AlanHo Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 A neighbour has a 6 month old Dell Inspiron desktop computer with Vista Home Premium.It is fitted with a CD-ROM drive and a DVD-RAM drive. Suddenly neither of these drives are working - they will open and close the disc tray - hence they have power, but will not recognise a CD or DVD. Neither appear in Windows ExplorerI have opened up the computer and checked that all the power and data cables are properly seated.In Device Manager both drives have the dreaded yellow triangle. Clicking on the drive produces an error message that the driver is corrupted or missing - code error 39.I tried disabling both drives and rebooting to see whether Visa will find the drives and reload the driver - no joy. I have also tried the "Find New Hardware" routine - but none is found.He has the original Dell Vista DVD and Drivers CD - but they cannnot be used because the optical drives are not working.Where to from here....................??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hb_Kai Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 There could be some corruption inside the drives or inside the computer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan2273 Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Have you tried uninstalling both drives from device manager instead of just disabling them and then reboot, that should start the found new hardware wizard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted March 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Yes I uninstalled them but on reboot Vista stated that the drivers were corrupt and could not be installed - or words to that effect..I have in fact now resolved the problem - but it still leaves me wondering on what the real problem was.When my friend bought his new computer he asked me to load all his third party software and get his internet connected. As a precaution I took with me a spare external USB drive and did an Acronis back-up of the system as delivered and a second backup after I finished loading his stuff. Just in case things went pear shaped.As luck would have it the two files have not been over-written on my USB drive and I was able to restore the second Acronis image for his C: drive. Surprisingly - the Acronis Recovery CD was read OK in the CD drive - indicating that the drives were accessible from the BIOS but were lost when Windows booted.All is now OK - his machine is working OK at the price of a couple of hours fiddling with Acronis and downloading numerous Windows, AVG and other software updates.EditI spoke too soon - the drives were Ok for a couple of hours then he called me to say they suddenly vanished from Windows Explorer again. Yet again yellow triangles in Device Manager - tried uninstalling them and re-booting but although new hardware was found an error message appeared from the system tray that the devices failed to install correctly.I then decided to reinstall Vista and booted the computer with the Dell Vista CD in the DVD drive. The DVD was detected and a message appeared that the computer was booting from the DVD - but after a short while it changed its mind and booted unto Vista from the hard drive. Tried a second time booting from the Vista DVD but it loads partly and then switches to a normal boot from the hard drive.Too late tp try anything else tonight - anyone got a solution in mind....?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan2273 Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Certainly a strange one Alan.Have you got an external DVD drive that you could try?.And this may be stating the obvious but will his computer boot off a USB drive?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 As always, the first thing I would do is checking if newer device drivers are available. The best way to check: http://www.drivermax.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 As always, the first thing I would do is checking if newer device drivers are available. The best way to check: http://www.drivermax.com/I tried that Pat and it found 15 drivers that were out of date. However - the CD and DVD drivers were not one of them.Out of curiosity I continued with the wizard and it took me to a page to register before I could download updated drivers - but at a cost of $39. I did not proceed.One thing I noticed was that the scan shows you the number of the driver installed and the number of the latest version. On some of the drivers the latest version showed a lower number which surprised me.I brought my friends computer home with me and have tried again to correct it. I used Acronis again to restore the original image and it seemed to be OK - both the drives were found. However, Vista and AVG insisted on downloading updates (the restore image id dated last September) and after rebooting - they vanished again.I tried alan2273's suggestion and connected an external USB DVD drive in the hope I could reload the Dell drivers CD. As soon as I plugged it in Vista found it and installed the necessary driver - but on completion threw up an error message stating that the driver installation failed. It seems that this computer has suddenly taken a dislike to any optical drive - however connected.It's beginning to look like a call to Dell support will be required - the computer is still under warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 As always, the first thing I would do is checking if newer device drivers are available. The best way to check: http://www.drivermax.com/I tried that Pat and it found 15 drivers that were out of date. However - the CD and DVD drivers were not one of them.Out of curiosity I continued with the wizard and it took me to a page to register before I could download updated drivers - but at a cost of $39. I did not proceed.Now that really surprises me; I have been using DriverMax since the beginning, and downloaded dozens and dozens of driver updates - all for free! This is why I have been recommending DriverMax at every occasion, because it is - or I thought it was - free.I will try to find out what's going on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 PatIt may be my error. I just took another look at the Drivermax page and as you will see right at the top is a box stating "Download Drivers - driver update scan"I used this button assuming it was DriverMax - but it isn't.I have now downloaded, installed and registered Drivermax OK. However - the DVD and CD drive drivers are not out of date. There are about 20 other drivers showing a red X - but I am going to ignore them on the basis that "if it aint broke - don't try and fix it" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 I would DEFINITELY return it. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 I know this is not in any way constructive, but, this little tale of woe strengthens my view that these computer manufacturer's machine+software deals are to be avoided like the plague. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rong Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Reading an earlier post of yours you write it goes wrong after installing updates, can you install these in an ordered fashion so as to find which of them might be causing the conflict. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Reading an earlier post of yours you write it goes wrong after installing updates, can you install these in an ordered fashion so as to find which of them might be causing the conflict.I have tried that - the second time I restored from Acronis I disconnected from the internet to prevent any updates being downloaded. It made no difference - after a reboot the DVD drives vanished from Explorer.I am currently a couple of hours into my next attempt. I restored from Acronis yet again and am using the Dell Vista DVD whilst the DVD drives are accessible to do a Vista upgrade on top of the existing one rather than a fresh install. If this fails I will do it all over again but next time do a reformat and clean Vista install provided that my friend is willing to reinstall all his third party software all over again.The saga continues - watch this space for the next thrilling instalment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hb_Kai Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Even if the drivers cost, are there any third-party alternatives you could try?Do you or your friend have an external drive or another CD\DVD drive you could use to check? That will check to see if something could be up with your motherboard or drives. But it doesn't sound like a software issue because the little triangle indicates something is there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Do you or your friend have an external drive or another CD\DVD drive you could use to check?If you read my posts you will see that I have already done this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 Why on earth don't you return it to the manufacturer? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted March 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 Why on earth don't you return it to the manufacturer? :DBecause I am a masochist. ....... :lol: The Dell telephone helpline were not impressive (and expensive) and their Email help response takes too long. Hence I plodded on.This morning I seem to have cured the problem - I have just installed a clean copy of Vista devoid of all the Dell extras like the Desktop Dock etc and the system is stable.It looks like one of the auto downloaded upgrades clashed with the Dell version of Vista.We are now re-installing his third party software with fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 Why on earth don't you return it to the manufacturer? :DBecause I am a masochist. ....... :lol: The Dell telephone helpline were not impressive (and expensive) and their Email help response takes too long. Hence I plodded on.This morning I seem to have cured the problem - I have just installed a clean copy of Vista devoid of all the Dell extras like the Desktop Dock etc and the system is stable.It looks like one of the auto downloaded upgrades clashed with the Dell version of Vista.We are now re-installing his third party software with fingers crossed.Did you have to purchase a new licence? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted March 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 Did you have to purchase a new licence? :DNo - I used the Vista DVD provided by Dell. I didn't load the separate resources disc though.The Vista installation now appears to be identical to my computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 Well done that man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan2273 Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 Hopefully it will be solved now. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted March 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 Go to device manager where you found yellow mark drive then uninstall the these drive and reboot, press BIOS key on your keyboard and check the CD& DVD drive detection, if not then try to do auto detect and save the setting then reboot the computer. If again not detect then check your CD &DVD data cable whether is it plug in properly or not,I think you need to read my posts more thoroughly - I tried all that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 I don't think this new member is making serious posts. From what I have seen is that he reads the topic's subject, then gives some light advice.I will watch his posts closely; also his signature area... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hb_Kai Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 Police man Pat. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 I don't think this new member is making serious posts. From what I have seen is that he reads the topic's subject, then gives some light advice.I will watch his posts closely; also his signature area..."...some light advice". So that's what it is called. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.