device may require a firmware update, or the software may
need to be uninstalled and reinstalled in order for it to recognize the
drive. You also want to make sure that the native burning software is
disabled (the impai burning service) as it can cause problems.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Windows
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Alex Nichol]

WindowsXP was installed at the same time as the hardware upgrade back when.
No, the havoc to the registry happened much later. Yeah, there's that Catch
22 with the data backup. I need the DVD/RW drive to back up the data before
reinstalling the OS, but it looks like I need to reinstall the OS before I
can access the DVD/RW.

A Repair reinstall, coupled with the registry file Rick pointed you to
should be OK. It would be *desirable* to back up data first, just in
case, but short of major failure in the middle it should be preserved

Note that after using that file, you need to reinstall CD/DVD burning
software, other than inbuilt burning (which might well not work with
your drive anyway). You should *not* install any special drivers for an
ATAPI CD or DVD drive to be able to *read* disks. Burning software
does need to be of a version specified for XP, but if it came with a DVD
burner it should be up to date. But check the relevant software maker's
site.

If you decide on a repair reinstall, set the BIOS to boot CD before Hard
disk, then boot the XP CD, start Setup (do not take 'Repair' at this
stage), then after the license agreement take 'Repair Installation'.
This will retain your existing software installations and most settings.
But Updates will have to be run again, especially SP1;
It is important to activate the basic XP Firewall before you ever
connect to the net to get the patches, so as to be protected against
things like the BLAST worm.