drive doesnt recognize any disk

[trish6909]

windows xp sp 1 had sp 2 deleted i could burn disk until this week i've read some on the forum can't get anything to work deleted upper and lower strings deleted lite on dvdrw shw 160p65 have tried 3 or 4 blank cd and dvd diffrent brands ive used before also put a dvd movie in when i click e drive it says please insert a disk also trying nerocd-dvd speed it says medium not present 023a00 i have had this writer less than 6 months and i dont want to pitch it i'm hoping its a windows or something else to do with my computer the other drive i have its a lite on dvd rom drive it does recognize every disk please help

[classfour]

Have you tried going to Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager>DVD/CD Rom Drives and right click>Uninstall ???
Then click "Action>Scan for Hardware Changes" and let XP find your drive again???

Try it - it may work, It even worked on the machine that I'm typing this on - on another Lite-On.

[trish6909]

did it put the movie fly boys in go to my computer still see DVD-RW drive E: any more suggestions?

[Ai Haibara]

You might try cleaning the drive's lens, if you have a lens-cleaner disc handy.

Does the drive not recognize any and all DVDs? Have you tried inserting a (non-blank) CD to see if it'll recognize CDs?

[trish6909]

yes i tried several cd's dvd's blank cd's diffrent brands i dont know how to clean the lens

[IKnowNothing]

I hate to be the bringer of bad news but it doesn't sound good for the drive.... However here's a couple of things to try.

I'll assume you've done a virus and malware scan and your system is clean (?)

It's worth cleaning the lens as well - just in case

Try shutting down the pc - disconnect from mains - press power button for 20-30 seconds - reconnect to power and boot. This will reset your hardware effectively doing a cold boot.

After that the next obvious thing to do is check the cabling although it being visible in My Computer suggests it OK.

If you have another machine try the drive in that machine - if it doesn't work in 2 machines odds are it's dead and needs replacing.
While you have the drive out you could boot up the machine and let XP discover the drive is now missing then shut it down before refitting it. Stranger things have happened than drives to work when refitted.

[trish6909]

ok i tried the shutdown no help but i was wondering there is a folder in my control panel its just there 1st thing no name or nothing when i click it says short cut so i tried to make short cut to desktop it says disk is full and ive done a virus scan but whats malware like ad-aware ? how can i get rid of that folder or run a scan on it ?

[classfour]

Look for a D or E drive, it should be a DVD Drive in My Computer.

If it's not there: It has uninstalled the driver under XP.

Follow my suggestions above - I have a LiteOn that did the exace same thing.

[trish6909]

d is my main drive e is my burner f is my rom what am i looking for ?

[classfour]

Look at my first post: follow it from your start menu. What you will accomplish is this: Uninstall the drive and let XP "find" it again.

If it was a driver issue, it will be resolved - and you will have your drive back.

If it is a drive issue, your drive will still behave the same, and you will likely have to replace it.

I just doubt if it's the drive, considering it's less than six months old - not impossible, just doubtful.

[trish6909]

i did what you did except i went from right clicking on my comp but i got to device manager and my computer found new hardware like 5 x now i'm still getting the same thing

[rbatty11]

Hmm. I have the same problem. I have a Pioneer 111D. It will no longer recognize any DVD-R's. It will, however, recognize any/all commerical DVD's. I've tried uninstalling, rebooting and letting XP re-install it (is that any different than your suggestion??). It recognized one DVD-R after about ~2-3mins. But then no longer recognized any more DVD-R's.

If it was the drive, why would it read commercial DVD's but not DVD-R's? Any other suggestions/advice?

[classfour]

drive reading commercial media could be one lazer???

[classfour]

Trish - may be bad bad news - if it's not a driver problem, it's a hardware problem.

I would check the IDE cable first. make certain it's connected.
make certain the cable is good by replacing it with a known good one.

Other than that, drive may be dead.

[InXess]

With drives in the $30 range it's not even worth to spend a single minute trying to fix-revive the DVD-RW. Replace, I'd say.

[Ron B]

I've found that when a drive reads, but not writes, the laser is either dirty or dying. By taking the drive out, removing the top cover and gently wiping the laser with the same lint-free lens tissue we use for camera lenses, a couple of the drives have come back to life.
Other times, well, when it's dead, it usually stays dead.