o/t geek help needed!

[Raphael Meade]

my computers gone all RUBBISH on me.

i have a dvd writer drive and a normal dvd rom.

they just suddenly disappeared from 'my computer', nothing i put in them is recognised.

on device manager they all have the same message:

Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware but cannot find the hardware device. (Code 41)

how the f*** do i sort this out?!?!?!

all help, MOST gratefully recieved

 

[Dave In Gloucester]

Happened to me once. Just restarted the computer and they all came back!!

 

[readingstockport]

Have you checked the connections inside the machine? It's not unknown for them to work loose sometimes.

 

[Adams score 0]

Hit it with a hammer.

 

[Raphael Meade]

Have you checked the connections inside the machine? It's not unknown for them to work loose sometimes.

i havent but its just been sat there untouched and both drives have 'disappeared' at the same time.

could that happen? seems quite coincidental which led me to think it was a software-esque issue.

thanks for the tip tho.. will give it a shot if all else fails!

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Electronic componects do sometimes give up and die ....
How old is the drive? Is it still under any warrenty.

My hard disk did this once - damn nuisance when things breakdown but check connections per suggestion above first.

 

[Raphael Meade]

Electronic componects do sometimes give up and die ....
How old is the drive? Is it still under any warrenty.

My hard disk did this once - damn nuisance when things breakdown but check connections per suggestion above first.

a couple of years old and they've both disappeared at the same time.

i can still open them n'that but it doesnt seem to recognise they're there...

 

[Bluejuice]

Restart your computer and try to get into your BIOS as it's loading up. This is usually achieved by hitting DEL or ESC as your computer starts booting up, you should get a message that flashes up briefly describing what to do ('hit DEL to enter setup' or some such) and then check whether the drives have loaded up in your BIOS, they should be fairly easy to spot..
If they are there then it is most probably a windows compatibility issue. However, if they are not then I would suggest opening your PC to take a look. Even if you don't know very much about the workings of a computer it should be fairly straightforward to tell which wires connect your two drives. Are they loose? Do they look tangled? Is everything secure?
This should help narrow things down at any rate

 

[Raphael Meade]

cheers for that... they ARE there in my bios.

today (to combat other issues!) i have installed sp2. the problem with my dvd/cd drives is still there though...

anyone have any other ideas?!!

thanks xx

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

How About START - SETTINGS - CONTROL PANEL - ADD NEW HARDWARE

PC might recognise them that way

 

[Raphael Meade]

How About START - SETTINGS - CONTROL PANEL - ADD NEW HARDWARE

PC might recognise them that way

thank you, but alas no. just brings up the message from device manager saying 'errr, they're not working'

 

[The Great Cornholio]

thank you, but alas no. just brings up the message from device manager saying 'errr, they're not working'

Sounds like you have some corrupt system files - a reinstall of Windows is probably in order.

 

[Raphael Meade]

Sounds like you have some corrupt system files - a reinstall of Windows is probably in order.

RUBBISH. (my computer, not your goodself)

thanks for the help

 

[Curious Orange]

Sounds like you need more hamsters.

 

[Wardy]

Have uninstalled anything recently? As TGC said it sounds like you have either lost or corrupted some files. I am sure with xp you can do a repair install. Might be worth trying that.

 

[Dave the OAP]

OH GOD

If you install SP2 on Windows XP Home it causes no end of problems..uninstall SP2...reboot your machine and see if they reappear

 

[Wardy]

OH GOD

If you install SP2 on Windows XP Home it causes no end of problems..uninstall SP2...reboot your machine and see if they reappear

I have SP2 on both my machines and have not had any problems at all.

 

[Barnet Seagull]

go into device manager and uninstall the devices. then reboot, it should find them and re-install them

 

[DTES]

just brings up the message from device manager saying 'errr, they're not working'

Brilliant. Windows should word message like that more often. Did it call you a SPANNER as well?