CD Not Working

**Kodiak** · November 18th, 2006, 08:03 AM

I was at a clients trying to install a printer but her dvd wouldn't work. This is what I tried.

1. Checked Device Manager
2, Tried 2 different brand new dvd's
3. Made sure it was registered in bios and my comp
4. Changed strap and made sure jumper was correct
5. Attached it as slave to the c:\ drive just to verify it wasn't the ide port
6. Tried several different cd's just to make sure it wasn't a bad cd

It will not register anything. You try to open a disk and it just tells you to insert a disk and one is in it. It does open and close. The pc is running fine and will do anything else at a speed I would expect it to. I didn't run any scans for viruses or spyware so I emagine there could be however this is an older ladies pc and I wouldn't expect a great deal of it. I know there is a group policy that prevents usage of the cd but could not find it, where is that? This is winxp home and not on a domain. Is there anything else I could look for.

**CCT** · November 18th, 2006, 08:13 AM

Under admin tools security options there is an entry 'Devices: restrict cdrom acess.....'

Would be strange this lady changed that tho'

**Kodiak** · November 18th, 2006, 08:20 AM

Yes thats what I was thinking also. Strange case. I believe that option makes it so you can't even open the drawer however.

**CCT** · November 18th, 2006, 08:25 AM

The old 'uninstall, shutdown, physically disconnect, restart, shutdown, reconnect, restart' trick is next maybe ?

**NooNoo** · November 18th, 2006, 08:27 AM

Kodiak, you are a tech charging this lady (presumably by the hour).... surely you know that you test outside windows with a bootable CD and if it don't work, then you check the cabling, then you replace the cables, replace the unit. 4 hours troubleshooting windows without checking basic operation is a waste of everyone's time.

**Kodiak** · November 18th, 2006, 08:31 AM

LOL. Well I did try 3 different roms but I didn't restart without it attached however when I tried a cdrom, not dvd, it wouldn't even recognize it, only dvd's. I believe it is possessed with her late husbands spirit.

What are you talking about noonoo? Baisc operations were checked in full. Not sure where you got 4 hrs. At this point I'm trying to find out, and email her and go back out and fix it free as I told her I would do. If your not going to add a suggestion please do not post.

**Kodiak** · January 9th, 2007, 08:42 AM

This lady called me once again on a different issue "power supply failure" and once I was done with this issue, and stopped charging, I looked into this cd issue once again for a few minutes. I checked again that it would work to boot to a bootable cd but would give you nothing in windows. Put a cd in and no auto start and you couldn't explore the cd. It is just like there is nothing there. In fact it asks you to put a cd in if you try to explore it. I once again checked in device manager and now there shows a malfunctioning rom drive so I try to update drivers but it will not update and in the drive status window it says there is a registry problem. This is not an autostart issue, it simply sees nothing. One thing I believe would fix the issue is running sfc /scannow but she has no disks. I have ran this many times but with the original disk can I run it with my disk being the same winxp home? This is a home built pc and the OS is legit.

**CCT** · January 9th, 2007, 09:23 AM

I see no particluar reason why it wouldn't work - HOWEVER, make sure she has her product ID and CoA for the XP home safely written down and has anything important backed-up (normal precautions) - CoA shows with Everest and you can get the product ID with a utility from here:

http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

**spydermanpat** · January 9th, 2007, 06:14 PM

Maybe there is a IRQ conflict??

**rgharper** · January 10th, 2007, 05:52 AM

Did we consider the obvious ... like cleaning the drive with a CD cleaning disc and/or testing by substitution to see if the drive has failed?

**futuretech** · January 10th, 2007, 10:46 AM

Have you tried setting up a new user and see if they have access to the drive in question just in case its a corruption in the profile?

**Kodiak** · January 10th, 2007, 12:09 PM

spydermanpat- device manager didn't indicate a irq conflict but it did indicate the registry may be corupt.

rgharper- yes that was the second thing I tried.

futuretech- no I have not tried this yet.

I did find this http://searchwincomputing.techtarget...040195,00.html
bit of information on it and it appears to be exactly what her problem is so I will look at this first. Keep in mind here I wouldn't go to this length for just anyone to make a cd work. This lady is very ill and she just wants her cd to work. I'm not charging her a dime for any of the work. This is just a strange problem. Nice to figure these out and bank it in the back of the brain. Just may see it again. And thank once again for the input.