Can't access CD-ROM in Explorer after connecting USB Flash Drive

T

T-Bone

Here's the deal.

After a fresh WinXPE OS install, I can explore the files on a CD-ROM
(internal CD-ROM IDE drive) from within Windows Explorer without a
problem. However, as soon as I connect an external USB flash storage
device (thumb-drive) to the compueter I can no longer explore the
contents of the internal CD-ROM drive in Explorer. After connecting
the external USB flash drive, I can access its files just fine, as
well as the C: drive, but not the CD-ROM drive. Explorer adds the USB
flash drive with a new drive letter, and even though the CD-ROM icon
is still there with the same drive letter as before, if I click on it
the focus just moves back to wherever the focus was previously.
Similarly, if I try to navigate to the CD-ROM drive via the keyboard,
it will hold the focus on the CD-ROM drive for only a second before
reverting back to where it had been previously. At this point, I have
only been able to access the files on the CD-ROM drive via the Command
Prompt (cmd). The only way I've found to restore access to the CD-ROM
drive (without reinstalling the whole OS) is to uninstall the CD-ROM
device in Device Manager and then reboot. Just uninstalling the CD-
ROM and then rescanning for hardware right away isn't enough - for
some reason a reboot is required - otherwise, it will add the CD-ROM
drive back to the list of drives in Explorer, but it won't let me
explore the files on the disc. Once I get access to the CD-ROM again
by uninstalling the device and rebooting, things are okay until I
remove the USB drive and re-connect it - then I lose the CD-ROM
again. Why would connecting a USB storage drive cause the CD-ROM
device to become inaccessible via Explorer?

If I watch carefully, it looks as if the CD-ROM drive letter
disappears momentarily from Explorer when I connect the USB flash
drive, then drive letters appear for both drives, but the CD-ROM drive
is not accessible anymore. In my testing of this anomaly, there was
one time where I actually had *two identical drive letters* come up in
Explorer for the CD-ROM drive, as well as a new letter for the USB
flash drive; I was able to explore the files on one of the CD-ROM
drive letter instances, but not the other one. Bizzarre.

One last bit of information, the same behavior occurs if instead of
connecting a USB flash drive I connect a USB multicard reader -
connecting this device to the computer adds 4 new drive letters to
Explorer, corresponding to the 4 ports on the reader, but also causes
the CD-ROM to become inaccessbile.

Any clues?

Scott
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top