CD-RW Drive & DVD+-RW will not work...

Dell Dim 4600..2002 Windows Home Edition XP SP3....768 Ram...My d drive ( Sony CD- RW ) does not work. I put a cd in & click to open & it always says " insert cd " & will never acknowledge the cd is in the drive.

My E drive ( Philips 8701 DVD+-RW ) will not copy anything. Always says disk is full or is not a writable CD. I am using DVD-R imation disks.I am trying to put some pics on DVDs. I have had this drive for 4 years & it would always copy pics.

Both Drives are listed in Device Manager & & it says both or working properly.

I tried MS Fixit & Sonic Record Now..Message is "No compatible recordable or rewritable divices could be found on your system.; All help deeply appreciated,

jackg.

 

Go to the drive mfr's website (the make and model will be listed in Device Manager). Look for the latest firmware and driver updates; install both.

If this doesn't work the drive itself has bit the dust.

If you need to replace the drive, check the cable type (IDE or SATA) and order an "OEM" model (any brand is fine, but I've had the best luck with Pioneer). An "OEM" drive doesn't come with a cable, burning software or a box - it's the same quality as a retail boxed unit only $30 less.

 

hi gman 863..thanks for the fast reply. As sugested in your post, i went to philips & they say it is up to dell to furnish the updates i might need. i went to dell with no results. the sony cd drive wes factory installed & the philips dvd i ordered about a year later from dell. I have had a problem with the cd drive not being reconized. but i had the philips dvd player & writer so it didn't bother me too much about the cd drive. now i'm in a bind with low finances & trying to get by as cheap as i can. what about these free burners, or they anygood? & also does anyone have a free burner & reader combined?

Could my problem be with all the win.updates or malware ? I have run MBAM & MS Essentials & they show nothing.

Thank you so much for your help,
jack.

 

If you've tried driver & firmware updates on it, the hardware itself is likely bad. Over the years, I've discovered the first sign of a drive failing is playback only (not able to record/burn) although sometimes they fail completely.

The only other trick that may possibly save it: If you have a CD/DVD cleaner disk, use it on the drive and see if it helps (if the drive sipns it will clean).

Given drive cleaners are usually about $10; don't buy one especially for this. Newegg.com and Directron.com often have new DVD+RW OEM units for as low as $20, sometimes with free shipping.

The other possibility is to check craigslist.com or a used PC store; although used drives are usually sold "as-is". If you can swing the 20 bucks, a new OEM drive is your best bet. I can relate to the issue of money being tight; however I'd rather buy something with at least a one year warranty than spend a few bucks less with a risk the used item is already on its last legs.

 

gman - do you have Norton 360 installed, or any Symantec products?

Also, have you gotten a Blue Screen when trying to use the drive?

 

"shut down computer, then disconnect the the IDE & the PSU cables from the the DVD unit or units,boot into safe mode,run this fix http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/XP_CD-DVD-Fix.zip ,this Xp fix will work on vista as well as win7,after you run the fix,shut down the machine(do not restart yet)reconnect the cables(IDE &PSU)
then restart in normal mode,windows will find the devices as new hardware."

I C/P'd this from another forum ,and it worked for me.

 

Thanks gman for your help...

Thank you pistol, I will try your fix this pm.

I appreciate the both of you for taking your time.

jack...

 

I the only Symantec product I use is Ghost 14.0. For anti-virus, I use AVG free edition; for tune-up and spyware I use Advanced System Care free (both are available in the Major Geeks download section).

On my clients' PCs, I have used various versions of Norton/Symantec anti-virus. To the best of my knowledge, it has never caused issues with a CD or DVD drive. I personally don't like Norton or McAfee since both take up a lot of system rescouces compared to AVG, not to menton AVG is free for non-commercial use.

Pistol's tip on the fix program sounds like a good shot. I'm going to download this and keep it on my "Hail Mary" USB drive for the next optical drive issues I come across.

 

I've tried most all the fixes that were recommended including the microsoft fix-it and flashing the drivers,my problem occurred when my softphone(magicjack)forced an upgrade that corrupted my drives via my burning software,even though the properties reported that both my roms were enabled and "working properly,neither one would read or write any of disc that i inserted,it seems that windows and the device mgr were not able to detect the corrupted reg entries either,i tried the upper and lower filter deletions too,that didn't work either ,so unplugging the drives(IDE-PSU cables) and running the fix removed the broken reg entries and all of the old drive info,when i reconnected and started up the puter again both devices were immediately found as new hardware and have been working as good as new ever since , the same fix is also recommended here too towards the end of the video,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2o2SSKUHU0&feature=related

 

Hi Pistol, I went into the pc & disconnected the IDE ( the flat cables? ) & you also said to disconnect the PSU cables. Not sure what these are, so i disconnected the line of cables that go on the cd..d drive & the dvd...e drive.

When I go into safe mode to run the test, I cannot get on line so I must not be disconnecting the cables that you told me to.

Can you please help me with this?
Thanks, jack

 

you're supposed to download the the file before you open and disconnect the computer first,http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/XP_CD-DVD-Fix.zip save it to your desktop,shutdown,then disconnect the cables from your units(the psu cable is from the power supply(4 pronged connector plug,to the right of the ide (flat cable)boot into safe mode only,not the networked,extract and run the file,then shut down and reconnect the cables,then boot into normal mode.

 

thanks mimon,
I will let you all know what happens.

jack.

 

hi, i can't seem to find the psu cable. the only power cable i saw on the right side of the ide goes from the turn on button to the board...more details please...
thanks, jack.