I have a Lightscribe DVD writer / cd-writer and a regular dvd-rom that both do not play anything that is put in them. When I go into disk management, it says that they are NOT working properly and that the drivers may be corrupt and/or missing.  I have tried to uninstall and reinstall them (and re-start computer), to no avail.  I have downloaded the driver for the Lightscribe and opened it, but nothing happened.  I can't find a driver for the regular dvd-rom.

How do I get the driver to match up with the dvd player?  What else can I do to fix them?

Thank you for any help.

malibu,Is this a new phenomenon with devices that had previously been working properly? Have you added any new hardware recently? Did you recently install either or both of these optical devices? Answers to these questions will enable us to better assist you. truenorthThey came already installed on the computer when i PURCHASED it approx 3 yrs ago.  They have been working fine till about a year ago, then only worked off and on.  I just haven't been able to do anything about it till now.How old are these devices? And what have they been used for?malibu,I note that the 2 devices were installed and came with the computer about 3 YEARS ago.While it is not impossible the fact that both failed at the same time tends me to believe that the problem is LESS likely to be that they are defective. There are a number of things that you can do to help narrow down the cause of this loss. The 1st is to go into the BIOS of the computer and verify that they are "enabled". Next if that isn't the problem is if you can take them one at a time and install them in another computer to see if they work. Remember if you already have an optical device in the computer you use to test them to set the jumper pins to "slave". It just occurred to me that an additional easy thing to do before transferring the drives for testing is to ensure that the IDE cables are firmly seated in the rear of the drives. While your inside the case it is worth your while to ensure that there is not a large amount of dust accumulation and if there is to blow it out.It is unlikely that it is a software issue insofar as the "drivers" are concerned as they have always been in this computer and have previously functioned. (unless you have changed the operating system to something other than was originally in the computer) A question are you getting other sounds from your computer such as the windows start up sounds? These devices don't require driver installation as they are plug and play. However of course there is a need for proper software to listen to or record media but i assume that is installed. What programs are you using for those purposes? What is shown in "device manager " beside these 2 devices? Do either of them display as being present when your computer boots? I suspect they do if they are being detected in "disk management " but showing as not working properly. If we can if the couple of easy ones don't change things try the test in another computer to see if they will work route before we get into other possible suggestions. There are other ideas i have but i would like you to try these 1st. Good luck,truenorth

P.S. I just noticed another post by you in regards to "installing another HD". If this is in the same machine there could be a relationship to that optical drive issue.One of these may help:
1. Uninstall the drive through Device Manager.
Restart computer. The drive will be automatically reinstalled.
or...
2. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060
Restart computer.
or...
3. Download, and run Restore Missing CD Drive patch
Double click on cdgone.zip to unzip it.
Right click on cdgone.reg, click Merge.
Accept registry merge.
Restart computer.
or...
4. Go to Device Manager, click a "+" sign next to IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers.
You'll see two items:
- ATA Channel0 (or Primary Channel)
- ATA Channel1 (or Secondary Channel)
Right click on each of them, and click Uninstall. Confirm.
Restart Windows. They'll be automatically reinstalled.Ok.  I have tried several of the suggestions that have been posted, but the drives remain the same.

  1) I have uninstalled the drives several times, then restarted the computer.  The drives reinstalled automatically.  They still get power, but don't play a disk (same as before)

2) I have looked in the BIOS, and the drives are listed and I believe they are enabled.

3) I looked on the back of each of the drives and the jumpers were both set to CS, so I put one as master and the other as slave, just the way the are listed on the BIOS.  Result is same as #1.

4) I tried a different IDE cable, but no changes.  I don't have another computer to try the drives in.  IDE cables are firmly seated.  Very LITTLE accumulation of dust.

5) I hooked up an old (7-8 yrs old +/-) CD drive - same results as #1.

As always, thank you.  And any other suggestions would be helpful.

Have you tried dis connecting one of the drives from the power & ide ribbon set the jumper correctly. [independent]malibu,Specifically have you tried Broni's suggestion re the "cdgone" download?truenorth

P.S. Here is a link to probably the most comprehensive trouble shooting and fixing of your problem i have seen.You may have tried some but you need to try them all.
http://marvz18.blogspot.com/2008/10/computer-troubleshooting-cddvd-optical.htmlMulreay - the dvd drives are approx 3 yrs old.  I have used them for playing music, writing to cd/dvd's for backups, etc.  I have really not used them all that much over the 3 yrs.

Broni - I will try your suggestions and see if that works - thank you.

Xavier - I tried what you suggested, but with no change.  Thank you though for your input.

Truenorth - I will try Broni suggestions and look at the link you gave, and see how much I can do myself.  Thank you for your input as well.  If you do Bronis suggestion & dont work i would chang out 1 drive as a test.[what else]I'm sorry but I'm thinking burnt out? Or not obviously!After following the driver link that Broni gave, and being able to successfully download and install the new drivers, I finally GOT the drives to work, at least for now. 

Thank you all for those that commented and gave me so many good suggestions.  I am very grateful for your help.Cool Well done,truenorth