CD-ROM driver help please

Sure you're not trying to put a DVD in a CD drive? CD/DVD drives are pretty standardized these days, so it's very unusual to need a special driver for them.

So am I correct in assuming that Windows actually sees the drive then? Because if it's not even showing up, that would be a different issue than just not reading a disc.

i doubt it, the firmware update probably contains an updated database of disc types so that you can burn more manufacturers discs at the correct speed. You shouldn't need a specialized driver because optical drives like cd/dvd drives are usually covered by the generic windows drivers that come with your windows installation. it sounds like the actual drive may be faulty.

It's a DVD/CD-ROM. Before I had to restore my computer (due to a corupted explorer.exe) it worked fine with no problems both with cd and dvd discs. And it was made in 2007 I don't know if that is new enough to not need a special driver. But then again it was bought from Wal-mart.

Well i know the computer sees the device because when I was trying to install one of my other games the first time i tried to install it, it did what i said earlier. Froze up and i had to close out of my computer through task manager. The second time I tryed it, which was right after the first time, it brought up the install screen and then froze at that point so I had to close out of that. So I know my computer sees the drive its just having trouble read the discs I think.

-I'm sure if he is using windows 95 and or 3.1 he may need a driver.

-or his driver in sys32 is messed up

-or his registry is messed up

-or like you were saying hes putting a DVD in a cd drive, That just causes nothing to happen and the drive to keep reading indefinently.

Sounds like windows is being "Special", question what Windows are you using?

Let me guess - it is a sony dvd/cd-rom driver?

go to start, computer - right click and select manage... then select device manager... click on dvd/cd-rom drives and is the drive listed there? if it is right click the drive and uninstall it. Then right there at the toolbar for the device manager on the rightside of all the rest the icons hover over it and it says scan for hardware changes - click that icon and it will scan and install the drivers again for the drive. Those drivers are provided via windows - there are very few dvd/cd- rom drives that reguire special drivers.

But I've found that a lot of new installs for hardware get corrupted and this should solve your problems.

I run Windows XP. And I wish it was a sony but unforunatly it is a Philips

They are all about the same and will have this same problem - reinstall the drive.

Could it be a hardware problem?  Bad drive, bad mobo?  Try to boot off of a CD.  If it doesn't boot off the drive, then it's probably not a Windows issue.  If it does work, at least you've more or less eliminated that possibility.

I reinstalled the drive like you said and when I install the game, or try to, it still freezes

I thought about that but i can't find any bootable cds.

Nero installed?

Can you install or run any other dvd's on that drive that read correctly? not cd but dvd this is important you find another dvd and see if it will run. If it does then the drive is ok and your disc sounds like it could be damaged. If that is the case you need to try and copy the disc with like IMGBURN to a .iso file and then burn another disc with same program from that image [.iso] provided it will make an .iso image. You will have to do this on another system since it will more than likely not read on the one you are using now.

But you need to find out if another dvd will run on that computer first to determine if the drive is working. Thus that dvd that you are trying to use maybe damaged.

Also as yrag has asked - do you have nero installed and what other security software are you using? For that matter what burning software is installed?

I tryed using another game that is on a dvd also tryed to run a dvd movie and my computer still freezes up. After letting it sit and pray that it was just a slow thinker I gave up after about 20 minutes for both dvds.

As for Yrag's question I do not have nero installed. The only burning software that is currently on this computer is the software that came custom on the computer when i bought it. As far as security software goes I use SUPERAntispyware and Avast. Norton is also on my computer which came with the computer but i never went through with registering it or installing it unless it came preinstalled and im just closeing out what i think is it asking me to install the program every time i start up windows.

Open tray door and use compressed air to blow out the inside of drive.

Spraying the drive with compressed air did not work in fixing the problem. It did however work in making my laugh for a good 2 minutes while waiting to see if it did work just because this whole issue was caused by a little dust and how dumb I was not to have thought about that before. If only lifes biggest issues could be solved with a can of air, duck tape, and JB weld life would be much simpler.

I am going to wait until my cousin gets in town and use one of her extra drives to see if my drive is bad or my computer is having issues. Thanks for all your help so far and if any other ideas pop up I would be happy to hear them.

What makes you think they can't......?

The drive is either bad or the jumper is set wrong (if it's an IDE) . My money is on the former.

It could also be a bad cable, or other things. That is a shortsighted comment.

You should go into Add/Remove Programs and uninstall Norton. You could have software conflicts, which can cause any number of problems.

You're right....hell, it could be an anomaly in the cosmos....

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll try harder to expand my horizons the next time.....

I would do that but my explorer.exe is corrupted and it gives me an error when I try that.....Seems like my dvd/cd-rom drive problem is the least of my worries eh? I remember hearing about some kind of clean up software for windows that will do the same thing as add/remove but i can't find it for the life of me.

reaper, you could try googling for un-installer and look fo the free ones

harpo

Possibly.

If you are having that many strange problems, a complete format/reinstall might be in order. Something might not have copied correctly the last time, or you could have a nasty virus.

No....I didn't touch his computer....even once....;p

It wouldn't be the first dvd/cd rom/rw drive to go belly-up.....they are built to a price, not a quality......think about it.....$20 or so buys you one these days....so they are going to be essentially crap.....waiting to fail.

They are throw away technology....swap it out and see what happens....;)

As for third party uninstallers,I use one*cough* REVO *cough* and if used correctly,it does a far better job of removing broken/unneeded software. Add/Remove Programs is my last choice for that job.

Well that's partially true, although none of my drives has ever gone belly-up on me. Not like the harddrives. I've got one optical drive pushing ten years now, two more around the 5 year mark. The laptop though, the dell, I expect whatever cheap piece of crap drive they put in there to start to give me trouble any minute now. They're cheap though, time to get another one. Although it sounds like you have bigger fish to cry if you have explorer issues too.

For future use there's a free imaging program for personal use called "macrium reflect",it's a superior way of making backups than using windows in built restore crap.Keep it in mind regardless if you use it r not for when you ever need to do a fresh install of windoze as that's the best time to begin imaging