Computer doesn't see/recognize DVD or CD Drives

M

Moronicus

New Member
I have a Dell Dimension XPS, XPS Gen4, Pentium 3.6ghz, 3gb Ram, Windows XP Pro, service pack 2. I had a windows error and needed to repair the windows installation. Did that, and now it appears that I have lost my DVD and CD drives. The lights on the drives come on and all and they open when you press the button, but the computer doesn't see them. They don't show up under the device manager. Doesn't see them in the bios either. I've tried unplugging the ribbon cables from the drive and re-booting, and the computer sees that something is missing. Re-installed the cable and re-booted again, hoping that computer would think it's new hardware. No change. So I am at a loss as to what is wrong. Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated! OH, my technical knowledge of computers is average at best. I mean, I know enough to be dangerous!! LOL LOL But if your suggestions are highly technical, I might need a more simple and easy explanation!!! LOL LOL Thank in advance!!
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Dell's actually have an option in the bios to enable/disable the cdrom drives. Look in the bios to see if its disabled.
 
M

Moronicus

New Member
I did that and it was enabled. Went ahead and ran a Dell diagnostic test on both drives and they passed. But they still don't show up in explore.
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Let me ask you this. Are there any entries in device manager with yellow question marks or exlamation marks next to them? If so, then it seems there is a registry error and its easily fixable.
 
spirit

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
Check the power cable too and make sure it's in firmly. Try the drive in another PC and see if the same thing happens.

Off topic, but you need to update SP2 to SP3 really.
 
StrangleHold

StrangleHold

Moderator
Staff member
Don't know if they are IDE or SATA. Go to the controller they are on in device manger and uninstall the controller and reboot. Let it reinstall the controller and see if they show up.
 
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