Gaming CD/DVD drive problems

[Sinkhead]

Hi,

My father has been having some problems with his PC ever since I offered to re-install Windows XP to free up some of the bloat. Unfortunately, it deleted all the drivers in the process, which we've had to cobble together from around the web, as neither the Dell website nor any of the included CDs seemed to include the right ones.

Anyway, we managed to get everything working to a reasonable standard and things were OK until he got a new DVD writer to replace the old one that stopped working.

The new one appears simply as 'CD Drive' in My Computer. Nowhere does Windows recognize that it can burn CDs and DVDs, so Dad can't use it for what he wants, and he's getting really fed up with things.

He's tried the disc that was included with it but that just installed Nero 8, more bloatware the aging PC could really do without. I've tried drivers, alternative drivers, everything, but I think it's a Windows problem. Unfortunately, there's no way I can reinstall Windows again after what happened last time.

It's important to him, and I don't know what to do.

If anyone can offer any advice at all it would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[acoustic.digital]

I had some stupid USB devices once that weren't recognized by XP. I tried one of those driver-searching programs (forgot the name TBH), something like Driver-Magic or something, and that program actually found some drivers for it. Try one of those if nothing helps, they're easy on computer resources as well.

 

[Sinkhead]

I had some stupid USB devices once that weren't recognized by XP. I tried one of those driver-searching programs (forgot the name TBH), something like Driver-Magic or something, and that program actually found some drivers for it. Try one of those if nothing helps, they're easy on computer resources as well.

I've already tried one of those. Dad even paid for one (a recommended one, not a scam). As I said, I'm pretty sure it's a Windows problem...

Thanks anyway, though.

 

[acoustic.digital]

Yeah, then it is a windows problem. If you're using one of those custom Win XP's that are floating around the net, then the drivers are most likely not included.

What you could also try is to return the drive and get a new one? Maybe it's a hardware issue.

 

[Sinkhead]

Yeah, then it is a windows problem. If you're using one of those custom Win XP's that are floating around the net, then the drivers are most likely not included.

What you could also try is to return the drive and get a new one? Maybe it's a hardware issue.

Nope, it's the Windows disc that came with the PC from Dell (when they used to supply the disc as standard). It's legit and everything, just standard XP Home.

I'm pretty sure it's not a hardware problem because we had the same issue with all the drives after I re-installed Windows (see first post). I can't remember how I fixed it back then, but I know it wasn't perfect and there were still some issues, which is why I think he bought the new drive.

 

[p1ngpong]

Does it show up in your device manager under DVD/ CD ROM drives at all?

 

[UltraMagnus]

does the nero that came with it recognise that it can burn disks and work right? windows does not include built in support for burning DVDs.

you could try booting a linux live CD and see if that recognises it, if it doesn't its a hardware problem.