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PC hardware: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help!
- 1/30/09 3:45 PM
Troubleshoot your DVD/CD drive driver
by NGFores - 1/18/09 6:10 PM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
First I would recommend troubleshooting your CD/DVD drive driver to see if anything is wrong with it, right click on my computer, click on properties and locate your DVD/CD drive driver.
If everything seems in order try updating your driver from your PC's manufacturer's site. If no updated driver can be found, try DriverMax. You can download through CNET downloads or go to www.drivermax.com and download the software, it is fairly easy to use and updates almost all of your drivers,
This worked for me for all my driver issues so I hope can solve your problem too.
Cheers!
Fisrt determine if it is a hardware issue or software issue
by Greenmantis - 1/18/09 8:02 PM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The very first thing that I would do would be to check BIOS by rebooting the PC.
You enter BIOS by hitting [Del] or [F2] or [Esc] key at the POST (power on self test).
Once you are in the BIOS API (Application Program Interface) I would look at the peripheral devices and see if you see you DVD & CD ROM drives. If not, the next thing to do is to check or possibly replace cable. If it STILL doesn't appear in BIOS, then it is possible that the controller chip on the motherboard took a permanent vacation. No worries really other than being damned inconvenient.
Most people are not using the majority of the available expansion slots on their MBs. If it is indeed a hardware issue, you can confirm it by putting one device at a time on your other PATA buss (the other cable). If your MB only has a single PATA (flat ribbon cable) port and you are using SATA for your HDD you won't have this option. It is only recently that Motherboards started only including a single PATA port. Most still have two ports each able to support two devices (a Master & Slave device).
In any case if the BIOS doesn't see the drives then Windows certainly won't. So this is the FIRST thing to check. IF it is a hardware issue, no need to rush out and upgrade your whole PC (unless you really want to). You can purchase a Parallel ATA (PATA) controller card card quite easily at your local PC / electronics store. Make sure you get the right interface (PCI, PCI-X, PCI-Express) NOTE: PCI-X & PCI Express are NOT the same.
Disable the PATA controller chip in BIOS & install the new controller card. Then plug your DVD & CD ROM drives into the new controller card. Confirm that BIOS "sees" the card & the drives plugged into it.
Good to go.
Same pretty much applies to lots of integrated stuff on your MB. Sound, Networking, Video, PATA / SATA controller, RAID, whatever... When they take a dump, the MB isn't completely shot. You can disable the "broken" device & purchase a new controller & install it into one of your available slots. This is a LOT cheaper than having to upgrade the entire PC.
Anyway I hope this helps. If it is a software issue then see the other posts. When you have problems look for the simplest solution first, then move up in complexity. Most problems are solved with very simple solutions.
...my new monitor won't come on!
Did you check to see if it was plugged in? Or did you try install drivers for it?
I once spent several hours trying to figure out why in the world I was having so much problems formatting a floppy disk. Replaced the cable, replaced the drive with a spare, reinstalled drivers for floppy. Got mad. Still not working. While brooding & cursing Vista, I noticed that I was trying to format a 1.44MB floppy with the 2.5MB floppy setting in the drop-down menu. DOH!!
Ciao'
Mr.Lionfish
Solution to missing CD/DVD
by vcctech - 1/18/09 8:10 PM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
As a PC repair technician, I had this problem twice in the past week.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060
explains a fix that can include a registry fix that means deleting the UpperFilters registry entry.
Good Luck,
Michael in Oxnard, California
Search a diskette with a system file in.
by Ghiulea - 1/19/09 12:12 AM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Make a diskette in a another computer friend Starting Boot Diskette
Should containing Extract.exe file and EBD MsCabinet, OAKCDROM System file..etc. for startiing virtual folder. Begin with this step after the memory is recognize by the sequence. Next step installing XP in another partition. Give me ringing if solve or not..Warning data lost.
re new pc
by norfolkdrive - 1/19/09 1:02 AM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
well young man i have been in it support for a number of years and have seen many operating systems from microsoft and would tell you to avoid vista and wate and se what the new system has to offer,as for your current system as a member here i would be happy to keep you and it ticking over
bernard.tricker@ntlworld.com
There are a lot of silly replies so far... the best follow
by Darmuk - 1/19/09 3:48 AM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I agree that the failure of 2 different drives at the same time point the finger at the motherboard. (or possibly the power-supply.)
1 - Do your drives still open the disk trays? Check. If they do this indicates your drives are getting power from the power-supply and should work if they are communicating with the motherboard.
If the trays will not open, shut down machine, open case, re-seat the power cables a couple times. The power pins on the cables may have corrosion on them causing them to have a bad connection. Restart machine. Will disk trays open? If still no you possibly have a bad power-supply. You will need a multi-meter to test the power-supply drive connections. Check power-supply manufacturers website for technical specs of power-supply in question.
2 - Check BIOS to see if your drives are listed there, if they -are- this means the motherboard bios has detected the bios chip located in the drives. If the drives are present it indicates a problem in your operating system. (Possibly corrupt drivers or some kind of virus problem.)
Note: In this scenario, you -should- still be able to boot from a Windows disk and effectively repair your O.S. to get your drives back. There will likely be loss of data fixing the problem this way.
If the drives are not listed, this indicates a communication problem with the motherboard. Could be corrosion on the header pins is causing one or more of the pins to misfire disrupting communication with the motherboard and disk drives. Reseating the data cable on the motherboard and disk drives a couple of times should be enough to break the corrosion up and re-establish good communications between the hardware. Restart. Check for drives in Bios. Still not registering?
Shutdown. Replace communications cables with new. Restart. Check Bios for drives. Still dead in the water?
Shut-down machine, unplug the drives from the motherboard.(All cables + power-supply.) Restart. Do a normal shutdown. Plug drives back in. Restart. Check for drives in Bios.
Very last ditch effort, possible firmware problem. (and this almost never happens. I only mention it for you gluttons for punishment.) Check drive manufacturer's website and follow their instructions on how to update the firmware of both drives. Restart when done. Check bios.
If they still will not register to your motherboard bios, then likely you have a short in the header circuit somewhere on the motherboard.
TAKE NOTE!!!
On a machine that the disk trays open. The only way for a layman to be -absolutely certain- it is the motherboard and not the drives is to take the drives out of the questionable machine and temporarily hook them up to a machine that is known to be in good repair. If they work. The motherboard is the likely problem.
Those of you who did not understand these instructions probably shouldn't open your computer case.
DVD/CD drives
by glennbev - 1/19/09 5:38 AM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Had a similar problem with my Vista, found help at Microsoft website
Please read the following :
Article ID: 314060 http://support.microsoft.com
This information helped me solve my problem
My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives
by popsnie - 1/19/09 6:58 AM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I had a similar problem, about a year ago. At first I looked (to no avail) for updated drivers, but, as it turned out, it was because my driver cache was corrupted, somehow. I forgot how I fixed it, but you should be able to google the solution (that's what I did). Sorry, at my advanced age, I am getting more and more forgetful.
Basic answer: Troubleshoot it and isolate the problem..
by roland827 - 1/19/09 7:43 AM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
You would need to determine first if it is a hardware or a software problem...
1. Most probable problem, your BIOS got changed or it was deleted from your BIOS settings... check if your device is being recognized in the bios... Turn on your PC, look at the initial messages for a way to go to BIOS (usually pressing DEL key), and check the installed devices in the BIOS. If it is being recognized then your CD or DVD is probably working ok.
2. If it shows up in your BIOS but still won't show up in your Windows drives list, you may have Spyware or Virus that screwed up your OS. Try booting a Windows 98 CD and use the 2 option when prompted (boot Windows Command Prompt with CD)... if you are able to browse the contents of your CD, then your CD/DVD works ok.
If you can't get it to work in other modes (DOS, BIOS) then it is a hardware problem...
3. Since you have proven that your CD drive works, you have now determine that it is a problem with your OS (Windows). You would need to figure out what changes you made before it stop working. Installed a software? Went to a new website? Try using other antivirus softwares, spyware removers, etc..
4. If all else fails, reinstall the OS.
DVD and CD drives not recognized
by sdrule - 1/19/09 7:47 AM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I recently re-imaged my PC, a Gateway 820GM and was running Windows XP Pro (PC is only 3 years old, but I wanted to start fresh). When I was done before I downloaded all the OS updates I noticed that non of my IDE devices were showing up (No CD, no DVD....and I had just used these drives to re-image the PC!). These IDE devices did not show up in the BIOS either! I consulted cnet and everyone other resource I could to find the problem, I only had 1 IDE plug on the motherboard so I could not simply move the cable to see if that was the problem. I tried disconnecting and reconnecting the devices, registry setting changes as mentioned on MS web-site and other user groups and BIOS updates.
I decided to use by a used external DVD USB drive just so I could install my software and at least make the PC usable, after I hooked this device into the USB connector and the PC recognized this device whala! All my drives showed back up!!!!
Good luck, its probably something that cannot be logically explained but if you have access to an external HD device, try what I did and the problem may fix itself!
DVD and CD drives are not recognized
by LarryDennis - 1/19/09 7:51 AM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I had the same problem. I discovered that on one of the occasions that I had "released" my flash drive (by stopping it before removing it from the usb port) I had inadvertently stopped the DVD and CD Drives. This apparently caused the software to shut them down. The only way I was able to recover was to go into the device manager and manually install the drivers for the CD and the DVD drive. Windows recovery just did not do the job.
my pc stopped recognizing both dvd and cd drive
by barriebev - 1/19/09 9:41 AM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
just try unplugging both drives and reconnect---this did the job for me
E and F Drives
by rmarigold - 1/19/09 9:54 AM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
1. Install windows XP again or Vista?
2. Before you install? Do the following?
3. Make sure the cables from your DVD and CD Drives are clean at both ends = take the leads out of your DVD Drive and CD Drive + you’re your hard drive and the motherboard = make sure they are clean or buy new cables = refit Drives and cables?
4. Restart computer
5. If your E and F drives do not come back = buy yourself a new DVD-RW Drive and try = if that does not work?
6. Install Windows XP again?
7. Before installing Windows XP or Vista you must save all your files and other work you have on your Hard Drive to a RW Disc = if you do not save your files and other work off your hard drive = you will loose everything = be very careful on what you do?
8. Other things that could cause your E and F Drives to disappear = your hard drive is on its way out or your motherboard is on its way out or both
9. Before you try any of the above = if you have Windows XP or Vista disc = try in your DVD and CD Drives and see if any thing happens?
10. Come back to me if you want to?
11. Email: r.marigold@ntlworld.com
My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help!
by m-miracle - 1/19/09 10:04 AM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
my first suggestion would be discount your d: drive & replace it with your DVD & Cd, if they work chances are it is the slot on your motherboard gone, you could buy a PCI card to run your CD & DVD drives
Thanks Tony
SP3
by Jseg2005 - 1/19/09 12:42 PM In reply to: My PC stopped recognizing both my DVD and CD drives, help! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
It is important to note which service pack you are running. Though it is possible that the port on the MB could have gone bad it is more likely it is the issue I experienced the first time I installed SP1 on my vista machine and SP3 on my XP machine. As the driver system has been modified, my systems deleted certain CD/DVD drivers that had not actually changed. As the computers were both updated, the vendor drivers would not install. I had to reinstall the entire os and re-update to get the system working again.
To confirm this issue you can right click my computer and select properties. Go to the Hardware tab and Click Device Manager. You might see one of two things. Either a CD/DVD drive listed under "unknown Device" or in some cases the drive will show properly under the "DVD/CDROM Drives" listing, however when you right click the drive and select properties, the Device Status will say something to the effect of, the device driver could not be loaded because it is missing or corrupt.
Very specific circumstances for this issue, but take a look and see if you get what I got. I actually had to reinstall the OS 2 times, the second time I made a back up of the drivers files and copied the missing items back after the OS update. If you are running SP2 or earlier this will probably not apply to you.
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