CDRW won't work

A

andrew29

Geek Trainee
HI,

I have a 4 year old PC running XP home.

Quite a while ago I had a problem with my cdrw 'stuttering' (the tray kept opening and closing). To fix it I fiddled around a heap and then ended up opening the case and unplugging it.

Now I want it to work again. I've plugged it back in and restarted the PC but apart from the little red light on the front that is meant ot indicate that the CDRW is writing a CD it doesn'r do anything. As far as my PC is concerned it doesn't exist at all...

The CDRW I have is a Diamond Data 40x16x10 CD rewriter.

So my question is, what do I do to make it work again? are there any straight forward tests? a friend mentioned that I should reinstall the OS, but i'd prefer not to unless there is no other way.

Any advice is much appreciated!
 
hi there is no need to do anything with re-installing old hardware, your drivers (if necessary) will still be on your pc, since this is a cd drive then it should be straight forward and you should just need to plug it in

if your drive seems to be working on the outside (lights up, ejects etc) then i dont think re-installing your OS is going to solve anything especially if your cd-rw drive is not being detected in the bios /post screen either

check the ide cables, jumpers on the cd-rw drive. i believe the jumper at the back of the drive should be set to Slave but I sense someone will correct me on that.

If you right click on My Computer and click Properties, then click the Hardware tab then Device manager. in there you should (or shouldnt in your case) see DVD/CD-Roms. If this is missing then your pc is having trouble detecting it, so try the above, if it still fails then you might have a faulty drive. it doesnt sound like a machanical error so i dont think its possible to fix
 
you need to reinstall the drivers,or Update thr drivers. Have you used this cd-rw
allot ? It might just be wore out .. You might just need to get another one.
I would first try a driver upgrade. Right click on my computer, next click on properties, then hardware,then device manager.. now under cd/dvd choose your brand and click on the Plus sign,now double click on your cd and then choose
driver at the top, Now make sure you are online and then click update driver.
Now if this will not update the driver ,Then you will have to do it manually .

Good luck..
 
thanks guys,

when i go into device manager the CDRW isn't listed. it's like it never existed!

I havent changed the ide or jumper or anything, and it all seems to be plugged in ok.

hardly used the drive at all so it shouldnt be worn out.

how do i update my driver if the CDRW doesnt exist in device mnager?

thanks
 
I've tried all combinations with the jumper and even plugged the IDE in upside down and got a blue warning screen indicating that something was wrong so that at least is right.

no idea what to try now...
 
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