This problem first cropped up a few MONTHS ago:

When I'm trying to run a disc from my laptop, when I click on My Computer, the title and icon on the C: drive or whatever (I'm not very computer savvy) remains the same as the previous disc.

I first noticed this problem when I was INSTALLING an expansion PACK of the Sims 2 (I know, but don't laugh!), and it required me to insert the second disc of the pack after the computer had gotten the stuff from the first. ( "Please insert Disc 2" )
I inserted the disc, waited for a few seconds, then clicked on OK, but after another couple of seconds the same message kept on coming up again and again.

It's not just Sims 2 discs which do this, any disc which wasn't the first one in my computer after restarting WILL NOT RUN.

Here are my system specs:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name SUSIE
System Manufacturer Notebook
System Model CAD2000
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 10 AuthenticAMD ~2004 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Phoenix 4.06CJ15, 31/10/2004
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)"
User Name SUSIE\Suki
Time Zone GMT Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 114.20 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 1.22 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

and my CD-ROM specs:

Drive F:
Description CD-ROM Drive
Media Loaded Yes
Media Type CD-ROM
Name PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-K14L
Manufacturer (Standard CD-ROM drives)
Status OK
Transfer Rate 636.51 kbytes/sec
SCSI Target ID 0
PNP Device ID IDE\CDROMPIONEER_DVD-RW__DVR-K14L________________1.00____\44_04449304C303733355738204C202020202020
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys (5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158), 48.38 KB (49,536 bytes), 03/08/2004 23:59)

Does anybody else have this problem, and how on earth do I go about solving it?Can anyone answer this? I was having the same problem with SIMS 2?Sometimes cd/dvd drives that are classified as 'burners' will give you problems installing software because the software comes with copyright PROTECTION on it that's supposed to prevent copies of it being burned.

Most software manufacturers will include a warning of this in some kind of BOOKLET that comes with it, generally around their End-User License Agreement or in the installation instructions. It's not uncommon for game installations to totally go awry due to the protection software conflicting with a cd/dvd burner drive.

If you have no other drive installed in which to run the disks with I would recommend downloading the exact same game via Bittorrent (which is NOT illegal if you own a store bought copy of the game. According to the EULA, you're allowed to possess one(1) backup copy of your purchased program) and using a virtual drive emulator such as Daemon Tools to mount the downloaded images. Install the game that way, then after inputting your store-bought CD key etc etc and it comes down to playing the game, pop in the play disk then. The game's already installed that way and it should run it properly.