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#1
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CD-Rom / CD-RW / DVD-Rom not reading data on CD's
Nico -- I can't express how thankful I am that you posted your results here. I too recently purchased a USB flash drive using a similar encryption software package, though it is a different brand than yours. I experienced the exact same problems that you did, down to the exact detail. I too discovered that the drive functioned properly when a CD was in the drive at boot time, but I was never able to determine the source of the problem. I had lent the USB drive to my fiancee, and had always thought it was an incredible coincidence that both of our computers started having CD-ROM problems around the same time. I had just transferred all of my hardware into a new computer case (which I purchased at the same time I bought the USB flash drive!), so I had always assumed that I had done something wrong when installing the system into the new case. Both my fiancee and I bought replacement CD drives, and to my amazement, the problem persisted on my system. If I hadn't happened upon your post, in my bloody-minded search for an answer, I likely would have gone and purchased a whole new system. As it stands, I can still return my replacement drive, since it has been less than the required 30 day return policy, so you have saved me $100, and I thank you for it. My fiancee may not be able to return hers, since Dell's return policy is only 15 days, but I will give it my best try. I wonder if the press might be interested in this issue? I have to imagine that there are numerous others who have encountered this problem, but have never solved it, and purchased new hardware to solve the problem. I cannot thank you enough. Collin Murray -- Collin Murray ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Collin Murray's Profile: http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/...tml?userid=216 View this thread: http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/....phtml?t=13456 |
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#2
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CD-Rom / CD-RW / DVD-Rom not reading data on CD's
The two of you have just saved my life. I was just about to go
through the process of reinstalling my entire system. I also have a USB1 flash drive which came with a 'U-Storage' utility. After trying everything humanly possible my problem of my DVD writer only recording but not reading discs has been solved by installing the U-Storage utility. I never even used the utility so I can't believe all the headaches it has caused me. I can still use the USB flash drive as Windows XP still recognises it. Nico, you've just done the work that Microsoft should've done instead of ignoring the several daily posts of people not being able to read their CDs/DVDs. To anyone reading, if you have problems with your CD or DVD drives and you have a USB flash drive, uninstall any program that came with it and it will probably save you many hours of trouble!! |
#3
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CD-Rom / CD-RW / DVD-Rom not reading data on CD's
I found your comprehensive explanation of the CD problem and the steps you took to rectify same extremely helpful as I have been experiencing similar glitches. Many thanks.
-- corsea "Nico Smith" wrote: I recently started experiencing a problem that my CD-RW and DVD-Rom stopped reading data on my CD's. They see the CD's but don't read the data, the CD's appear not to contain anything. I've posted the particular problem twice on this forum, but got no a nswer. For users experiencing the same or similar problems, I've now determined the cause... I've got a SAHARA USB 2.0 flash drive that came with a UFD-utility that enables one to configure the drive into a private and public area, enabling you to safeguar d critical files. This utility causes this problem. Unfortunately I could thus far not find a solution, apart from uninstalling the utility and making do without this function. The flash drive works fine otherwise, not causing any problems. Only the UFD-ut ility does. I will see if I can find an update that resolves this problem and I will let SAHARA know about it. I hope this can be of value to someone. Nico Smith For the sake of completeness, here follows my initial posting about this problem: Both my Samsung CD-RW and my Sony DVD Drives worked perfectly for a while after I first installed Win XP (first without S/P 1). Then suddenly both mysteriously developed the following quirk: If I boot up normally, with no media present in the drives, both the CD-RW and the DVD Drive refuse to read the data on any CD (music or data). XP does see the drives, as they are indicated in Explorer as a CD-RW and DVD drive respectively. However, the moment I put a CD in either one, the designation in Explorer changes to "CD Drive" instead of CD-RW or DVD Drive, and they refuse to read any data. They would now refuse to auto play also. When I click on either one in explorer, they do not spin up at all, and no data is displayed. If Nero is opened, the CD-RW sees the CD as empty, as it requests whether or not the user wishes to save data to it. (Both are set to auto play in My Computer and the designation in the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Current ControlSet\Services\Cdrom) is set to (1). If, I boot up to SAFE MODE however, both would read any CD. Obviously music CD's then don't play, as the correct sound card driver has not been loaded. If I place CD's in the drives FIRST, and then boot up, both read data on the CD's as normal. They also continue as normal when I swap CD's, no problem. Obviously this is a very perplexing and frustrating problem, and I found it very difficult to isolate either the cause of this problem or the fix. Although there are scores of users with related problems, as can be found on this forum, none of the propos ed solutions that I came across worked. I found many identical responses to this problem from Rich Barry. He actually seems to be physically connected to his PC, just monotonously pasting the same answer over and over. I did uninstall the drivers and allow ed XP to detect the drives again after rebooting, but it makes no difference however. Rich would leave us all much richer if he would rather refrain from posting this solution. So I took a day off from work and decided to format partition 1 and reinstall Windows and all my software systematically for the FOURTH time in an attempt to try and isolate the cause of this problem. After formatting and reinstalling XP (S/P1 this time), I rebooted and tested both drives. They both worked perfectly. I then started installing all required drivers one by one, after each installation rebooting and testing the drives. Everything still fi ne. Then I installed Nero Burn 6.0 before any other software, because I reasoned that it might possibly interfere with Windows. However, still no problem. Then I installed all other software, after each installation rebooting and testing (took me all day!) Still no problem. Then I installed a UFDS utility that is used to split my 128 Mb USB 2, SAHARA flash drive into a private and public partition. Again I tested, still no problem. Then I found the cause! I disconnected the flash drive and booted up. THE PROBLEM REAPPEARED. I've now tested this several times. If I connect the flash drive BEFORE I boot up, both the CD-RW and DVD drives read the inserted media fine. If I boot up with out connecting the flash drive first, they do not read the media at all after a CD is inserted. NOTE 1: If I insert CD's in the drives BEFORE booting up, but not the flash drive, the drives also read the CD's fine. NOTE 2: I have two flash drives - an older 16MB USB 1 drive and a 128 MB USB 2 drive. If I connect the USB 1 drive before booting up, it makes no difference, the problem is still in evidence. It is only when I connect the USB 2 drive before booting up or place C D's in the trays before booting up that the CD's work properly. Now I believe I am a step closer to the problems of probably most people with related CD problems on this forum. However, I still do not have the final fix, just a 16th century getting around the problem solution. Most probably this has to do with the wa y in which XP allocates drive letters to the different drives, I don't know, but since I am just an average user, not an expert, it would take me some more time off from work to figure this out. I would now really appreciate it if Microsoft would apply their minds to this problem and come up with a solution. I've read a reply on this forum from presumably a Microsoft engineer (so assumed because he responds very regularly, and seemingly with aut hority, to queries on this forum) wherein he came across quite patronizing and sarcastic in his response to a frustrated user. I my opinion he (they) (Microsoft) should maybe maintain a lower profile on this matter, and rather be sympathetic towards people who did pay (in my opinion) an exorbitant price for an operating system that is not working properly. (This problem does not occur in Win 98 as far as I'm aware). |
#4
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CD-Rom / CD-RW / DVD-Rom not reading data on CD's
Hello A quick solution is to end the task UStorage.exe in the Task-list, which works for me. I do not even have to restart. -- Flemming ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Flemming's Profile: http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/...tml?userid=221 View this thread: http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/....phtml?t=13456 |
#5
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CD-Rom / CD-RW / DVD-Rom not reading data on CD's
Hi Guys Thought I would add my 2 cents worth. After finding I could only use my CD drives if I booted with CD's in them, I decided to upgrade to XP SP2 - didn't help. I virus scanned & spy-bot'd away to no avail. I have put up with the problem for 2 weeks and noticed tonight the difference in the icon when saying no disk inserted from when there was a disk and wasn't a disk in the drive. Looked in Task Manager and decided to randomly kill UStorage.exe for no other reason than I couldn't think of anything else and thought it couldn't hurt. Sure enough the CD drives started working again. I have now uninstalled this evil from my PC. So I searched the web again with a new keywork - "ustorage.exe" and happened upon this site. Hopefully these postings will get out and help other people in the search. Keywords for searches: CD-ROM broke Please insert a disk in drive USB CD-ROM not reading -- jrouse ------------------------------------------------------------------------ jrouse's Profile: http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/...tml?userid=511 View this thread: http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/....phtml?t=13456 |
#6
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CD-Rom / CD-RW / DVD-Rom not reading data on CD's
"Nico Smith" wrote: I recently started experiencing a problem that my CD-RW and DVD-Rom stopped reading data on my CD's. They see the CD's but don't read the data, the CD's appear not to contain anything. I've posted the particular problem twice on this forum, but got no answer. For users experiencing the same or similar problems, I've now determined the cause... I've got a SAHARA USB 2.0 flash drive that came with a UFD-utility that enables one to configure the drive into a private and public area, enabling you to safeguard critical files. This utility causes this problem. Unfortunately I could thus far not find a solution, apart from uninstalling the utility and making do without this function. The flash drive works fine otherwise, not causing any problems. Only the UFD-utility does. I will see if I can find an update that resolves this problem and I will let SAHARA know about it. I hope this can be of value to someone. Nico Smith For the sake of completeness, here follows my initial posting about this problem: Both my Samsung CD-RW and my Sony DVD Drives worked perfectly for a while after I first installed Win XP (first without S/P 1). Then suddenly both mysteriously developed the following quirk: If I boot up normally, with no media present in the drives, both the CD-RW and the DVD Drive refuse to read the data on any CD (music or data). XP does see the drives, as they are indicated in Explorer as a CD-RW and DVD drive respectively. However, the moment I put a CD in either one, the designation in Explorer changes to "CD Drive" instead of CD-RW or DVD Drive, and they refuse to read any data. They would now refuse to auto play also. When I click on either one in explorer, they do not spin up at all, and no data is displayed. If Nero is opened, the CD-RW sees the CD as empty, as it requests whether or not the user wishes to save data to it. (Both are set to auto play in My Computer and the designation in the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servi ces\Cdrom) is set to (1). If, I boot up to SAFE MODE however, both would read any CD. Obviously music CD's then don't play, as the correct sound card driver has not been loaded. If I place CD's in the drives FIRST, and then boot up, both read data on the CD's as normal. They also continue as normal when I swap CD's, no problem. Obviously this is a very perplexing and frustrating problem, and I found it very difficult to isolate either the cause of this problem or the fix. Although there are scores of users with related problems, as can be found on this forum, none of the proposed solutions that I came across worked. I found many identical responses to this problem from Rich Barry. He actually seems to be physically connected to his PC, just monotonously pasting the same answer over and over. I did uninstall the drivers and allowed XP to detect the drives again after rebooting, but it makes no difference however. Rich would leave us all much richer if he would rather refrain from posting this solution. So I took a day off from work and decided to format partition 1 and reinstall Windows and all my software systematically for the FOURTH time in an attempt to try and isolate the cause of this problem. After formatting and reinstalling XP (S/P1 this time), I rebooted and tested both drives. They both worked perfectly. I then started installing all required drivers one by one, after each installation rebooting and testing the drives. Everything still fine. Then I installed Nero Burn 6.0 before any other software, because I reasoned that it might possibly interfere with Windows. However, still no problem. Then I installed all other software, after each installation rebooting and testing (took me all day!) Still no problem. Then I installed a UFDS utility that is used to split my 128 Mb USB 2, SAHARA flash drive into a private and public partition. Again I tested, still no problem. Then I found the cause! I disconnected the flash drive and booted up. THE PROBLEM REAPPEARED. I've now tested this several times. If I connect the flash drive BEFORE I boot up, both the CD-RW and DVD drives read the inserted media fine. If I boot up without connecting the flash drive first, they do not read the media at all after a CD is inserted. NOTE 1: If I insert CD's in the drives BEFORE booting up, but not the flash drive, the drives also read the CD's fine. NOTE 2: I have two flash drives - an older 16MB USB 1 drive and a 128 MB USB 2 drive. If I connect the USB 1 drive before booting up, it makes no difference, the problem is still in evidence. It is only when I connect the USB 2 drive before booting up or place CD's in the trays before booting up that the CD's work properly. Now I believe I am a step closer to the problems of probably most people with related CD problems on this forum. However, I still do not have the final fix, just a 16th century getting around the problem solution. Most probably this has to do with the way in which XP allocates drive letters to the different drives, I don't know, but since I am just an average user, not an expert, it would take me some more time off from work to figure this out. I would now really appreciate it if Microsoft would apply their minds to this problem and come up with a solution. I've read a reply on this forum from presumably a Microsoft engineer (so assumed because he responds very regularly, and seemingly with authority, to queries on this forum) wherein he came across quite patronizing and sarcastic in his response to a frustrated user. I my opinion he (they) (Microsoft) should maybe maintain a lower profile on this matter, and rather be sympathetic towards people who did pay (in my opinion) an exorbitant price for an operating system that is not working properly. (This problem does not occur in Win 98 as far as I'm aware). |
#7
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CD-Rom / CD-RW / DVD-Rom not reading data on CD's
Apologies for the blank reply but this is my first time on newsgroups.
I too am having the same DVD/Cd-rom problems and am fairly sure it started after installing SP2. Thank you for your tip on booting up with either a flash drive connected or CDs placed in the drives. If I boot up with my flash drive connected then both DVD-rom and CD-RW drives work OK although I am not having the problem caused by the UDF utility software as I have no need for this and did not install it. My preferred option is to leave a CD in both drives as I leave my computer permanently on but use the hibernation facility in power management. I was concerned that I would lose the drives when coming out of hibernation but happy to report that this is not the case. After four hibernations both my drives have worked with no other problems. Of course this is not a satisfactory way to operate a computer so I hope that Microsoft is working on a fix for the problem. "Nico Smith" wrote: I recently started experiencing a problem that my CD-RW and DVD-Rom stopped reading data on my CD's. They see the CD's but don't read the data, the CD's appear not to contain anything. I've posted the particular problem twice on this forum, but got no answer. For users experiencing the same or similar problems, I've now determined the cause... I've got a SAHARA USB 2.0 flash drive that came with a UFD-utility that enables one to configure the drive into a private and public area, enabling you to safeguard critical files. This utility causes this problem. Unfortunately I could thus far not find a solution, apart from uninstalling the utility and making do without this function. The flash drive works fine otherwise, not causing any problems. Only the UFD-utility does. I will see if I can find an update that resolves this problem and I will let SAHARA know about it. I hope this can be of value to someone. Nico Smith For the sake of completeness, here follows my initial posting about this problem: Both my Samsung CD-RW and my Sony DVD Drives worked perfectly for a while after I first installed Win XP (first without S/P 1). Then suddenly both mysteriously developed the following quirk: If I boot up normally, with no media present in the drives, both the CD-RW and the DVD Drive refuse to read the data on any CD (music or data). XP does see the drives, as they are indicated in Explorer as a CD-RW and DVD drive respectively. However, the moment I put a CD in either one, the designation in Explorer changes to "CD Drive" instead of CD-RW or DVD Drive, and they refuse to read any data. They would now refuse to auto play also. When I click on either one in explorer, they do not spin up at all, and no data is displayed. If Nero is opened, the CD-RW sees the CD as empty, as it requests whether or not the user wishes to save data to it. (Both are set to auto play in My Computer and the designation in the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servi ces\Cdrom) is set to (1). If, I boot up to SAFE MODE however, both would read any CD. Obviously music CD's then don't play, as the correct sound card driver has not been loaded. If I place CD's in the drives FIRST, and then boot up, both read data on the CD's as normal. They also continue as normal when I swap CD's, no problem. Obviously this is a very perplexing and frustrating problem, and I found it very difficult to isolate either the cause of this problem or the fix. Although there are scores of users with related problems, as can be found on this forum, none of the proposed solutions that I came across worked. I found many identical responses to this problem from Rich Barry. He actually seems to be physically connected to his PC, just monotonously pasting the same answer over and over. I did uninstall the drivers and allowed XP to detect the drives again after rebooting, but it makes no difference however. Rich would leave us all much richer if he would rather refrain from posting this solution. So I took a day off from work and decided to format partition 1 and reinstall Windows and all my software systematically for the FOURTH time in an attempt to try and isolate the cause of this problem. After formatting and reinstalling XP (S/P1 this time), I rebooted and tested both drives. They both worked perfectly. I then started installing all required drivers one by one, after each installation rebooting and testing the drives. Everything still fine. Then I installed Nero Burn 6.0 before any other software, because I reasoned that it might possibly interfere with Windows. However, still no problem. Then I installed all other software, after each installation rebooting and testing (took me all day!) Still no problem. Then I installed a UFDS utility that is used to split my 128 Mb USB 2, SAHARA flash drive into a private and public partition. Again I tested, still no problem. Then I found the cause! I disconnected the flash drive and booted up. THE PROBLEM REAPPEARED. I've now tested this several times. If I connect the flash drive BEFORE I boot up, both the CD-RW and DVD drives read the inserted media fine. If I boot up without connecting the flash drive first, they do not read the media at all after a CD is inserted. NOTE 1: If I insert CD's in the drives BEFORE booting up, but not the flash drive, the drives also read the CD's fine. NOTE 2: I have two flash drives - an older 16MB USB 1 drive and a 128 MB USB 2 drive. If I connect the USB 1 drive before booting up, it makes no difference, the problem is still in evidence. It is only when I connect the USB 2 drive before booting up or place CD's in the trays before booting up that the CD's work properly. Now I believe I am a step closer to the problems of probably most people with related CD problems on this forum. However, I still do not have the final fix, just a 16th century getting around the problem solution. Most probably this has to do with the way in which XP allocates drive letters to the different drives, I don't know, but since I am just an average user, not an expert, it would take me some more time off from work to figure this out. I would now really appreciate it if Microsoft would apply their minds to this problem and come up with a solution. I've read a reply on this forum from presumably a Microsoft engineer (so assumed because he responds very regularly, and seemingly with authority, to queries on this forum) wherein he came across quite patronizing and sarcastic in his response to a frustrated user. I my opinion he (they) (Microsoft) should maybe maintain a lower profile on this matter, and rather be sympathetic towards people who did pay (in my opinion) an exorbitant price for an operating system that is not working properly. (This problem does not occur in Win 98 as far as I'm aware). |
#8
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CD-Rom / CD-RW / DVD-Rom not reading data on CD's
I am so thankful I came across your post. I am guilty of not backing up files
very often and I just discovered I had the identical problem with my DVD-ROM and DVD+RW drives. They simply would not read anything. My last documented use of either drive was back in June 04. Well would you believe I installed a flash drive some time in July 04 that I got for free. After uninstalling the utility my drives are now back to normal. I might add that I spent hours on the phone with Dell support, or lack thereof. Their final conclusion was that I had to reinstall my operating system. Fortunately, due to their total lack of customer service they did not keep their telephone appointment with me scheduled for this morning, at which time we were to begin the reinstall process. Frankly, I was scared to death about the reinstall. Thanks for being so thorough in describing your problem and self solution. One would think this type of problem would find its way into a knowledgebase by now. Dell is certainly clueless!! "Nico Smith" wrote: I recently started experiencing a problem that my CD-RW and DVD-Rom stopped reading data on my CD's. They see the CD's but don't read the data, the CD's appear not to contain anything. I've posted the particular problem twice on this forum, but got no answer. For users experiencing the same or similar problems, I've now determined the cause... I've got a SAHARA USB 2.0 flash drive that came with a UFD-utility that enables one to configure the drive into a private and public area, enabling you to safeguard critical files. This utility causes this problem. Unfortunately I could thus far not find a solution, apart from uninstalling the utility and making do without this function. The flash drive works fine otherwise, not causing any problems. Only the UFD-utility does. I will see if I can find an update that resolves this problem and I will let SAHARA know about it. I hope this can be of value to someone. Nico Smith For the sake of completeness, here follows my initial posting about this problem: Both my Samsung CD-RW and my Sony DVD Drives worked perfectly for a while after I first installed Win XP (first without S/P 1). Then suddenly both mysteriously developed the following quirk: If I boot up normally, with no media present in the drives, both the CD-RW and the DVD Drive refuse to read the data on any CD (music or data). XP does see the drives, as they are indicated in Explorer as a CD-RW and DVD drive respectively. However, the moment I put a CD in either one, the designation in Explorer changes to "CD Drive" instead of CD-RW or DVD Drive, and they refuse to read any data. They would now refuse to auto play also. When I click on either one in explorer, they do not spin up at all, and no data is displayed. If Nero is opened, the CD-RW sees the CD as empty, as it requests whether or not the user wishes to save data to it. (Both are set to auto play in My Computer and the designation in the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servi ces\Cdrom) is set to (1). If, I boot up to SAFE MODE however, both would read any CD. Obviously music CD's then don't play, as the correct sound card driver has not been loaded. If I place CD's in the drives FIRST, and then boot up, both read data on the CD's as normal. They also continue as normal when I swap CD's, no problem. Obviously this is a very perplexing and frustrating problem, and I found it very difficult to isolate either the cause of this problem or the fix. Although there are scores of users with related problems, as can be found on this forum, none of the proposed solutions that I came across worked. I found many identical responses to this problem from Rich Barry. He actually seems to be physically connected to his PC, just monotonously pasting the same answer over and over. I did uninstall the drivers and allowed XP to detect the drives again after rebooting, but it makes no difference however. Rich would leave us all much richer if he would rather refrain from posting this solution. So I took a day off from work and decided to format partition 1 and reinstall Windows and all my software systematically for the FOURTH time in an attempt to try and isolate the cause of this problem. After formatting and reinstalling XP (S/P1 this time), I rebooted and tested both drives. They both worked perfectly. I then started installing all required drivers one by one, after each installation rebooting and testing the drives. Everything still fine. Then I installed Nero Burn 6.0 before any other software, because I reasoned that it might possibly interfere with Windows. However, still no problem. Then I installed all other software, after each installation rebooting and testing (took me all day!) Still no problem. Then I installed a UFDS utility that is used to split my 128 Mb USB 2, SAHARA flash drive into a private and public partition. Again I tested, still no problem. Then I found the cause! I disconnected the flash drive and booted up. THE PROBLEM REAPPEARED. I've now tested this several times. If I connect the flash drive BEFORE I boot up, both the CD-RW and DVD drives read the inserted media fine. If I boot up without connecting the flash drive first, they do not read the media at all after a CD is inserted. NOTE 1: If I insert CD's in the drives BEFORE booting up, but not the flash drive, the drives also read the CD's fine. NOTE 2: I have two flash drives - an older 16MB USB 1 drive and a 128 MB USB 2 drive. If I connect the USB 1 drive before booting up, it makes no difference, the problem is still in evidence. It is only when I connect the USB 2 drive before booting up or place CD's in the trays before booting up that the CD's work properly. Now I believe I am a step closer to the problems of probably most people with related CD problems on this forum. However, I still do not have the final fix, just a 16th century getting around the problem solution. Most probably this has to do with the way in which XP allocates drive letters to the different drives, I don't know, but since I am just an average user, not an expert, it would take me some more time off from work to figure this out. I would now really appreciate it if Microsoft would apply their minds to this problem and come up with a solution. I've read a reply on this forum from presumably a Microsoft engineer (so assumed because he responds very regularly, and seemingly with authority, to queries on this forum) wherein he came across quite patronizing and sarcastic in his response to a frustrated user. I my opinion he (they) (Microsoft) should maybe maintain a lower profile on this matter, and rather be sympathetic towards people who did pay (in my opinion) an exorbitant price for an operating system that is not working properly. (This problem does not occur in Win 98 as far as I'm aware). |
#9
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CD-Rom / CD-RW / DVD-Rom not reading data on CD's
Absolutely fantastic
I have been looking round for this problem for months and months. Nobody could help until today. I think you deserve a medal for this. regards "dpj1966" wrote: I am so thankful I came across your post. I am guilty of not backing up files very often and I just discovered I had the identical problem with my DVD-ROM and DVD+RW drives. They simply would not read anything. My last documented use of either drive was back in June 04. Well would you believe I installed a flash drive some time in July 04 that I got for free. After uninstalling the utility my drives are now back to normal. I might add that I spent hours on the phone with Dell support, or lack thereof. Their final conclusion was that I had to reinstall my operating system. Fortunately, due to their total lack of customer service they did not keep their telephone appointment with me scheduled for this morning, at which time we were to begin the reinstall process. Frankly, I was scared to death about the reinstall. Thanks for being so thorough in describing your problem and self solution. One would think this type of problem would find its way into a knowledgebase by now. Dell is certainly clueless!! "Nico Smith" wrote: I recently started experiencing a problem that my CD-RW and DVD-Rom stopped reading data on my CD's. They see the CD's but don't read the data, the CD's appear not to contain anything. I've posted the particular problem twice on this forum, but got no answer. For users experiencing the same or similar problems, I've now determined the cause... I've got a SAHARA USB 2.0 flash drive that came with a UFD-utility that enables one to configure the drive into a private and public area, enabling you to safeguard critical files. This utility causes this problem. Unfortunately I could thus far not find a solution, apart from uninstalling the utility and making do without this function. The flash drive works fine otherwise, not causing any problems. Only the UFD-utility does. I will see if I can find an update that resolves this problem and I will let SAHARA know about it. I hope this can be of value to someone. Nico Smith For the sake of completeness, here follows my initial posting about this problem: Both my Samsung CD-RW and my Sony DVD Drives worked perfectly for a while after I first installed Win XP (first without S/P 1). Then suddenly both mysteriously developed the following quirk: If I boot up normally, with no media present in the drives, both the CD-RW and the DVD Drive refuse to read the data on any CD (music or data). XP does see the drives, as they are indicated in Explorer as a CD-RW and DVD drive respectively. However, the moment I put a CD in either one, the designation in Explorer changes to "CD Drive" instead of CD-RW or DVD Drive, and they refuse to read any data. They would now refuse to auto play also. When I click on either one in explorer, they do not spin up at all, and no data is displayed. If Nero is opened, the CD-RW sees the CD as empty, as it requests whether or not the user wishes to save data to it. (Both are set to auto play in My Computer and the designation in the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servi ces\Cdrom) is set to (1). If, I boot up to SAFE MODE however, both would read any CD. Obviously music CD's then don't play, as the correct sound card driver has not been loaded. If I place CD's in the drives FIRST, and then boot up, both read data on the CD's as normal. They also continue as normal when I swap CD's, no problem. Obviously this is a very perplexing and frustrating problem, and I found it very difficult to isolate either the cause of this problem or the fix. Although there are scores of users with related problems, as can be found on this forum, none of the proposed solutions that I came across worked. I found many identical responses to this problem from Rich Barry. He actually seems to be physically connected to his PC, just monotonously pasting the same answer over and over. I did uninstall the drivers and allowed XP to detect the drives again after rebooting, but it makes no difference however. Rich would leave us all much richer if he would rather refrain from posting this solution. So I took a day off from work and decided to format partition 1 and reinstall Windows and all my software systematically for the FOURTH time in an attempt to try and isolate the cause of this problem. After formatting and reinstalling XP (S/P1 this time), I rebooted and tested both drives. They both worked perfectly. I then started installing all required drivers one by one, after each installation rebooting and testing the drives. Everything still fine. Then I installed Nero Burn 6.0 before any other software, because I reasoned that it might possibly interfere with Windows. However, still no problem. Then I installed all other software, after each installation rebooting and testing (took me all day!) Still no problem. Then I installed a UFDS utility that is used to split my 128 Mb USB 2, SAHARA flash drive into a private and public partition. Again I tested, still no problem. Then I found the cause! I disconnected the flash drive and booted up. THE PROBLEM REAPPEARED. I've now tested this several times. If I connect the flash drive BEFORE I boot up, both the CD-RW and DVD drives read the inserted media fine. If I boot up without connecting the flash drive first, they do not read the media at all after a CD is inserted. NOTE 1: If I insert CD's in the drives BEFORE booting up, but not the flash drive, the drives also read the CD's fine. NOTE 2: I have two flash drives - an older 16MB USB 1 drive and a 128 MB USB 2 drive. If I connect the USB 1 drive before booting up, it makes no difference, the problem is still in evidence. It is only when I connect the USB 2 drive before booting up or place CD's in the trays before booting up that the CD's work properly. Now I believe I am a step closer to the problems of probably most people with related CD problems on this forum. However, I still do not have the final fix, just a 16th century getting around the problem solution. Most probably this has to do with the way in which XP allocates drive letters to the different drives, I don't know, but since I am just an average user, not an expert, it would take me some more time off from work to figure this out. I would now really appreciate it if Microsoft would apply their minds to this problem and come up with a solution. I've read a reply on this forum from presumably a Microsoft engineer (so assumed because he responds very regularly, and seemingly with authority, to queries on this forum) wherein he came across quite patronizing and sarcastic in his response to a frustrated user. I my opinion he (they) (Microsoft) should maybe maintain a lower profile on this matter, and rather be sympathetic towards people who did pay (in my opinion) an exorbitant price for an operating system that is not working properly. (This problem does not occur in Win 98 as far as I'm aware). |
#10
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CD-Rom / CD-RW / DVD-Rom not reading data on CD's
I have recently experienced this same problem with a new PC that I
constructed over the 2004 Christmas break. My motherboard is the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum for the AMD 64. Everything was working fine until I installed the Samsung +_ R/RW Writemaster software which is actually Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD 8 OEM. All of the internet chat seemed to point to this but I tried everything without success. Then I started to look at the other drivers I installed that night. The MSI supplied IDE driver turned out to be the problem and rolling this back to the Microsoft default installed IDE drivers brought my optical drives back to life. The MSI serial ATA driver works OK though. Hope this helps with anyone suffering this problem under the same circumstances. "Nico Smith" wrote: I recently started experiencing a problem that my CD-RW and DVD-Rom stopped reading data on my CD's. They see the CD's but don't read the data, the CD's appear not to contain anything. I've posted the particular problem twice on this forum, but got no answer. For users experiencing the same or similar problems, I've now determined the cause... I've got a SAHARA USB 2.0 flash drive that came with a UFD-utility that enables one to configure the drive into a private and public area, enabling you to safeguard critical files. This utility causes this problem. Unfortunately I could thus far not find a solution, apart from uninstalling the utility and making do without this function. The flash drive works fine otherwise, not causing any problems. Only the UFD-utility does. I will see if I can find an update that resolves this problem and I will let SAHARA know about it. I hope this can be of value to someone. Nico Smith For the sake of completeness, here follows my initial posting about this problem: Both my Samsung CD-RW and my Sony DVD Drives worked perfectly for a while after I first installed Win XP (first without S/P 1). Then suddenly both mysteriously developed the following quirk: If I boot up normally, with no media present in the drives, both the CD-RW and the DVD Drive refuse to read the data on any CD (music or data). XP does see the drives, as they are indicated in Explorer as a CD-RW and DVD drive respectively. However, the moment I put a CD in either one, the designation in Explorer changes to "CD Drive" instead of CD-RW or DVD Drive, and they refuse to read any data. They would now refuse to auto play also. When I click on either one in explorer, they do not spin up at all, and no data is displayed. If Nero is opened, the CD-RW sees the CD as empty, as it requests whether or not the user wishes to save data to it. (Both are set to auto play in My Computer and the designation in the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servi ces\Cdrom) is set to (1). If, I boot up to SAFE MODE however, both would read any CD. Obviously music CD's then don't play, as the correct sound card driver has not been loaded. If I place CD's in the drives FIRST, and then boot up, both read data on the CD's as normal. They also continue as normal when I swap CD's, no problem. Obviously this is a very perplexing and frustrating problem, and I found it very difficult to isolate either the cause of this problem or the fix. Although there are scores of users with related problems, as can be found on this forum, none of the proposed solutions that I came across worked. I found many identical responses to this problem from Rich Barry. He actually seems to be physically connected to his PC, just monotonously pasting the same answer over and over. I did uninstall the drivers and allowed XP to detect the drives again after rebooting, but it makes no difference however. Rich would leave us all much richer if he would rather refrain from posting this solution. So I took a day off from work and decided to format partition 1 and reinstall Windows and all my software systematically for the FOURTH time in an attempt to try and isolate the cause of this problem. After formatting and reinstalling XP (S/P1 this time), I rebooted and tested both drives. They both worked perfectly. I then started installing all required drivers one by one, after each installation rebooting and testing the drives. Everything still fine. Then I installed Nero Burn 6.0 before any other software, because I reasoned that it might possibly interfere with Windows. However, still no problem. Then I installed all other software, after each installation rebooting and testing (took me all day!) Still no problem. Then I installed a UFDS utility that is used to split my 128 Mb USB 2, SAHARA flash drive into a private and public partition. Again I tested, still no problem. Then I found the cause! I disconnected the flash drive and booted up. THE PROBLEM REAPPEARED. I've now tested this several times. If I connect the flash drive BEFORE I boot up, both the CD-RW and DVD drives read the inserted media fine. If I boot up without connecting the flash drive first, they do not read the media at all after a CD is inserted. NOTE 1: If I insert CD's in the drives BEFORE booting up, but not the flash drive, the drives also read the CD's fine. NOTE 2: I have two flash drives - an older 16MB USB 1 drive and a 128 MB USB 2 drive. If I connect the USB 1 drive before booting up, it makes no difference, the problem is still in evidence. It is only when I connect the USB 2 drive before booting up or place CD's in the trays before booting up that the CD's work properly. Now I believe I am a step closer to the problems of probably most people with related CD problems on this forum. However, I still do not have the final fix, just a 16th century getting around the problem solution. Most probably this has to do with the way in which XP allocates drive letters to the different drives, I don't know, but since I am just an average user, not an expert, it would take me some more time off from work to figure this out. I would now really appreciate it if Microsoft would apply their minds to this problem and come up with a solution. I've read a reply on this forum from presumably a Microsoft engineer (so assumed because he responds very regularly, and seemingly with authority, to queries on this forum) wherein he came across quite patronizing and sarcastic in his response to a frustrated user. I my opinion he (they) (Microsoft) should maybe maintain a lower profile on this matter, and rather be sympathetic towards people who did pay (in my opinion) an exorbitant price for an operating system that is not working properly. (This problem does not occur in Win 98 as far as I'm aware). |
#11
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CD-Rom / CD-RW / DVD-Rom not reading data on CD's
I am so glad I found this post. I now have a workaround (boot with a CD in the player) which will allow me to complete an XP upgrade. My circumstances led me to believe that the XP install had a failure. Having got past the main install I was loading new programs and was about to do the Antivirus. At this point it said that "previous settings had been changed and a reboot was necessary" before proceeding. After the reboot it would not read the antivirus CD or any other as I subsequently found. As you can see from above the various reloads of XP got me nowhere. I can only guess that a USB device was carried over and did not do its dirty deed until that first reboot. I've looked at the processes running and can't see anything obvious. So I'll try further Google searches. But so glad I can now at least proceed. Nico should get a medal! -- Chris Nason ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chris Nason's Profile: http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/...tml?userid=773 View this thread: http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/....phtml?t=13456 |
#12
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CD-Rom / CD-RW / DVD-Rom not reading data on CD's
Hello All;
It was only a matter of time until someone got onto the right path. Those users who have lost time and money pursuing a fix might be relieved to know that I have undoubtedly surpassed all of them in overall wasteage. I haven't tried any of the fixes detailed in this thread and its posts as yet, so I cannot say I have overcome the problem. But it just sounds too bloody familiar to me to think a solution will continue to elude me. That said, until recently I considered myself a reasonably knowledgeable computer user having built from scratch a number of systems, and configuring and troubleshooting them ad nauseum. I bought my first IBM PC Portable in 1983, and including an early HP laser printer, Lotus 123 Version 1A and Wordstar, I wrote a cheque for a little more than $14,000. Sure prices have come down and performance has improved, but those factors are easily eclisped by the thousands of hours I have wasted trying to stay operational and online. While it humbles me to think how foolish such a pursuit was, it occurs to me that I haven't learned much because I continue to chase the notion that "success" is just one reboot away. When I started having this particular problem, I had just upgraded to Windows XP, with SP-1 installed. I believed the new operating system had overpowered my hardware, so I began by upgrading my CD-ROM drive. Then the power supply died, and was replaced with an upgraded 450 watt unit. Then a new motherboard, and lots of nice expensive DDR SDRAM. I also needed more storage, and acquired a new 160 Gigabyte hard drive. Its proprietary BIOS then screwed up bigtime, resulting in the loss of all data and a few months of frustration. I should point out that the system had not successfully booted up during this period, I was just buying new components hoping it would ! Anyway, I added a new video card, a replacement TV capture card, a new floppy - you name it. In fact I replaced every individual component - including a new case - chasing down this problem. At this point, I have spent approximately $2,000 of new money building a mediocre computer that I could have purchased for under $1,000 already assembled. Mind you, what would I have done with a few hundred extra hours of relax time ? Maybe use the system for something other than chasing electons ? Once upon a time, my computer(s) were business tools, and I made a lot of money for many years as a financial consultant to the health professions. The system I have today is many hundred times more powerful than anything I used in the past, however it could not come close to matching overall "through-put". Looks good, sounds impressive and the features are awesome. But the chances of completing a 50 page report without myriad problems of one sort or another is remote. I mourn for the good ol' DOS days. At least all your opponents were right before your very eyes, not lurking in countless hidden files and protected by mirrors and illusions. Boy has the polyester been pulled down over our eyes ! In any case, hopefully the posts here will be my salvation. At risk of sounding cynical, pessimistic or negative, the solution will likely clear the way for the next Windows crash. Once again, I manage to wrestle defeat from the jaws of victory ! Sincere thanks to all those who came before me ! JT "Stratos" wrote: I have recently experienced this same problem with a new PC that I constructed over the 2004 Christmas break. My motherboard is the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum for the AMD 64. Everything was working fine until I installed the Samsung +_ R/RW Writemaster software which is actually Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD 8 OEM. All of the internet chat seemed to point to this but I tried everything without success. Then I started to look at the other drivers I installed that night. The MSI supplied IDE driver turned out to be the problem and rolling this back to the Microsoft default installed IDE drivers brought my optical drives back to life. The MSI serial ATA driver works OK though. Hope this helps with anyone suffering this problem under the same circumstances. "Nico Smith" wrote: I recently started experiencing a problem that my CD-RW and DVD-Rom stopped reading data on my CD's. They see the CD's but don't read the data, the CD's appear not to contain anything. I've posted the particular problem twice on this forum, but got no answer. For users experiencing the same or similar problems, I've now determined the cause... I've got a SAHARA USB 2.0 flash drive that came with a UFD-utility that enables one to configure the drive into a private and public area, enabling you to safeguard critical files. This utility causes this problem. Unfortunately I could thus far not find a solution, apart from uninstalling the utility and making do without this function. The flash drive works fine otherwise, not causing any problems. Only the UFD-utility does. I will see if I can find an update that resolves this problem and I will let SAHARA know about it. I hope this can be of value to someone. Nico Smith For the sake of completeness, here follows my initial posting about this problem: Both my Samsung CD-RW and my Sony DVD Drives worked perfectly for a while after I first installed Win XP (first without S/P 1). Then suddenly both mysteriously developed the following quirk: If I boot up normally, with no media present in the drives, both the CD-RW and the DVD Drive refuse to read the data on any CD (music or data). XP does see the drives, as they are indicated in Explorer as a CD-RW and DVD drive respectively. However, the moment I put a CD in either one, the designation in Explorer changes to "CD Drive" instead of CD-RW or DVD Drive, and they refuse to read any data. They would now refuse to auto play also. When I click on either one in explorer, they do not spin up at all, and no data is displayed. If Nero is opened, the CD-RW sees the CD as empty, as it requests whether or not the user wishes to save data to it. (Both are set to auto play in My Computer and the designation in the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servi ces\Cdrom) is set to (1). If, I boot up to SAFE MODE however, both would read any CD. Obviously music CD's then don't play, as the correct sound card driver has not been loaded. If I place CD's in the drives FIRST, and then boot up, both read data on the CD's as normal. They also continue as normal when I swap CD's, no problem. Obviously this is a very perplexing and frustrating problem, and I found it very difficult to isolate either the cause of this problem or the fix. Although there are scores of users with related problems, as can be found on this forum, none of the proposed solutions that I came across worked. I found many identical responses to this problem from Rich Barry. He actually seems to be physically connected to his PC, just monotonously pasting the same answer over and over. I did uninstall the drivers and allowed XP to detect the drives again after rebooting, but it makes no difference however. Rich would leave us all much richer if he would rather refrain from posting this solution. So I took a day off from work and decided to format partition 1 and reinstall Windows and all my software systematically for the FOURTH time in an attempt to try and isolate the cause of this problem. After formatting and reinstalling XP (S/P1 this time), I rebooted and tested both drives. They both worked perfectly. I then started installing all required drivers one by one, after each installation rebooting and testing the drives. Everything still fine. Then I installed Nero Burn 6.0 before any other software, because I reasoned that it might possibly interfere with Windows. However, still no problem. Then I installed all other software, after each installation rebooting and testing (took me all day!) Still no problem. Then I installed a UFDS utility that is used to split my 128 Mb USB 2, SAHARA flash drive into a private and public partition. Again I tested, still no problem. Then I found the cause! I disconnected the flash drive and booted up. THE PROBLEM REAPPEARED. I've now tested this several times. If I connect the flash drive BEFORE I boot up, both the CD-RW and DVD drives read the inserted media fine. If I boot up without connecting the flash drive first, they do not read the media at all after a CD is inserted. NOTE 1: If I insert CD's in the drives BEFORE booting up, but not the flash drive, the drives also read the CD's fine. NOTE 2: I have two flash drives - an older 16MB USB 1 drive and a 128 MB USB 2 drive. If I connect the USB 1 drive before booting up, it makes no difference, the problem is still in evidence. It is only when I connect the USB 2 drive before booting up or place CD's in the trays before booting up that the CD's work properly. Now I believe I am a step closer to the problems of probably most people with related CD problems on this forum. However, I still do not have the final fix, just a 16th century getting around the problem solution. Most probably this has to do with the way in which XP allocates drive letters to the different drives, I don't know, but since I am just an average user, not an expert, it would take me some more time off from work to figure this out. I would now really appreciate it if Microsoft would apply their minds to this problem and come up with a solution. I've read a reply on this forum from presumably a Microsoft engineer (so assumed because he responds very regularly, and seemingly with authority, to queries on this forum) wherein he came across quite patronizing and sarcastic in his response to a frustrated user. I my opinion he (they) (Microsoft) should maybe maintain a lower profile on this matter, and rather be sympathetic towards people who did pay (in my opinion) an exorbitant price for an operating system that is not working properly. (This problem does not occur in Win 98 as far as I'm aware). |
#13
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CD-Rom / CD-RW / DVD-Rom not reading data on CD's
Hi,
Have not helped in anyways, but would like to share with you. Being an advanced user who believes in the power of IT and working in related industry for over 15 years except never being a true technical person, I have gone through similar stages as you mentioned. It is still a personal hobby for me to play and test hardware and software and that is why I am here once a while. Through my painful experiences, I have learned not to do too many individual hardware upgrades as much as I could. That means, changing a motherboard, or VGA card, or power supply or something else, except maybe a HDD but even that, I now would ask a technician to do it for me instead of doing it myself. Maybe it's good (or bad), today's OS, applications, and hardware tend to be more integrated than before - well, I started using and playing computers back to XT and AT era when Windows configuration files could even be edited. I've become more careful about planning when and how to upgrade a system and/or installing/testing a new application. Although I left the industry a few years ago, IT still is a major tool for me and I continue to enjoy the benefits brought by it despite all the troubles it may cause. In fact, I can still remember the days when I used Office 3.x to do a 100-page business plan with cross-links from Excel, it would take me quite a while just opening the document and I was "forced" to take a break once a while because the system was so busy handling different tasks. Compare that with using today's hardware and Office 2003, productivity is much much improved, and needless to say, to convert it into web format, send it to people at different countries for collaborations, and so on. Maybe we just have to be more careful when adding or upgrading today's systems (including both hardware and software) than before. On top of that, I guess we all need some lucks just like buying a new car Good luck and best wishes. "mvtofino" ... Hello All; It was only a matter of time until someone got onto the right path. Those users who have lost time and money pursuing a fix might be relieved to know that I have undoubtedly surpassed all of them in overall wasteage. I haven't tried any of the fixes detailed in this thread and its posts as yet, so I cannot say I have overcome the problem. But it just sounds too bloody familiar to me to think a solution will continue to elude me. That said, until recently I considered myself a reasonably knowledgeable computer user having built from scratch a number of systems, and configuring and troubleshooting them ad nauseum. I bought my first IBM PC Portable in 1983, and including an early HP laser printer, Lotus 123 Version 1A and Wordstar, I wrote a cheque for a little more than $14,000. Sure prices have come down and performance has improved, but those factors are easily eclisped by the thousands of hours I have wasted trying to stay operational and online. While it humbles me to think how foolish such a pursuit was, it occurs to me that I haven't learned much because I continue to chase the notion that "success" is just one reboot away. When I started having this particular problem, I had just upgraded to Windows XP, with SP-1 installed. I believed the new operating system had overpowered my hardware, so I began by upgrading my CD-ROM drive. Then the power supply died, and was replaced with an upgraded 450 watt unit. Then a new motherboard, and lots of nice expensive DDR SDRAM. I also needed more storage, and acquired a new 160 Gigabyte hard drive. Its proprietary BIOS then screwed up bigtime, resulting in the loss of all data and a few months of frustration. I should point out that the system had not successfully booted up during this period, I was just buying new components hoping it would ! Anyway, I added a new video card, a replacement TV capture card, a new floppy - you name it. In fact I replaced every individual component - including a new case - chasing down this problem. At this point, I have spent approximately $2,000 of new money building a mediocre computer that I could have purchased for under $1,000 already assembled. Mind you, what would I have done with a few hundred extra hours of relax time ? Maybe use the system for something other than chasing electons ? Once upon a time, my computer(s) were business tools, and I made a lot of money for many years as a financial consultant to the health professions. The system I have today is many hundred times more powerful than anything I used in the past, however it could not come close to matching overall "through-put". Looks good, sounds impressive and the features are awesome. But the chances of completing a 50 page report without myriad problems of one sort or another is remote. I mourn for the good ol' DOS days. At least all your opponents were right before your very eyes, not lurking in countless hidden files and protected by mirrors and illusions. Boy has the polyester been pulled down over our eyes ! In any case, hopefully the posts here will be my salvation. At risk of sounding cynical, pessimistic or negative, the solution will likely clear the way for the next Windows crash. Once again, I manage to wrestle defeat from the jaws of victory ! Sincere thanks to all those who came before me ! JT "Stratos" wrote: I have recently experienced this same problem with a new PC that I constructed over the 2004 Christmas break. My motherboard is the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum for the AMD 64. Everything was working fine until I installed the Samsung +_ R/RW Writemaster software which is actually Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD 8 OEM. All of the internet chat seemed to point to this but I tried everything without success. Then I started to look at the other drivers I installed that night. The MSI supplied IDE driver turned out to be the problem and rolling this back to the Microsoft default installed IDE drivers brought my optical drives back to life. The MSI serial ATA driver works OK though. Hope this helps with anyone suffering this problem under the same circumstances. "Nico Smith" wrote: I recently started experiencing a problem that my CD-RW and DVD-Rom stopped reading data on my CD's. They see the CD's but don't read the data, the CD's appear not to contain anything. I've posted the particular problem twice on this forum, but got no answer. For users experiencing the same or similar problems, I've now determined the cause... I've got a SAHARA USB 2.0 flash drive that came with a UFD-utility that enables one to configure the drive into a private and public area, enabling you to safeguard critical files. This utility causes this problem. Unfortunately I could thus far not find a solution, apart from uninstalling the utility and making do without this function. The flash drive works fine otherwise, not causing any problems. Only the UFD-utility does. I will see if I can find an update that resolves this problem and I will let SAHARA know about it. I hope this can be of value to someone. Nico Smith For the sake of completeness, here follows my initial posting about this problem: Both my Samsung CD-RW and my Sony DVD Drives worked perfectly for a while after I first installed Win XP (first without S/P 1). Then suddenly both mysteriously developed the following quirk: If I boot up normally, with no media present in the drives, both the CD-RW and the DVD Drive refuse to read the data on any CD (music or data). XP does see the drives, as they are indicated in Explorer as a CD-RW and DVD drive respectively. However, the moment I put a CD in either one, the designation in Explorer changes to "CD Drive" instead of CD-RW or DVD Drive, and they refuse to read any data. They would now refuse to auto play also. When I click on either one in explorer, they do not spin up at all, and no data is displayed. If Nero is opened, the CD-RW sees the CD as empty, as it requests whether or not the user wishes to save data to it. (Both are set to auto play in My Computer and the designation in the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servi ces\Cdrom) is set to (1). If, I boot up to SAFE MODE however, both would read any CD. Obviously music CD's then don't play, as the correct sound card driver has not been loaded. If I place CD's in the drives FIRST, and then boot up, both read data on the CD's as normal. They also continue as normal when I swap CD's, no problem. Obviously this is a very perplexing and frustrating problem, and I found it very difficult to isolate either the cause of this problem or the fix. Although there are scores of users with related problems, as can be found on this forum, none of the proposed solutions that I came across worked. I found many identical responses to this problem from Rich Barry. He actually seems to be physically connected to his PC, just monotonously pasting the same answer over and over. I did uninstall the drivers and allowed XP to detect the drives again after rebooting, but it makes no difference however. Rich would leave us all much richer if he would rather refrain from posting this solution. So I took a day off from work and decided to format partition 1 and reinstall Windows and all my software systematically for the FOURTH time in an attempt to try and isolate the cause of this problem. After formatting and reinstalling XP (S/P1 this time), I rebooted and tested both drives. They both worked perfectly. I then started installing all required drivers one by one, after each installation rebooting and testing the drives. Everything still fine. Then I installed Nero Burn 6.0 before any other software, because I reasoned that it might possibly interfere with Windows. However, still no problem. Then I installed all other software, after each installation rebooting and testing (took me all day!) Still no problem. Then I installed a UFDS utility that is used to split my 128 Mb USB 2, SAHARA flash drive into a private and public partition. Again I tested, still no problem. Then I found the cause! I disconnected the flash drive and booted up. THE PROBLEM REAPPEARED. I've now tested this several times. If I connect the flash drive BEFORE I boot up, both the CD-RW and DVD drives read the inserted media fine. If I boot up without connecting the flash drive first, they do not read the media at all after a CD is inserted. NOTE 1: If I insert CD's in the drives BEFORE booting up, but not the flash drive, the drives also read the CD's fine. NOTE 2: I have two flash drives - an older 16MB USB 1 drive and a 128 MB USB 2 drive. If I connect the USB 1 drive before booting up, it makes no difference, the problem is still in evidence. It is only when I connect the USB 2 drive before booting up or place CD's in the trays before booting up that the CD's work properly. Now I believe I am a step closer to the problems of probably most people with related CD problems on this forum. However, I still do not have the final fix, just a 16th century getting around the problem solution. Most probably this has to do with the way in which XP allocates drive letters to the different drives, I don't know, but since I am just an average user, not an expert, it would take me some more time off from work to figure this out. I would now really appreciate it if Microsoft would apply their minds to this problem and come up with a solution. I've read a reply on this forum from presumably a Microsoft engineer (so assumed because he responds very regularly, and seemingly with authority, to queries on this forum) wherein he came across quite patronizing and sarcastic in his response to a frustrated user. I my opinion he (they) (Microsoft) should maybe maintain a lower profile on this matter, and rather be sympathetic towards people who did pay (in my opinion) an exorbitant price for an operating system that is not working properly. (This problem does not occur in Win 98 as far as I'm aware). |
#14
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Try the Isobuster program. It's free and it opened up all my dead CD's. You can get it at smart-projects.net Hope this helps. -- rdi ------------------------------------------------------------------------ rdi's Profile: http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/...ml?userid=1162 View this thread: http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/....phtml?t=13456 |
#15
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RDI, Thanks for that great tip (IsoBuster). This is the kind of utilities one should keep for trouble days. Concerning the problem of CDs or DVDs not being "seen" by Windows Explorer, there are many formats for writing on CDs and DVDs. My Windows XP Pro came with a version of DirectCD.exe that allowed drag-and-drop copying onto CDs. I never had any problems because I was always dealing with data files. However, after installing Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5.1 AND after playing and recording audio CDs, I noticed that Windows could no longer see my ordinary data files CDs. After starting Roxio's "CD Copier" that is part of the Roxio package, Windows Explorer could see the data files again (but could no longer see audio CDs). So I figured that each Roxio program in the Roxio package calls a different driver. Each driver can read specific types of formats. Therefore, depending on which type of CD you want to use, you first call the appropriate Roxio program that can read data or music, or perhaps video too. This technique may be primitive and is certainly inconvenient, but you'll always see the CD's content that way (unless the CD truly has a problem, and this is where IsoBuster may be useful as a recovery software; also you may have 2 computers that cannot exchange data with each other because each machine uses a different CD-writing format, so this type of multiformat capable software is useful there again). This is not exactly addressing nico's original problem, but it may still help people who can no longer see what they used to see on a particular CD. -- Pigitus ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pigitus's Profile: http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/...ml?userid=1302 View this thread: http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/....phtml?t=13456 |
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