How can I fix my Dell Desktop PC that has stopped recognizing both my CD-RW and DVD/CD-RW drives?

Question

This computer is about 5 years old, but is in good shape. Has plenty of hard drive space, ram, etc. Have not had many other problems with it other than space in the past few years and have fixed that by reformatting. This actually happened to me when I first got the computer and cannot remember how Dell CS helped me fix it over the phone. I have tried a system restore to a few days previous, but that didnt help. The top drive which is just a CD-RW will not open and its yellow light is on. The bottom drive opens and spins discs, but to no avail. Both are currently recognized in the device manager as being working properly. I have tried updating drivers but was told no updates were available. When the computer starts I get an error message before Windows loads stating that my Secondary Hard Disk 0 and Secondary Hard Disk 1 cannot be recognized. I am assuming these are my disk drives, as my C, F, G, and H (hard drives) are all currently recognized and accessible. Please help!!!

My mistake, in the Device Manager there is no section for CD/DVD drives anymore. They are not recognized at all.

Answer 1

Try the following:

Go into the bios setup. The screen will show which key to press when booting. Confirm that the bios detects your DVD and CD drives. If not, then you have a hardware problem, perhaps cables or controllers or the drives themselves, but these are remote possibilities.

If the bios recognizes the DVD and CD drives but Windows doesn't, then you have a software problem. If you are running Roxio EZ CD Creator then it could be the cause. I have had horrible problems with Roxio and use Nero InCD instead.

If Roxio or Nero is installed, uninstall them. Then see if Windows recognizes the drives. Win XP can write to CDR disks, so you can try that first.

Sometimes, when a CDRW or DVDRW disk is in bad shape, it throws the drive and Roxio or Nero into infinite loops where the drive spins and seeks endlessly. If the drive tray won't eject, you can push a paperclip into the small pinhole on the faceplate and manually force the tray to eject.

good luck

Answer 2

You do not need drivers for your CD/DVD drive, they come with Vista. Vista is a far better OS than XP. Don't listen to those who don't understand all of its huge improvements over XP. Vista is nearly crash proof, much more versatile, far more advanced in security, and is still in its infancy. When XP was this age it was a total mess, and everyone hated it in a big way. People forget how much they hated XP because it spent too much time live. Give Vista a chance and you may be pleasantly surprised at how good it really is, especially once you get used to the new interface. Plus, you may as well get used to Vista now because there isn't any going back. Microsoft has stopped selling retail copies of XP, and soon there will not be any PCs with XP installed, only Vista. XP is old hate, and is retired. Service will continue for XP until '09, and then it will only receive critical and security updates, it will not be supported any longer. Windows 7 will be out some time next year too.

Answer 3

Try checking the data (flat) cable for the Drives. I have had a few of those die on me before. Best way is to find a brand new one and just swap one out. ($5 max from a computer store)

Answer 4

What model is it?

The GX270 & GX280's have mainboard problems related to a bad batch of capacitors, these can cause all manner of weird behaviour.

Answer 5

If you live anywhere close to a BestBuy you should call them up right away and asked to be transfered to Geek Squad and they would be able to answer your question in a minute. Otherwise if you don't live close to one where you are able to call go to bestbuy.com and get a 800 number to a store and ask for geek squad.. I use to work at a BestBuy they are super helpful in the geek squad dept!

Answer 6

there can be three possibilities ur cable as someone had stated earlier,bios settings or windows system.