CD drive disappeared/IDE Secondary Channel problem

FirstC info: AMD Athlon XP 2600+ 2.1GHz
736 MB memory
37.27 GB Hard disk

While there have been threads about disappearing CD drives from "My Computer", with this issue comes the problem around the Secondary IDE Channel which shows with the black exclamation mark on a yellow background.

I have gone through every area of my PC (Device Manager, etc..) and it appears my drive has disappeared off the face of the earth...for that matter, so has my "d" drive which was my old "c" drive from a former computer.

Short of opening my PC all I can say is that nothing was moved, altered, spat upon or vexed, so I am frustrated at not being able to solve this after reading all the threads describing missing CD drives...

Anyone have something a mere airhead can possible undertake?

I would be grateful....

 

thanks..but before i consider reinstalling Windows, I would rather seek out additional suggestions (no offense intended.)
Also forgot to mention that when I click on the Secondary IDE channel, the following note comes up:
Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19)

Also, something else I noted...My "D" drive is no longer visible either...
(which was where I installed the C drive from an old computer...)...

 

Delete your secondary IDE channel within Device Manager and reboot. On reboot Windows should detect and install drivers for it.

 

First: thank you so much for your brilliant suggestion!! While I sat here and stared at your response, I have to say I was initially filled with fear and trepidation since I envisioned some sort of horrendous scenario resulting from deleting the IDE channel. But lo and behold, you were right! When I re-booted it said that my CD drive was there..to re-boot again to get it going, and then the D drive appeared as well..
You are brilliant! Can I send you some chocolates? Flowers? Anything..??

Ever so thankful......

 

It appears that my initial reply to this might have been deleted by the administrator here since I then went back to edit it...
However, if not, excuse the redundancy, but I wanted to THANK YOU EVER SO MUCH! WHat you suggested worked out well....and all is back..my CD drive, my D drive...! I am ever so grateful, despite the fact that I was fearful of deleting it.
QUestion: WHY did this occur? Is it indicative of a more serious problem that I need to attend to? Will it recur? Is there some maintenance that I should do..??
SInce you appear to be more of an expert than a NOVICE, I would appreciate anything further..

and again, you are a life- saver...!!

 

Glad to hear that your problem is fixed! No flowers or candy necessary, just glad to help. Your problem happened because the registry entries for the secondary IDE channel became corrupted, Windows couldn't properly identify it, and wouldn't start it.

The problem could have been a fluke one time happening or may occur the next time that you shut your computer down and restart it. The usual suspects are memory, hard drive, power supply, and mother board and usually in that order. You could download memtest86 from this site and run it to check the memory and download the hard drive manufacturers diagnostic tools to check the status of your hard drive.

Two things that I have found that will cause registry corruption are stopping software installations without properly exiting the setup program and forced shutdowns using the power on button. Neither is guaranteed to cause problems but can. As for maint. that you should perform, nothing other than good computing practices. Defrag at least once a month and use good antivirus and spyware programs. I use and recommend the free ones available for download on this site.

As for being an expert, I'm not. There are a lot of members with more knowledge and skill than myself, I'm just the one that helped with your problem.

Welcome to Major Geeks!

 

You are welcome for the help, but I actually wasn't being modest, just honest and truthful. There are plenty of members of this site that are system administrators and have Microsoft certification, hence more skill and knowledge than myself, and my computer experience is more on the hobby level. I could name several but won't for fear of leaving someone out. I have learned a lot by reading their replies and the advice given.

If you want to express your gratitude, then please refer all your friends and family to this site. I'm sure that Major Attitude and Corporal Punishment ( the owners ) would appreciate it. This is a great site for people of all skill levels and the members are all good people. Those that aren't are dealt with quickly by the Moderators and the owners.

That being said, it is never a good idea to include your email address in a post, as it can be picked up by a search engine, and you could be overwhelmed with spam. Hopefully a Moderator will see this and edit your email address out for you!

 

Thanks again Novice, and yes, you are absolutely right and I will request - should an administrator see this - to please have my email address deleted from my previous thread response #8.

Many thanks.

 

I reported the posting and asked for your address to be removed HTH

 

whomever you are, yet another helpful soul, I do so appreciate it...

ta..

 

The memtest86 file is an iso file after it is unzipped. You should unzip it to where the file can be easily found. It has been a while since I've used Roxio, but it should have the function/tab to burn an image file to disk, and this is what you should use, otherwise you will have CD's that appear to be blank/non operable. Hope this helps! After the file has been burned to disk, leave it in and reboot as it is a bootable disk and should start if your boot options are set correctly for this in BIOS.

 

Novice,
thank you again..but I am finally discouraged, disillusioned, and (seemingly) debilitated.

As to the tab you specify that should be within the Roxio program, there doesn't appear to be such a tab...Once unzipped, the Roxio is the recommended and default program and it merely goes straight to burning the disc with no choice of setting...Hence, a disc that appears to be without content..

I have attempted to open it with the other burning programs I have to see if there is such a tab, but I am without perception to notice any...

So...here I am....lost.

Still...thanks for the input....

 

OK..me again...!

I decided I would just re-boot my PC, disc in the drive and see what would happen... Lo and behold(!), once re-booted, the disc started to do its stuff, which was all fine and dandy....except for the fact that I had no idea what in fact it was turning out on my screen...

I let it run through many sequences for 1hr12 minutes...and the bottom sequencing of data said PASS 2 ERRORS 0.....and then I figured that it would run all night and I still wouldn't know what to do...So i started playing with the different arrows and hit something that started speeding up through some kind of sequencing that was making the ERROR title grow at an alarming rate...

Is there any kind of instruction that will tell me HOW this program works and what in fact I should have been looking for..?? (given that I didn't know that I had to re-boot for the disc to take effect, you can then imagine that I know naught to do with the info thus compiled...)...

I feel like a major....dork...

 

No need to feel bad, as it is partially my fault for not explaining what you would encounter when running the test! I believe that this program runs between 10-15 different tests on your computers memory simulating actual variations in the way that different types of applications use it. I don't use it enough to be entirely accurate, but I believe that there is a small tab/window that shows you which test is being ran ( 1-10 ) and another that tells you what the program is actually doing. The important part is the pass and error messages. The Pass 2 and Errors 0 that you mentioned indicated that the program had executed twice fully and encountered 0 errors. This was/is good!

You were correct in that the program would have ran all night without intervention on your part, but I have no idea of what arrows that you used or options that you clicked on. It would be a good idea to let it run overnight, if you are comfortable with doing so, and will harm nothing. Remember that the pass and error messages are what is important! Just start or reboot your computer with the disk in the CD drive and let it run while you sleep. Hope this helps! Forgot to add that this program will keep looping/repeating until you stop it!

 

hmm...so if i comprehend the above, i should let it run all night....BUT, if i continue to understand, you say that the program will keep on looping thus repeating its sequence. Therefore, if i am asleep, how will I know if it has looped, or if all its attempts are unique and one-time?

At the end of its overnight sojourn, will there be something I may be able to print so that at the very least I can report data to you..?? At the same time, I will try and repeat what it is I had initiated on my own to get the very quick paced movement of data that so very quickly was processing "errors" by the gazillion...(truly, it was mounting up there in the thousands, unlike the initial looping which was just going through sequencing of some sort and not recording any errors...)..

Is there no READ ME attachment to that "module" that would perhaps explain all the different directories within it and what they all do?

Alright..I am off to work and tonight I will let it run and hopefully by tomorrow morning I will be able to distinguish whether it has some significant data to report to you...or not....!

Again, thank you...(appreciation is an understatement).

LG

 

Novice,
Since I was at work all day I decided to let the MEMTEST run all day...Having just got home (it has run almost 12 hours), the following showed:
15 pass 0 errors...
Therefore, might I assume that the IDE issue and disappearing drive was not at all related to memory issues..??? (or is that too big an assumption..)

Incidentally, and my friend said the following about the issue....(though was in the PC and there appeared to be nothing loose...):

The WDC thing is your hard disk and its fine. The 2nd IDE channel is usually where your CD drive sits and it's obviously upset at something. Check to see that the ribbon cable between your CD and the motherboard is seated properly at both ends (with power off!). If the system comes back up with the same problem, power down and unplug the CDROM from the ribbon cable and power back up. If the 2nd IDE channel comes back to life, the CDROM is causing the problem. If it comes up with an error, the 2nd IDE channel is having a bad day on its own.

Anyway..I tried to repeat the "thingee" i had done yesterday with the MEMTEST...when I told you that the numbers were just reeling by at an incredible speed and ERRORS were mounting in the thousands....Alas! I could not duplicate my steps but I had gone into configuration and there, there is so much one can explore...(that is why I asked if there was some kind of READ ME thing that would explain the intricacies of the MEMTEST...)..

A bientôt....

Leslie

 

Yes, you are correct in that you can assume that memory problems didn't cause the problem with your IDE channel. With 15 passes and 0 errors that would seem to clear the memory as a suspect. Sorry that I was vague about the program, what to expect to see, and what it actually does. The program doesn't have a module that explains the different options, what the program actually does, or how to record the results, and I run it in standard mode when I use it. I hope that you like long winded explanations, as I'm about to begin one.

I used MemTest today in order to try and answer some of your questions about what it actually does. The program writes different values, displayed in Hex code, that you can see on your computer monitor while it is running, to your memory and checks the results. All data is 1's and 0's and varying combinations of these in different lengths determines what is seen on the computer screen. The program writes different letters and numbers to all areas of your memory and checks for correct display. It is possible for a memory chip to have some faulty transistors or connections, be able to display some numbers and letters fine, but lose it on another letter or number. I hope that this makes sense, and it is the best way that I can think of to describe it in "layman" terms. If not, then please ask for further explanation, and I will try harder.

The way that you can tell when the program has completed its test is in the Pass number. Everytime that it fully completes its cycle a 1 is displayed or added to the previous number. Errors speak for themself, and any error is bad.

I read your PM, tried to reply to it and found that I did it wrong! I still haven't mastered some of the forum's capabilities despite being a member for a while. I found that I had three PMs and thought that I had replied to two of them, but hadn't according to the PM page! My apoligies Matacumbie and AbbySue if you read this. I'll stick to email or posting, until I get the grasp of replying to a PM correctly! Now, I understand your comment about relevance, and I almost fell out of my chair laughing about the IDE channel having a bad day on its on!

 

Re: CD drive disapp'd/IDE Sec.Chann./ad infinitum...

Novice:
I am still trying to figure out what PM means, though I do realize that it refers to the message I sent you...(P = personal? P= private? P = panic? )..
As to your reference about long-winded, I doubt very much that you have that trait. What you do possess quite naturally, is the ability to be succinct and informative...quite effective for do-dos...(aka "idiot" terms so that the less-than-fortunate grey cell individuals can keep pace..)..

And the reason I wanted to write to you directly was to avoid the issues that might not be relevant through this channel, to other people...and, more importantly, so as not to have to log on each time I await the (potential) arrival of a response.

I can't begin to tell you what gratitude I extend to you for such exemplory communications..(if that sounds patronizing or pejorative, I don't at all mean it in that way...I am just so appreciative of those that can explain with precision, and with comprehensible lingo...)..

LEG

 

Glad that the MemTest explanation was ok and PM was figured out. Watch email for response!