Are, basically, all CDR/W drives generically compatible?

Question

I have a Dell (windows XP)...A friend gave me aPhilips cdr/w
cd burner out of a Compaq presario (model #CDD4801/71 manufactured 10/2000). Is it compatible with my system before I try to install it. I am not to familiar with Compaq computers or hardware.

Answer 1

Wow it's so easy just to say "Sure go ahead. Everything will be just fine..." right up until you start getting pagefaults.
My comment is firstly, go ahead and do it. It really won't hurt anything to try because it will either work or it won't.
But if you're paying money for the drive and it's a last resort, I would read on...

I did some research on your Philips drive CDD4801.

If it was pulled from a Presario built way back in 2000, I do not concur with the other answers. You will likely have some issues based on the postings on driverguide archive forums asking for XP drivers for the CDD4801 pulled from 98SE/Me machines.

The BIOS firware has been updated at some point from 1.x over the years for different media AND for use with Windows XP.

The answer to your Philips question has two parts:
a) The CDRW will NOT be compatible with your system, but;
b) You can upgrade the CD firmware BIOS in your CDRW drive.

If you're tech-savvy enough, you can read about how to use flashtools upgrade flash your CD-RW BIOS on a site like cdfreaks.com, cdrinfo.com.

Based on experiences with old burners I used to have an old discontinued LG burner with no upgradable BIOS. Because of the inherent BIOS problem it could only use Windows 98/Me drivers. It too was purchased in the spring of 2000. To guarantee all old burners work with all new systems is an exercise in futility.

Hope this helps...

Answer 2

Of course, it will work. Every manufacturer has to adhere to industry standards while making devices and hence a component out of one computer will generally work inside another (this is almost 100% true for optical drives but is dependent on factors like motherboard when it comes to processors, RAM and video cards). The current standard for optical drives is the IDE/ATA and it has been around since ages. Therefore, there's no chance that your friend's CDRW won't work in your PC

As another thing, Compaq and DELL does not make optical drives. All optical drives are made by companies like Sony, Samsung, LG and LiteOn.

Go ahead, and enjoy. There's no installation needed for an optical drive. Just connect the power and interface cables properly and power up your system. The drive will be automatically detected.

Answer 3

It should work fine, as long as you have the correct connector (probably IDE) on the motherboard any drive you plug in will work.

Answer 4

It will work, just remember to make the burner (master)