My cdrom is not working

[Guest]

My cdrom is not recognized by My Computer, device manager and BIOS. The last
thing that happened was that I put an mp3 cd in the drive and it just stopped
working. This has happened before but usually once I start Add Hardware
Wizard or restart my system it starts working again. I've tried System
Restore but the problem seems to have affected that too because I can't
restore the system either. I've tried 5 restore points. Last good
configuration has not worked either.

I am using Windows XP Professional with SP2 on a Pentium 4 system. My
system is Gateway 7322GZ.

I went to System Information and saw that the cdrom driver is not started.

I would be extremely grateful for any help.

 

[Malke]

My cdrom is not recognized by My Computer, device manager and BIOS.
The last thing that happened was that I put an mp3 cd in the drive and
it just stopped working. This has happened before but usually once I
start Add Hardware Wizard or restart my system it starts working
again. I've tried System Restore but the problem seems to have
affected that too because I can't restore the system either. I've
tried 5 restore points. Last good configuration has not worked either.

I am using Windows XP Professional with SP2 on a Pentium 4 system. My
system is Gateway 7322GZ.

I went to System Information and saw that the cdrom driver is not
started.

If the drive is not recognized in the BIOS, this is hardware-related and
has nothing to do with Windows (software). With the computer unplugged,
open the case and reseat the cable to the drive and the power supply
connector. Now restart the machine and see if the drive is found. If it
isn't and is alone on the IDE connector, swap out the ribbon cable for
a new known-working one. If the drive still isn't found, swap it out
for a known-working drive. If that drive is found, then discard the
original drive because it has died. If the known-working "swap" drive
is not found in the BIOS, then the problem is on the motherboard.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that my system is a laptop. While I can do what
you recommended on a desktop, I have no idea how to accomplish it on a
laptop. And I am still hoping for a solution that does not require me opening
my laptop.
And I still want to know why System Restore isn't working.
Thanks.

 

[Malke]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that my system is a laptop. While I can do
what you recommended on a desktop, I have no idea how to accomplish it
on a laptop. And I am still hoping for a solution that does not
require me opening my laptop.
And I still want to know why System Restore isn't working.
Thanks.

Yes, mentioning that your computer is a laptop would have been a really
Good Thing to do in your first post. Since it is a laptop, you will
need to contact the laptop mftr.'s tech support for repair/replacement.
Your hardware has died. The laptop mftr.'s tech support can determine
whether it is your optical drive or your motherboard.

For System Restore questions, see MVP Bert Kinney's site here:
http://bertk.mvps.org/index.html

Malke

 

[Jonah]

My cdrom is not recognized by My Computer, device manager and BIOS. The last
thing that happened was that I put an mp3 cd in the drive and it just stopped
working. This has happened before but usually once I start Add Hardware
Wizard or restart my system it starts working again. I've tried System
Restore but the problem seems to have affected that too because I can't
restore the system either. I've tried 5 restore points. Last good
configuration has not worked either.

I am using Windows XP Professional with SP2 on a Pentium 4 system. My
system is Gateway 7322GZ.

I went to System Information and saw that the cdrom driver is not started.

I would be extremely grateful for any help.

Now we know its a laptop.....

I have a Laptop does the same thing on a regular basis - cheap rubbish
it is.

The CD ROM drive does not quite connect properly in its IDE slot and
gets jolted loose, I can mostly fix it by pressing on the sides of the
drive quite hard and wiggling it till CD ROM shows up in My Computer.
Occasionally I have to take the thing apart and re-seat the drive.

I will nail the sodding thing down next time it fails.

Any help?

Jonah

 

[Guest]

Sorry about sounding dumb, Jonah, but what do you mean by re-seating the drive?