OMFG PLZ HELP-CDRW and DVD drives`

[concept]

hey i just got ungrounded and i really wanna play on my computer but both CDRW and DVDROM drives vanished out of MY COMPUTER. after installing bryce it prompted me to restart. i checked the later box finished closing some programs and then shut down. next morning the drives vanished from MY COMPUTER?! WTF!! I checked to make sure they are read in the BIOS, they are, unhooked them and then booted up shut down hooked em back up, nothing, uninstalled them in the devices page rebooted, reinstalled them, still gone.

athalon 2600+
msi delta n72
60 gig western digital
6 gig slave
Hitachi GD-7 DVDROM
BCE Generic CDRW drive
XP Pro

think thats it plz god i wanna play games again!!!!!!!!!!

thanx in advance
carl

 

[ekÆsine]

it is probably a software conflict. go to your control panel and try selecting "detect new hardware" and see what happens. and see what happens when you uninstall bryce too.

 

[concept]

thank you soooooo much for your quick reply i love these forums!

I tried disabling the CDRW drive then rebooting and enabling it, that worked. however the other drive says that the driver is missing or corrupt and i dont know where to find a new one... it is an older HITACHI DVDROM GD-7 drive. If anyone can point me in the right direction i would be obliged.

thank you so much guys!
carl

 

[ekÆsine]

i assume this is on winXP pro? ok go into control panel>> system>> hardware tab>> device manager.

open the dvd/cd-rom drive list. you should see entries for both drives the cd burner and the dvd drive. double click on the dvd drive to open its properties.

under the driver tab click update driver. click the radio button "install from list or specific location". next click don't search i will choose driver to install. uncheck show campatible hardware checkbox and you will get a windowsed listing.

the window on the left should be selected as "standard dvd-rom drive" or something similar. in the right window should be selected dvd-rom drive or something that makes sense.

than click ok and the driver will be updated. you can also try to find an updated firmware or driver from the website of the company that made your dvd drive.

another thing it could be is that the dvd drive is dirty or failing. if you remove the dvd drive that might clear up the problem. another thing to do is clean it. get someone to help if you can't take apart the dvd drive.

blow some compressed air into the drive making sure not to damage the device that reads the disc. don't blow air at the laser pickup assembly or whichever it's called.

i think using a cotton swab would be enough to clean the laser assembly with (rubbing alchohol?) ask someone what chemical to use to clean with since i have no clue.