Greetings:

I have a Dell Dimension 8200 w/ WinXP Home (Service Pack 2). I just replaced the mobo w/ another 7G535 model for the system and everything works fine w/ the exception of the music CD's.

I am unable to play any store purchased music or burned music CD's.

I've TRIED Windows Media Player 8, 9 and 10, Winamp, RealPlayer, MusicMatch, etc. w/ no success.

I checked the cable from the CD-RW to the mobo and there is continuity. The system is able to install programs, etc. but NOT play or copy music cd's to the HDD. I also cleaned the CD-RW hoping that would help w/ no further success.

I've researched and installed the required Audio Codecs & Sound Drivers which works fine. Sound & music on the HDD are able to be play w/o a problem. When a music CD is placed into the CD-RW, the drive shows the files as 4kb each...that's it.

I've swapped out drives, cables, etc. and still a no-go. My last RESORT is to install a separate sound-card and if that doesn't work, I'll reformat the HDD, reinstall XP w/o the Service Packs and see what happens.

If ANYONE has any further input or can see something that I've MISSED, please give this post a shout.

Tnx in advance,

MikeyBInitially I was suspecting that the CD's had some form of copy-protection on them, but seeing as you are unable to play any music on CD, I'm becoming more doubtful. In the UK, there is the odd CD that is protected, but no-one bought them ones so it's quite rare to find them.

If you live Stateside, I can imagine that they are a bit stricter on that front, but even then I doubt that every CD will have some from of copy-protection on it.

It's the only thing I can think of. Either that, or something on your system that is detecting that you have a CD-RW drive and preventing Music CD's from playing, which is not outwith the realms of possibility.

I'll keep an eye on this post though - I want to see how this turns out.termn8tr.......Do you have a small grey audio cable running from the back of your cd - ROM down to pins on the MOBO ? That may well be the reason . There would appear to be no problem with your on-board sound card or you wouldn't be able to play music from your HARD drive ......

Letus know

dl65