Whats wrong with my cd-rom?

niether my cd-rom or disk drive will work. it may be spyware but i already used spybot and adware and they still arent working and I cant use the recovery and diagnostics disk because it wont run. HELP!

This question was answered on December 2, 2004. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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You're not giving me enough information Do you get any error messages? Is the drive being detected by the system? Is the drive getting any power? I'll provide you with some solutions below:

If your system does'nt detect your drive:

1 - First check if your drive is detected by the system BIOS at startup The drive is usually configured as a secondary master drive

2 - If it doesn't show up in the BIOS, then you have to check the cable and power connector

3 - For Windows 9x, go to Device Manager by clicking on START / Settings / Control Panel / System / Device Manager

4 - Double click on Hard Disk Controller If you see a yellow ! point next to the primary and/or secondary IDE controller, then you may be in DOS compatibility mode See the Windows 98 FAQ on how to get out of DOS compatibility mode

The drive can't read your data CD:

1 - Try a different data CD first If you have another system with a CD-ROM drive, verify that the CD is readable on that system Try inserting your Windows 95/98 CD-ROM

2 - If you're trying to read a CD-R ("burned or copied" CD), make sure the disc is clean and not scratched

3 - Some CD-ROM drives may have problems reading a copied CD; it depends on how the CD-R was created

You can't play music CD's:

1 - By default, Windows autoplays any music CD you insert into the drive

2 - If it does not autoplay, go to My Computer and double click on the CD drive icon

3 - You should see a window with icons that reads TRACK 01, 02, etc Double click on one of those tracks to launch the CD Player

4 - If the CD Player starts and the track is being played, but you hear no sound from your speakers, or the sound is only coming from one speaker, then you need to check the CD-ROM audio cable

THE EJECT BUTTON DOES NOT WORK

1 - If the eject button does not function, then you have to check the cable and power connector

2 - If everything is connected properly and the eject button still does not work, then you may have a defective drive

THE DRIVE IS NOT GETTING POWER

Check the cable and power connector

CHECK CABLE AND POWER CONNECTOR

Before opening the system, make sure it is powered off with the power cord unplugged

Eliminate static discharge by first touching the back of the power supply unit

Once the case cover is removed, locate the CD-ROM drive There are two connections to the drive itself: the power connector and the IDE CD-ROM cable Make sure both of those items are secure

Also, make sure the IDE cable connector to the system board is also secure

If the BIOS still does not detect the CD-ROM, try replacing the IDE CD-ROM cable

CHECK DEVICE MANAGER AND REGISTRY SETTING

Go to Device Manager by right clicking on Your Computer, selecting Properties, and select the Device Manager tab

Double click on Hard Disk Controller If you see a yellow ! point next to the Primary or Secondary IDE controller, then your system is in DOS compatibility mode; once you are in this mode, you will not be able to detect the CD-ROM drive

To get out of DOS compatibility mode, you need to run REGEDIT Do this by clicking on START / Run.. and type in REGEDIT

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / System / CurrentControlSet / Service / VxD/ IOS On the right hand panel, under the NAME column, highlight the value "NoIDE" and hit the DELETE key to remove it

Exit REGEDIT and restart your system

REPLACE DATA CD AND RETRY

Try another data CD-ROM disc A good disc to try is the Microsoft Windows 95/98 CD that came with your system

If the drive still cannot read the CD, then you may have a defective drive

CHECK CD-ROM AUDIO CABLE

Before opening the system, make sure it is powered off with the power cord unplugged

Eliminate static discharge by first touching the back of the power supply unit

Check to see if the CD-ROM audio cable is present This is a thin gray cable that connects from the back of CD-ROM drive to your soundcard or onto the system board, if you have integrated audio

If this cable is not present or loose, then you will not be able to hear any sound from a music CD

If sound is only coming out of one speaker, then you may have a wrong or defective cable

About the author

Posted by Henry of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on December 2, 2004

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