DVD and CD Drive Problems

[MattyMc13]

I have an Emachines T4155 PC, 1.5GHz Intel Pentum 4 Processor, 512GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce2 MX200 with Service Pack 3 for XP installed. Whenever I insert a CD or DVD into either drives, they won't read, or show up in My Computer. The computer has been looked to from the inside, and all the cables seem to be connected. I am wondering if this is a lack of power supply, or something else, and how to fix it.
Help would be greatly appreciated.

[T3chno]

Have you installed the latest drivers for your DVD/CD drives?

[Tunco]

Have you installed the latest drivers for your DVD/CD drives?

Probably your DVD/CD driver is too old to run the DVD/CD you are inserting.

[MattyMc13]

Have you installed the latest drivers for your DVD/CD drives?

Probably your DVD/CD driver is too old to run the DVD/CD you are inserting.

Well somebody I know took it over to their house and it worked there, yet at my house it doesn't work at all.
And then at random times(30min or later)the DVD read light blinks and then I can finally use it. But that's only at rare occasions.

[Zilla]

Is this a new computer? If not, has either drive ever worked?

If it's new, or you recently reinstalled your operating system, check and see if the drivers are installed. They might need to be repaired. If it's not new, go ahead and check the drivers anyway. Any recent software or hardware changes that could have caused the problem?

A great way to check where the problem lies is by trying to boot the computer from a CD. A Linux CD or the Windows CD will do, just make sure it's set up in the BIOS to boot from CD first. I'm assuming if you know enough to check the internal wiring, you should be good with checking the BIOS.

Also, were your friends testing the exact same discs you were testing? Because as Tunco said, the drives could be too old.

[jean-luc]

if you haven't already, be sure to unplug and replug it's IDE/SATA and power cables. This tends to fix things like magic.

As several have said, update your drivers.

Next, try connecting the drive to a different IDE/SATA controller (preferably with a different cable). If this fixes it, you have a bad controller or cable. Switch them out to find out which one. If the cable's bad, that's an easy fix. cables are cheap. If the controller is bad you may be in for a new motherboard, but you may be able to just ignore the bad controller if you have few enough devices.

Next step, put the drive in a different computer and see if you experience similar behaviour. if you do, the drive is Bad Crap. replace it. SuperMultiCombo+ Ultimate whatever drives (the CD+-R[W], DVD+-R[W] DL, DVD-RAM, maybe even Lightscribe types) can be had for something like $30 in OEM packaging these days. Well-respected brands are TSSTCorp (Toshiba/Samsung Storage Technologies Corporation) (very common OEM choice, highly recommended), LG, and Samsung. Others may or may not be crap, always read reviews.

[MattyMc13]

I think that for now I've got it working. After Finding out that the drive is a MagicISO Virtual DVD-ROM, I went on their website and downloaded the setup, even though it worked at my friends house. And right now both drives seem to be working well. Just to answer a question, the computer was bought in 2000-2001 I believe.

[Zilla]

I think that for now I've got it working. After Finding out that the drive is a MagicISO Virtual DVD-ROM, I went on their website and downloaded the setup, even though it worked at my friends house. And right now both drives seem to be working well. Just to answer a question, the computer was bought in 2000-2001 I believe.

Wait, what? That makes no sense at all. The physical DVD-ROM drive can't be a virtual drive because, well, it's physical. MagicISO is software that lets you run a disk image directly, without burning/inserting into the drive. It just makes Windows (or whatever OS you happen to be using) think there's a drive, when there really isn't. If installing virtual drive software worked, more power to you, but I'd love to see the setup because that makes no sense.

[T3chno]

I think that for now I've got it working. After Finding out that the drive is a MagicISO Virtual DVD-ROM, I went on their website and downloaded the setup, even though it worked at my friends house. And right now both drives seem to be working well. Just to answer a question, the computer was bought in 2000-2001 I believe.

Wait, what? That makes no sense at all. The physical DVD-ROM drive can't be a virtual drive because, well, it's physical. MagicISO is software that lets you run a disk image directly, without burning/inserting into the drive. It just makes Windows (or whatever OS you happen to be using) think there's a drive, when there really isn't. If installing virtual drive software worked, more power to you, but I'd love to see the setup because that makes no sense.

Obviously his virtual drive was broken. >_<

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

*headdesk*
The fact that your problems turned out to be with a virtual drive are completely inconsistent with your first post:

Whenever I insert a CD or DVD into either drives, they won't read, or show up in My Computer. The computer has been looked to from the inside, and all the cables seem to be connected. I am wondering if this is a lack of power supply, or something else, and how to fix it.
Help would be greatly appreciated.

It sounds to me that either you've not solved the problem, or perceive reality differently than most of us.
That or you don't realize that creating a virtual drive with MagicISO does not make hardware magically appear inside your case.

[MattyMc13]

*headdesk*
The fact that your problems turned out to be with a virtual drive are completely inconsistent with your first post:

Whenever I insert a CD or DVD into either drives, they won't read, or show up in My Computer. The computer has been looked to from the inside, and all the cables seem to be connected. I am wondering if this is a lack of power supply, or something else, and how to fix it.
Help would be greatly appreciated.

It sounds to me that either you've not solved the problem, or perceive reality differently than most of us.
That or you don't realize that creating a virtual drive with MagicISO does not make hardware magically appear inside your case.

You are correct. I thought that it had solved the problem, but when I turned on my computer yesterday the drives would not work.

[MattyMc13]

I guess the drive is just too old then

[scythe]

512 GB of RAM

Wow! Are you from the future?

Anywho, it could be a loose connection. If you're comfortable opening the case, check the SATA (or IDE) connection on the drive very carefully.

[MattyMc13]

512 GB of RAM

Wow! Are you from the future?

Anywho, it could be a loose connection. If you're comfortable opening the case, check the SATA (or IDE) connection on the drive very carefully.

Error! I meant 512MB, and all the cables have been checked at least twice.

[Luminaflare]

If the drive(s) are working at your friends house I suggest getting a different drive off of him and test it in your computer and if that doesn't work then it's your computer that's causing the trouble not the drives. If it does work ask him if he wants to swap.