CD-ROM Driver???

I have a TOSHIBA Satellite L15;
CPU Type: Mobile Intel Celeron M 350, 1300 MHz (13 x 100)

I did download the Everest Home Edition program from the link on the first informational thread in the Driver forum; I will be the first to admit that i only know the basics about reprogramming a computer; Wiping and reloading and all that; So i did not know that the last time i wiped this particular laptop that i needed to locate a driver to run a regular program CD-ROM; I have looked everywhere that i could think to locate the type or name of a driver that would fix this problem; I do have an .iso file that i downloaded that may have the driver on there; But i do not know the specific file type or name and there are thousands of drivers in this file for many different uses; The file is not very user friendly on my level;

I last wiped this laptop about July, 2008; and have not been able to run ANY CD-ROM discs; I can run DVD-R and CD-R discs along with the occasional DVD movie disc; but absolutely no CD-ROM discs and that is the major problem that I am attempting to figure a fix for; An help on this would be both welcome and appreciated;

:wave Thank you, ~Dallas~

 

I'm a bit confused here.... you say CD-R discs "run", but CD-ROM discs don't "run". I'm not sure I know what you mean by "run", and I'm not sure what you're using as the distinction between CD-R and CD-ROM. Do you mean that CD-R discs are discs you burned yourself, and that CD-ROM discs are 'pre-burned' discs, like a store bought CD? You neglected to mention which version of Windows you're using, and you haven't mentioned any steps you may have already taken, or if the drive will burn discs, or if you have any burning software installed (some burning programs can cause problems with CD/DVD drive functionality). Have tried uninstalling the drive from the Device Manager, and restarting the PC to let Windows reinstall the device?

 

Ok; Sorry... :-o Did not mean to be to vague; Here are the answers to what you have mentioned;

> By CD-R I mean home burned writable discs; both CD & DVD -R's

>As far as the type of CD-ROM discs that I am referring to, store bought disc software; For instance, a program disc that may come with hardware or just software in general;

>As far as the Windows version, am currently utilizing Windows XP; (Not a big fan of Vista)

>As far as the steps previously taken, mostly been stumbling in the dark; It does not read ANY CD-ROM discs, and bc I have done everything myself or a friend that is a Marine IT has done a little work on my computer as well, I have a strong feeling that it is a driver issue; Willing to bet that there is more user error than other; Although I very well could be wrong; So far I have looked mostly for information on the drivers that I may be missing or at least what is supposed to be there as a process of elimination; That is actually how I located this site, and registered in hopes that I may get valued information; Other than that I have downloaded a torrent file that is supposed to contain thousands of Universal Drivers, however once I was able to open the file, it did not have any information on what drivers were for what functions; Only a lot of titles that make no since to me; So over all I really have not accomplished much on my endeavors;

>The drive does not burn any discs, but did before I wiped it the first time 1.5 years ago, and I have wiped it one other time since; I DO know that it is NOT capable of burning DVD-R/RW's, but over all I do not even have a burning program for discs;

>As for the uninstalling the drive, Um.... :confused Have not tried that, and not sure how my computer would take it; Not against it, just trying not to make things any worse; If you believe that it will work, or help at the least, then I am all for it; :major

Thank you for your prompt attention on this by the way, and for the patience that you may have with me... ~Dallas~

 

All your available downloads can be found at this link. I looked thru the list and on page 3 there's a diagnostic tool. Maybe it will work to test the drive. The fact that it reads home-burned CDs and DVDs but does NOT read store bought discs is bizarre. I have seen plenty of CD drives do the exact opposite, but not the problem you have. Try installing the chipset software from page 2 of the link I provided; there's also the Console Utility, the CD/DVD drive acoustic silencer (I have no idea what that is but it might help), and on page 1 there's the Toshiba Utilities for Windows XP. Also on page 3 is the Toshiba Software Upgrades (again, I have no idea what it is but it might help). Give 'em a shot.... As to uninstalling the drive: try it. It really can't hurt anything. Right click My Computer > Properties > Hardware > Device Manager; click the little plus sign next to DVD/CD-ROM Drives; right click the drive and select Uninstall; agree to any warnings, close the Device Manager, and restart the PC. When it loads back up, wait a minute or two at the desktop before testing the drive....
Good luck!

 

Will try it, and get back to let you know if it worked or not; :major I thought it weird myself but do not claim to know much about it all; rolleyes Just enough to get in to trouble;:cool

Thank you,
~Dallas~