Unable to read DVD Rom on Windows 7

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by masipay, Sep 29, 2012.

  1. masipay

    masipay Private E-2

    Problem:
    My DVD Rom is listed on My computer but it is not able to read or write. This was working properly at the purchase of the notebook but stopped working perhaps during or after the installation of some software.

    System:
    Windows 7 Home Premium, 64 bit, Service Pack 1, Gateway NV57H Model
    DVD Rom: Pioneer DVD-RW DVRTD10rs

    I have observed:
    1. There is NO yellow symbol next to DVD/CD-ROM drives in Device manager.
    2. Under DVD ROM properties in device manaer, Devise Status says,
    ---
    This device is working properly.
    Windows did not start a related device driver. To learn more, click the Driver tab and then click Driver Details.
    ---

    3. Under driver details for this drive is listed 4 drivers as follows:
    1...system32\DRIVERS\cdrom.sys
    2...system32\drivers\NTIDrvr.sys
    3...system32\Drivers\PxHlpa64.sys
    4...system32\drivers\UBHelper.sys

    Steps taken:
    I have used Microsoft's Fix it tool
    http://support.microsoft.com/mats/cd_dvd_drive_problems/en-us
    It says under issues found: Media in CD/DVD Rom is not readable (The drive is empty or the media format is not supported)

    I have also tried deleting upper/lower registry in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE...{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} as suggested in some forums.

    I have also tried disabling cdrom.sys driver and restarting the notebook which seems to reinstall cdrom.sys driver upon restart but problem persists.

    Regardless of all attempts it still is unable to read or write to dvd rom. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Some of the programs i have tried installing prior to occurrence of this problem are Adobe After Effects, Adobe Primier and Adobe Photoshop.

    Thanks.
     
  2. Caliban

    Caliban I don't need no steenkin' title!

    Greetings, masipay, and welcome to MajorGeeks...

    Looks like you've tried most of the normal first troubleshooting steps. Couple of quickies:

    1. Is the drive listed by your BIOS? If so, does everything look kosher there?

    2. Do you have a bootable disk, such as a Windows disk, Linux, recovery, etc.? If so, you might try setting your boot order in BIOS to 'CD/DVD first' and boot to that disk. If the boot is successful, then we can guess that some 3rd-party program might be causing the problem. This also leads to my next suggestion:

    3. Any symptoms change when Windows is booted to Safe Mode?
     
  3. masipay

    masipay Private E-2

    Thanks for the reply Caliban.

    DVD Rom is listed in the bios, yes.

    I have booted in Safe Mode but the problems continues and I don't see any abnormal change while in Safe Mode.

    I am not sure as to your
    2. Do you have a bootable disk, such as a Windows disk, Linux, recovery, etc.? If so, you might try setting your boot order in BIOS to 'CD/DVD first' and boot to that disk. If the boot is successful, then we can guess that some 3rd-party program might be causing the problem. This also leads to my next suggestion:

    I am not sure if I have Windows Bootable CD to boot the computer with DVD Rom but I have tried booting from DVD rom with a audio cd in the drive(lol), no solution.
     
  4. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    Looking at the software http://support.gateway.com/s/notebook/2010/gateway/nv/nv57h/NV57Hsl.shtml
    that came on your model, I see it has both Cyberlink Power DVD and Nero 9 Essentials. To me that is one too many program.

    Put in a DVD and then open Windows Explorer. Can you see the title? If so, right click and select open with Cyberlink Power DVD. If it isn't in the list, click the browse button.

    If you get stuck at any point, please post what you see or do not see at the steps I recommended to try.

    I'm also looking through the user's manual and on p 43 it says this
    Here's the download for the manual
    http://support.gateway.com/us/en/product/default.aspx?tab=1&modelId=3518
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2012
  5. masipay

    masipay Private E-2

    Yes this notebook has Cyberlink PowerDVD and Nero Essentials preinstalled.

    On windows explorer it does show drive D:\ DVD RW Drive but it doesn't show the title of the DVD/CD in the bay.

    When i double click on it(which should normally play the CD) it says "Insert a Disc in the drive"

    I was in Region 1, currently I am in Region 5, I have tried changing the Region as well, but when i try to do so, it says, insert a CD of THAT region which doesn't make any sense since i am trying to play the CD that i was able to play before in both regions.

    I had changed the services and start up programs using msconfig where I had disaled cyborlink and nero but I have tried selectin Normal boot with all the services ON, the problem is still there.
     
  6. jlphlp

    jlphlp Master Sergeant

    Hi,

    Remove the DVD driver in Device Manager and reboot. Windows keeps a copy of all in use drivers and will reload the driver. Real often that's all that is needed to fix the problem.

    Luck, Jim
     
  7. Caliban

    Caliban I don't need no steenkin' title!

    No, an audio CD won't work - the disk must contain a bootable image.

    Usually if a computer is started with a bootable disk in the optical drive (and if the boot order is set for the optical first), and if the machine will not boot to the disk, then it's a good sign that the drive is bad.
     
  8. masipay

    masipay Private E-2

    "Remove the DVD driver in Device Manager and reboot. Windows keeps a copy of all in use drivers and will reload the driver. Real often that's all that is needed to fix the problem.
    Luck, Jim"


    I have tried uninstalling the DVD driver and restarting the notebook. No results.

    @Caliban,
    Unfortunately I do not have bootable CD. I do have have recovery discs but that didn't work either.
    Seems like this problem is not going to get solved..

    I could try to create a bootable USB flash drive but I am not sure if I could burn that USB to a CD in a different computer and use on my computer?
     
  9. Caliban

    Caliban I don't need no steenkin' title!

    Good morning...

    You do have recovery disks? Most recovery disks are burned as images ('.iso'), which means that they should be bootable disks. If you have Disk #1 of your recovery set in the optical drive and if you attempt to boot to that drive, what happens?

    Also, since this is a laptop, have you tried physically pulling the optical drive out of the laptop body, inspecting the contacts, and re-inserting / re-seating the drive?
     
  10. masipay

    masipay Private E-2

    Yes I have recovery disks. I have tried booting from DVD drive with recovery disk #1. I can't tell where it actually boots from but when choosing the DVD drive(with disc 1) it seems to take longer to start windows, other than that I can't tell the difference. In either case, when i double click the dvd drive on explorer it ejects the cd and says, "insert a disk".

    In this particular laptop, Gateway NV57H26u, the dvd bay seems to be attached for good, I have tried pulling it out but it won't detach. I can see a white paper like connecter(strip) which seems to be connected from the Head of the optical reader to somewhere inside.

    When I put a cd in the drive, it does make some noise for a second or two like its attempting to READ.
    When I right click on DVD drive letter and choose Eject, it does eject the CD. I am trying to eliminate the fact that the connecter cable(strip) is not somewhat destroyed(?)

    I have also tried reinstalling Cyberlink DVD and Nero essentials programs(that came initially with the purchase of the laptop) thinking may be those two programs might have messed up the drive when I deselected both of those programs from Services and Start Up, using MSCONFIG.
    Would it make any difference if I uninstall both those two programs?

    Thanks for the reply, I appreciate.
     
  11. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire


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