Computer systems restore question

[deep]

I have an 18 month old compact tower with cd rom and dvd/cd r drives.

xp os



My dvd/burner quit about 6 months back.

The light turns on
But the drive does show up on my system.

System restore will only go back to March 18 2005
Can I go back in system restore, about 7 months
(without losing anything important.)
Will this restore the drives? that are missing?

 

[DrTeeth]

Well you will lose all the system changes you've made during the past seven months but no files or anything. Perhaps you should try re-installing your dvd-burner first and make sure you have the lastest drivers and windows updated.

 

[Liesje]

have you checked in the Device Manager? It may show up with a red X or yellow ! sign meaning the drive is disabled, not installed properly, or needs a driver. If it's not in the Device Manager at all, run the Add New Hardware wizard in the Control Panel and see if it finds it. If that works, you may need to download the device driver from their website if Windows can't install it automatically. If the device shows up in Device Manager but has a red or yellow icon on it, double click on it and the Properties window will open and should tell you what the problem is. You can right click on it in the Device Manager, uninstall it, restart your comp., and Windows should detect it and reinstall it, but again it may be missing a driver which you can download or request to have sent to you on a CD from the manufacturer.

 

[enajh2]

It's more likely that your data ribbon cable has bit the dust or has worked itself loose. Double check it is fully inserted in the drive and reboot. If the drive is okay then it should be detected again

There are very few if any drives that can't be installed with the generic windows drivers, as far as I know

 

[deep]

have you checked in the Device Manager? It may show up with a red X or yellow ! sign meaning the drive is disabled, not installed properly, or needs a driver. If it's not in the Device Manager at all, run the Add New Hardware wizard in the Control Panel and see if it finds it. If that works, you may need to download the device driver from their website if Windows can't install it automatically. If the device shows up in Device Manager but has a red or yellow icon on it, double click on it and the Properties window will open and should tell you what the problem is. You can right click on it in the Device Manager, uninstall it, restart your comp., and Windows should detect it and reinstall it, but again it may be missing a driver which you can download or request to have sent to you on a CD from the manufacturer.

\


i did the system check thing

and it said the drivers are current

 

[deep]

It's more likely that your data ribbon cable has bit the dust or has worked itself loose. Double check it is fully inserted in the drive and reboot. If the drive is okay then it should be detected again

There are very few if any drives that can't be installed with the generic windows drivers, as far as I know

the drawer opens and closes

but it will not read any type of disc

when click the cd-rom E drive it says

insert disc

when I click on this Richo dvd-cd r F drive the window opens and it is just empty

could cable be lose?

 

[Liesje]

I would install any Windows Updates you don't have, then go inside the comp. and check the cables, then go into the Device Manager, uninstall the drive, restart the computer, reinstall it and check online for a better driver. If those don't work....maybe the drive has gone bad?

 

[deep]

I would install any Windows Updates you don't have, then go inside the comp. and check the cables, then go into the Device Manager, uninstall the drive, restart the computer, reinstall it and check online for a better driver. If those don't work....maybe the drive has gone bad?

ok,
i am set for auto update and install at 3 am

about seven hours

next I will open box and check cables

and follow your instructions


my last resort
is to buy an external burner

 

[Se7en]

my last resort
is to buy a...

mac.

 

[deep]

that's next

 

[Se7en]

 

[hiphop]

I wouldn´t install all the Windows updates. most of the times they are pretty useless.

Where is the driver missing? Is it already missing when you start the computer, before WinXP starts? (just before of entering the BIOS password if you have any)? If not, check the hardware installation and run a check if you can find any hardware components to (re)install. If the hardware is installed, but WinXP doesn´t recognize it, the question is why.

However, since I am not a computer tech and I doubt many posters are, I would rather take this question elsewhere; I´m not meaning to be rude, just don´t fuck with your computer. When I have that kind of problems, i check by running HiJack This. It´s a braindead (small) process edit program that will list all the processes your computer is running. You can click/ unclick (enable/ disable) those later on. It´s for free.

Try check the board/ ask the guys on www.bleepingcomputer.com, maybe they can help you. You can also download HiJackThis there. Don´t "play" with it though, you might not be able to recognize some processes that are critical for startup.

 

[nbcrusader]

Another helpful site is www.pcmechanic.com

You can get quick resonses on the forums to just about any computer problem.

 

[Liesje]

However, since I am not a computer tech and I doubt many posters are

Nothing that's been suggested in this thread could do any more harm to the computer. The only problem that could happen is if he were to open up the box to check the cables and shocked the motherboard, but this very rarely happens. You can wear a grounding wristband to protect the computer from shock though.

If he uninstalled it in the Device Manager, the worst that could happen is Windows would not have a driver to reinstall it and he'd have to download one from the manufacturer's website, but it's not like the drive is working now anyway.

With the info here, it sounds like the drive is just bad since it is installed and has the current driver, according to Device Manager. Unless there is a better driver for it out there.

Google and see if you can find any posts on tech boards w/ people having a similar problem with that model of drive in your model of computer.

You could also try installing the drive in a friend's computer to see if its a problem with the drive or the driver or OS on your computer.

 

[deep]

I want to thank everybody that took the time to reply.

The solution I took was to go to Frys and buy a dvd - + R/RW external drive for $70

it rips cds great

i got a new car with a cd player, so I am happy now.

the internal burner may work if I open and disconnect and reconect cable
and let hardware reinstall.
I have never opened a tower before


well, i got two dvd burners and I have never
burned a dvd.


how many of you are burning dvds?

 

[therulz]

I had this happen before. Shut down and power off..unplug from supply source.

First, take the drives out and check to make sure that you have one CD/RW/DVD marked master and one as a slave on your jumper settings on the CD drives...then make sure your power and CD-IDE/serial ATA ribbon wire is leading them in the right direction from the mother board...power to master drive first then slave.

If you have the jumper set to cable select and powered up backwards it confuses the mother board and the drive won't show up.

Then reboot to BIOS settings (press DEL) and check to see if it shows up....


Your Cd drive not showgn up in your Bios is not usually anything to do with the system restore.

 

[Se7en]

well deep. i feel your pain. and yet, somehow my pain is worse.

it seems that the computer gods have put the proverbial kibosh on my little ibook's harddrive. it is dead. the drive is gone. so sudden. i have yet to determine all that i have lost as i don't have a way to hook up my external drive at the moment to see what i backed up. this is shocking and quite upsetting. i am not happy. so i bid you all a fond farewell until i can see a doctor about the issue. goodbye.

 

[Liesje]

poor, poor iBook....

 

[lmjhitman]

i am not happy. so i bid you all a fond farewell until i can see a doctor about the issue. goodbye.