CD-ROM Drive gone from My Comp and Device Manager

Hi folks. I am using a Dell Inspiron 9200 laptop with Windows XP Home. I recently tried to use my CD drive and encountered the following symptoms:

1.CD-ROM drive does not appear in My Computer
2.CD-ROM drive is not listed in Device Manager
3.CD-ROM drive will open and spin a disc, though nothing further happens.
4.I have tried suggestions related to removing the upper and lower filters in REGEDIT to no avail.
5.My security software does not detect any problems.
6.Windows automatic updates detects no problems or lack of drivers.

(I did see a previous thread here which initially encouraged me as the situation was just like mine, but the solution won't work for me since CD-ROM is missing from my Device Manager: http://forum.majorgeeks.com/archive/index.php/t-32300.html.)

Needless to say I am frustrated! I have no idea how this could have happened, but any help in fixing would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

Hey, you are in luck.
I had the exact same problem about a week ago. In fact the CD ROM didnt even appear in my BIOS setup although it would light up and make noise when the computer was started or when a cd was inserted.

Apparently it turns out that the portable cd roms in laptops have different tolerance for the pins that supply power and handle data. So when the connection is loose, the power still goes into the drive but the data transmission is jumbled and computer things there is no cd rom drive attached. Since the drive 5tself is powered though, it will make spin inserted disks as well as lighting up when the computer is powered on.

to solve the problem, simply unscrew the one (or two) screws holding the cd drive, take it out, and plug it back in making sure that all the connections fit snugly and as far as they go. They try to put the screws back in. The drive should work now.

It worked for me and for another guy in another support forum online who had a similar problem after I fixed mine.

Best of luck

 

On the attached file "cdgone.txt", change the extension to .reg, so it becomes "cdgone.reg"

Then double-click, and if it asks you for confirmation, click OK.

 

Insomniac and Yakrider, thanks for your replies. Unfortunately, I followed the steps with the 'cdgone.reg' file and that did not solve my problem.

Yakrider, my CD-ROM drive is not an external one. Is this the type of drive you were referring to when you said 'portable?' I just want to make sure before I unscrew the laptop and take something out (I am not exactly proficient in this kind of maneuver).

Thanks again- I am looking forward to having this problem solved!

 

Hi Again,

Yakrider, I went ahead and followed your recommendation, which was correct. All is now back to normal. Thanks very much!