CD Driver Problem

Hey guys, I just bought some software and I'm trying to install it on my computer, when I insert the CD into the CD Driver nothing happens. I can hear it load but then it just stops, I go to "My Computer" and try clicking on the CD Driver and that doesn't work
It's like my CD driver doesn't recognize it ! I'm currently running vista x64

Please help me! Thanks!!!

 

put it in another drive, does it work? Do other CDs work in this drive?

You may have bad media, or in some cases, either your drive or the drive that burned the disc is slightly out of alignment, which prevents you from reading a disc

 

Another drive? I don't feel like taking apart my computer to put in another driver.
I'll try other discs are let you know.

 

I mean put the CD in a different COMPUTER with a different drive

 

Yes, it works on a different computer

 

Then, not to steal gerryf19's thunder, you probably have a problem with either your CD drive itself, or with the software that runs the CD drive for the OS.

To determine if the problem has to do with a marginal disc that your otherwise useable CD drive just cannot read, try running other discs in that CD drive to see if it can read any disc. If it cannot read any of the discs you try (or only one or two), then the problem is almost certainly the drive itself or the drivers for the drive.

If you've reached that point, try uninstalling the drivers for the CD drive, and then reinstalling them to see if that clears up the problem. If it does, then that would indicate that you had corrupted drivers.

If the drive cannot read all or most of the discs you try in it, and uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers doesn't help, and you don't have any other third-party software installed that makes use of the CD drive, such as a CD burner, then it's likely that you have a bum CD drive. One way to test that is to go to the support website for the company that built the actual drive itself (not the company that made the whole computer) and check to see if they have a diagnostic utility you can run to determine whether or not the CD drive is still within spec. If it's not, and reinstalling the drivers doesn't help, then you'll have to replace the drive itself.

 

Alright ill try different discs right now.
Also while I'm doing that can you please explain how I would uninstall the driver then reinstall it?
Thank you both for you help.

 

To do a basic uninstallation of a driver, go into the device manager, find the CD/DVD drive, and call up its properties dialogue box. On the top of that box should be a tab for the driver details; under that tab will be an option to uninstall the drivers for the drive.

Before you do that, though, make sure you have a copy of the driver file from your computer maker's support website saved to an easy-to-find location on the computer so you can point Windows in the right direction when it attempts to install the drivers for the CD/DVD drive.

Once you've uninstalled the drive, Windows should auto-detect the CD/DVD drive as "new hardware" and attempt to install it; that's where the drivers from your computer maker's website will come in.

 

Is this the correct driver?

If it is how do I save a copy of it on my computer, you said I need to do that ?

 

No, it isn't. That's your hard drive - you do not want to tinker with the drivers for that!

Also, it appears from your screenshot that your CD/DVD drive isn't showing up at all (which would explain why you cannot get anything to install from it. For comparison, I've attached a screenshot of the view of my device manager, with my CD/DVD drive circled in red.





As you can see, the CD/DVD drive shows up quite prominently in the device manager tree on my system.

That picture is actually quite useful, because it gives a much better idea of what might be going on; while you give the different discs a try, I'll see if I can think up anything brilliant to try based on this image.

 

That's weird because I'm the only one that uses this computer, and I haven't touched the device manager.
Let me know if you need more information or another picture. Thanks.

EDIT:
Alright, I just tried a different disc and it didn't load or do anything.

Also I have another computer (same brand, model, color, everything) is there anyway I can just take the driver from that computer and load it on this computer that doesn't have it?

 

Ah, the mystery deepens.

You said earlier that you could see your optical drive (dvd) under COMPUTER when you clicked on it...the drive should not be listed given your device manager.

Thoughts:

Could you click on DISK MANAGEMENT a couple levels below DEVICE MANAGER?

What kind of system do you have? Make and model?

Have you been tinkering in your CMOS settings where you may have disabled a drive or controller--anyone you know perhaps maybe having fun with you?

Does the drive show up during the boot process (black screen, memory count up, processor speed, drive enumeration)--you may not see this info because it will sometimes hide behind a splash screen

Any chance a cable has come loose?

 

It's possible that the optical drive is/was still showing up in the "Computer" page in Explorer because Explorer hadn't gotten around to verifying that there still was a recognizable optical drive attached to the system. I've seen phantom drive icons like that before, although they do usually resolve themselves sooner rather than later.

 

Usually they disappear after a reboot. I'm wondering if he is clicking on something else--perhaps a virtual optical drive.

Like you intimated earlier, I wonder if we're having the old upperfilter/lowerfilter issue that disables optical drives after a bad removal of software.

 

Wheres DISK MANAGEMENT? I can't find it.
I have a Dell XPS M1330 and I'm running vista x64.
CMOS settings, where would you tinker with those settings? I might of but I don't recall I have.

When I boot my computer up there is a long lasting black screen (just black nothing else) it probably lasts anywhere from 20-50 seconds long.

 

Relax (it makes doing the diagnostics a little easier). How long have you had the system, and is it still under warranty?

Also, the fact that it doesn't seem to be reading any discs supports the hypothesis that the problem is something to do with your hardware/software.

Have you turned the system off, let it sit for a couple of minutes, and then turned it back on since this problem started happening?

 

I've had my system for 348 days, and I bought a 2 year warranty

 

Fantastic! Then the worst of all possible scenarios is that you're without your system for a couple of weeks while _Dell replaces a dead optical drive, at their expense.

 

I bought the warrently at best buy from geek squad. So what are they going to have to do? Open my computer up and replace a optical drive?

 

Most likely. When you go into the device manager, do you see anything that is flagged with a little yellow warning sign with an exclamation point in it, and maybe with a title like "problem devices"?

 

Nope, I don't see anything else that.

 

How about shutting it down, letting it sit about 10 minutes, and then starting it back up - anything change?

 

I'll do that be back in 10 mins.

 

sorry didn't notice you loaded the device manager directly.

press the start button, right click COMPUTER, choose MANAGE
You will see three categories

SYSTEM TOOLS
STORAGE
SERVICES and APPLICATIONS

click STORAGE and choose DISK MANAGEMENT

--------------------

re: BIOS/CMOS settings

When you boot your computer, DELL calls them SETUP options. To enter SETUP for most DELLS, you press F2

 

ok heres the screen shot:

 

Nope, no optical drive

Reboot and this time choose f2 when you see the initial screen

Each set up screen is different...do you recall going in here at any time and disabling something or changing the boot order?

 

I might of did that...
I'm not exactly sure I just haven't use my cd drive in a long time so I don't recall. Is there anyway I can restore those settings to default, I tried doing a system restore but it failed so it didn't do anything.

 

Yes, usually there is a load setup defaults key or key combination

Look on the bottom of the screen when you enter SETUP

It is often F7 or maybe ALT-F7---don't have a Dell around to confirm

 

Mine is F2 & F12
I looked at the boot sequence and its like
1.
2.
3.
4.Disc driver or something

so I guess its loading my disc driver .... idk
let me know if you want me to go to the screen again

 

Look for LOAD SETUP DEFAULTS and press that key combo and then save the settings on exit

Then see if the drive is present

 

There's nothing like that.
When I press F12, it takes me to a screen saying "Boot Menu".
1.Internal HDD
2.CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive
3.Onboard NIC


EDIT:
I just ran a diagnostics check and I get this;
Error Code: 2000-0147
Msg: Unit 0: Optical Drive BIST -- OPU test failed

 

I think what Gerryf19 is trying to find out is whether or not your CD/DVD drive has been disabled in the BIOS. Unfortunately, I don't have a _Dell BIOS around to experiment with, either.

The Boot Menu listing you found just shows the order in which the BIOS will check the various hardware components looking for a bootable drive. In your order, it'll check the HDD first, if the hdd either isn't present or isn't bootable, it'll check the CD/DVD drive, if that either isn't present or isn't bootable, it'll check the onboard NIC (the wired ethernet connection) to see if there's a bootable image available on the network it's attached to. If all of those fail, it'll come back and say something like OS not found.

Unfortunately the Boot Menu doesn't tell us much because it's just a listing of what the BIOS will check, whether or not those components are actually installed.

How about this, without changing any of the settings, briefly describe the first page you hit when you enter setup - that is, list the major options listed at the top of the screen.

 

I just googled the error code and check this out
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19241255.aspx
I'm getting the same message and Skybird says "The solution is to replace the drive. The error you received (2000:0147)
indicates the drive has failed. It cannot be fixed."


So I guess I'll just bring my computer to geek squaed at best buy and hopefully the warranty covers this problem.

 

Not that I don't believe you, but where are you getting this error?

If you're getting the same error, then I think you've solved your problem - good job!

Now all that's left is getting the Geek Squad folks to swap optical drives for you (I'm sure they won't have much problem with that, although they may need to keep the system overnight, or for a day or two, depending on how busy the store you go to is).

 

I got that error when I ran a diagnostics check

Alrightly thanks for your help Shyster and everyone else that helped me

 

No worries, you're most welcome; at least now you're pretty confident you know exactly what the problem is, which makes it a lot easier to deal with.