Solve : disk drives missing!?

1.	Solve : disk drives missing!?
Answer» Can anyone tell me how both my CD and DVD disk drives can suddenly vanish and not be recognized by my computer?? Yesterday I played a DVD and while I recall shutting down the Cyberlink PowerDVD 6 player improperly when finished I can't see how that would have caused the DVD disk drive to disappear from my system. Today none of my DVDs would play and my DVD disk drive (E:) is no longer listed in My Computer with my Hard Disk Drives. I've also lost my CD-ROM disk drive! The only disk drive listed is Local Disk (C:) and a 3 1/2 floppy drive (A:) that I RARELY use. If anyone has any advice on how to restore my disk drives, especially the DVD disk drive, please let me know. I am stunned. I run Windows XP Pro SP3 and have an Intel Pentium 3 computer with 27 gb hard drive, 384 mb system RAM, video card ATI RADEON 7200 w/64mb RAM, Sound Blaster audio, DVD-ROM, CD burner, 10/100 network card, and US Robotics v90 56k modem. Thanks. Any help will be much appreciated. jandalSame thing in safe mode? Have you tried doing a system restore yet?See: a. Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs b. CD drive or DVD drive is missing in Windows XP or Vista c. Deleted dvd/cd rom driveYes, JJ3000, I did a System Restore yesterday and it actually seemed to work just great. Both missing disk drives reappeared in the My Computer's list of Devices With Removable Storage alongside my (A:) 3 1/2 floppy drive. I thought the problem was fixed until this morning when I turned my computer back on and found that I was back to square one again with both disk drives missing as if by magic!! Is there any way I can save a specific restore point in System Restore or must I face the drudgery of having to use System Restore every single time I turn on my computer and set yet ANOTHER restore point? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks. jandal 1. System Restore. Using system restore to "revert" the operating system (primarily the "registry") to a previous state whenever you wish CD/DVD drive access is not a practical solution. 2. Device Management. Use this utility to verify operating system found the device and what "status" it reports for the device. To access the "Device Manager" window: Start -> Run -> type "devmgmt.msc" without quotes -> hit key or select OK button. The window should open in "View - Devices by type" view. If not, use "View" pull-down menu from top menu bar to change display. a. DVD/CD-ROM drives. If this category exists, expand it (double-click it) to display your devices. Right-click one of your CD/DVD drives and select "Properties". Select "General" tab. What does the "Device status" subsection say? b. If the DVD/CD-ROM drives category does not exist: (1) Are there any "yellow" or "red" flags on the display? (2) Is there an "Unknown" or "Other" category on the display? Quote from: dahlarbear on February 23, 2010, 03:52:44 AM See: a. Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs b. CD drive or DVD drive is missing in Windows XP or Vista c. Deleted dvd/cd rom drive 4. You have a Microsoft operating system. The "Microsoft" link I provided also applies to Windows XP. It might resolve your issue.Dahlarbear: I tried everything you suggested and System Restore is the only thing that works but the trouble is it works only as long as I keep my computer turned on, restoring it to an earlier date before I noticed the problem began. I had installed an update and after that I noticed two disk drives (D:) and (E:) had vanished from my system. I ran System Restore, selected a restore point, and the drives were restored. Then I turned my computer off. The next time I turned it on the disk drives were missing again. I ran System Restore again, selected another restore point, and recovered my disk drives. But I'm wondering how long I can keep this up? Is there any danger to my OS? I used Device Manager when this trouble first began but I checked it again. There is only one disk drive listed and that is WDC WD273BA, which I assume is Local Disk (C:). I GUESS this means my operating system can't detect any CD-ROM/DVD drives. Also the light on my little CD-ROM tray on my CPU is blinking and I can't open the door to play CDs. The tray is jammed shut. I did try your microsoft link but their support is limited and doesn't really seem to help in my particular case. Any more suggestions are welcome. I greatly appreciate you making the time to try and help. I sure wish there was some way to save a System Restore point so that I wouldn't have to go through this every single time I turn on my PC. If the problem continues I may need to take it in for repair. Thank you. jandalThe drive has most likely failed...rplace it. There is a pinhole on the front of the drive...straighten out a paperclip and insert it to release the drive door... You don't need the power on to do this. If you are not convinced the drive is bad the only sure test is to swap it into another working desktop. PS. No need to get a shop involved...you can remove/replace a CD drive yourself in under 15 minutes... If you are UNSURE of the procedure find someone who has tinkered on machines before and have them assist Best of Luck !Are the drives listed in BIOS? If so, can you boot to a CD? What sort of update did you install before this started? a windows update?Quote from: patio on February 25, 2010, 09:41:57 AM You don't need the power on to do this. That's generally true, and I've used a paper clip to free up several CD's with the power off, but one time on a friends computer, I was poking away with a paper clip with the power off and nothing was happening. I turned on the power, used the paper clip and it OPENED immediately. Could be something to do with the brand or type. Before that I always thought it was a simple mechanical switch that didn't need power but that one time it needed power.Quote from: JJ 3000 on February 22, 2010, 07:58:49 PM Same thing in safe mode? Have you tried doing a system restore yet? Quote from: jandal on February 24, 2010, 02:28:49 PM Yes, JJ3000, I did a System Restore yesterday and it actually seemed to work just great. 1. Need clarification. Have you tried booting to Safe Mode? a. Do DVD/CD-ROM drives show in Device Manager? b. Are there any "yellow" or "red" flags in Device Manager? c. Any "Unknown" or "Other" category devices? d. Do DVD/CD-ROM drives show in My_Computer? Quote from: jandal on February 25, 2010, 09:34:00 AM Dahlarbear: I tried everything you suggested and System Restore is the only thing that works... I used Device Manager when this trouble first began but I checked it again. There is only one disk drive listed and that is WDC WD273BA, which I assume is Local Disk (C:). I guess this means my operating system can't detect any CD-ROM/DVD drives. I did try your microsoft link but their support is limited and doesn't really seem to help in my particular case. 2. Need clarification. a. Device Manager. (1) Are there any "yellow" or "red" flags on the display? (2) Is there an "Unknown" or "Other" category on the display? b. Microsoft Link. What did you try?

Answer»

Can anyone tell me how both my CD and DVD disk drives can suddenly vanish and not be recognized by my computer?? Yesterday I played a DVD and while I recall shutting down the Cyberlink PowerDVD 6 player improperly when finished I can't see how that would have caused the DVD disk drive to disappear from my system. Today none of my DVDs would play and my DVD disk drive (E:) is no longer listed in My Computer with my Hard Disk Drives. I've also lost my CD-ROM disk drive! The only disk drive listed is Local Disk (C:) and a 3 1/2 floppy drive (A:) that I RARELY use. If anyone has any advice on how to restore my disk drives, especially the DVD disk drive, please let me know. I am stunned. I run Windows XP Pro SP3 and have an Intel Pentium 3 computer with 27 gb hard drive, 384 mb system RAM, video card ATI RADEON 7200 w/64mb RAM, Sound Blaster audio, DVD-ROM, CD burner, 10/100 network card, and US Robotics v90 56k modem. Thanks. Any help will be much appreciated.

jandalSame thing in safe mode?

Have you tried doing a system restore yet?See:
a. Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs
b. CD drive or DVD drive is missing in Windows XP or Vista
c. Deleted dvd/cd rom driveYes, JJ3000, I did a System Restore yesterday and it actually seemed to work just great. Both missing disk drives reappeared in the My Computer's list of Devices With Removable Storage alongside my (A:) 3 1/2 floppy drive. I thought the problem was fixed until this morning when I turned my computer back on and found that I was back to square one again with both disk drives missing as if by magic!! Is there any way I can save a specific restore point in System Restore or must I face the drudgery of having to use System Restore every single time I turn on my computer and set yet ANOTHER restore point? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks.

jandal 1. System Restore. Using system restore to "revert" the operating system (primarily the "registry") to a previous state whenever you wish CD/DVD drive access is not a practical solution.

2. Device Management. Use this utility to verify operating system found the device and what "status" it reports for the device.

To access the "Device Manager" window: Start -> Run -> type "devmgmt.msc" without quotes -> hit key or select OK button.

The window should open in "View - Devices by type" view. If not, use "View" pull-down menu from top menu bar to change display.

a. DVD/CD-ROM drives. If this category exists, expand it (double-click it) to display your devices. Right-click one of your CD/DVD drives and select "Properties". Select "General" tab.

What does the "Device status" subsection say?

b. If the DVD/CD-ROM drives category does not exist:
(1) Are there any "yellow" or "red" flags on the display?
(2) Is there an "Unknown" or "Other" category on the display?

Quote from: dahlarbear on February 23, 2010, 03:52:44 AM

See:
a. Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs
b. CD drive or DVD drive is missing in Windows XP or Vista
c. Deleted dvd/cd rom drive

4. You have a Microsoft operating system. The "Microsoft" link I provided also applies to Windows XP. It might resolve your issue.Dahlarbear:
I tried everything you suggested and System Restore is the only thing that works but the trouble is it works only as long as I keep my computer turned on, restoring it to an earlier date before I noticed the problem began. I had installed an update and after that I noticed two disk drives (D:) and (E:) had vanished from my system. I ran System Restore, selected a restore point, and the drives were restored. Then I turned my computer off. The next time I turned it on the disk drives were missing again. I ran System Restore again, selected another restore point, and recovered my disk drives. But I'm wondering how long I can keep this up? Is there any danger to my OS?
I used Device Manager when this trouble first began but I checked it again. There is only one disk drive listed and that is WDC WD273BA, which I assume is Local Disk (C:). I GUESS this means my operating system can't detect any CD-ROM/DVD drives. Also the light on my little CD-ROM tray on my CPU is blinking and I can't open the door to play CDs. The tray is jammed shut.
I did try your microsoft link but their support is limited and doesn't really seem to help in my particular case.
Any more suggestions are welcome. I greatly appreciate you making the time to try and help. I sure wish there was some way to save a System Restore point so that I wouldn't have to go through this every single time I turn on my PC. If the problem continues I may need to take it in for repair. Thank you.

jandalThe drive has most likely failed...rplace it.
There is a pinhole on the front of the drive...straighten out a paperclip and insert it to release the drive door...
You don't need the power on to do this.

If you are not convinced the drive is bad the only sure test is to swap it into another working desktop.

PS. No need to get a shop involved...you can remove/replace a CD drive yourself in under 15 minutes...
If you are UNSURE of the procedure find someone who has tinkered on machines before and have them assist

Best of Luck !Are the drives listed in BIOS? If so, can you boot to a CD? What sort of update did you install before this started? a windows update?Quote from: patio on February 25, 2010, 09:41:57 AM

You don't need the power on to do this.

That's generally true, and I've used a paper clip to free up several CD's with the power off, but one time on a friends computer, I was poking away with a paper clip with the power off and nothing was happening. I turned on the power, used the paper clip and it OPENED immediately. Could be something to do with the brand or type.

Before that I always thought it was a simple mechanical switch that didn't need power but that one time it needed power.Quote from: JJ 3000 on February 22, 2010, 07:58:49 PM

Same thing in safe mode?

Have you tried doing a system restore yet?

Quote from: jandal on February 24, 2010, 02:28:49 PM

Yes, JJ3000, I did a System Restore yesterday and it actually seemed to work just great.

1. Need clarification. Have you tried booting to Safe Mode?
a. Do DVD/CD-ROM drives show in Device Manager?
b. Are there any "yellow" or "red" flags in Device Manager?
c. Any "Unknown" or "Other" category devices?
d. Do DVD/CD-ROM drives show in My_Computer?

Quote from: jandal on February 25, 2010, 09:34:00 AM

Dahlarbear:
I tried everything you suggested and System Restore is the only thing that works...

I used Device Manager when this trouble first began but I checked it again. There is only one disk drive listed and that is WDC WD273BA, which I assume is Local Disk (C:). I guess this means my operating system can't detect any CD-ROM/DVD drives.

I did try your microsoft link but their support is limited and doesn't really seem to help in my particular case.

2. Need clarification.
a. Device Manager.
(1) Are there any "yellow" or "red" flags on the display?
(2) Is there an "Unknown" or "Other" category on the display?
b. Microsoft Link. What did you try?

Solve : disk drives missing!?

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