At one point in time my XP Pro did have "other" software on it but I seemed
to have a lot of problems. I now have a couple of generic optical drives.
They are both suppose to be RW while one is CD and the other is DVD. I
reformatted my HD and have been reinstalling not quite everything--had a
bunch of junk software.

One area still giving me grief are the optical drives. They are listed in
the Device Manager under unknown. It has like a diamond. The hardware Id's
for the drives are listed under Unknown and I can get to their properties.
The drives and their details are also listed in system information. I have to
admit that I have lost track of the error messages but I think the one I get
the most is no CD in drive.

I have wandered through the MS knowledge w/o finding anything really
helping. Also, I have done some careful research in the Registry. They are in
there but I think some data is missing. For example, the drive type was not
set for 2, to indicate a recordable device. According to my research under
....\CD Burning there should also be a Current Media key and my Registry is
lacking this.

I also found some articles which made it sound like you had to use 3rd party
software if you really wanted to get any use out of CD/DVD's. All of which
was a long way of saying that I can't use the drives and for the moment I am
stuck. Anybody got any thoughts as to how to un-stick me?
--
Richard

RichardM wrote:

Since you did a clean install of Windows, did you remember to install
drivers for all your hardware? This would include drivers for your
motherboard and that might solve the optical drive problem. As an aside,
you can burn CDs natively in XP but not DVDs. You need third-party burning
software for DVDs. If you forgot to install the drivers, that's your next
step. See general drivers information below.

Never get drivers from Windows Update. Get them from:

1. The device mftr.'s website; OR
2. The motherboard mftr.'s website if hardware is onboard; OR
3. The OEM's website for your specific machine if you have an OEM computer
(HP, Dell, Sony, etc.).

Read the installation instructions on the website where you get the drivers.

To find out what hardware is in your computer:

1. Read any documentation you got when you bought the computer.
2. If the computer is OEM, go to the OEM's website for your specific model
machine and look at the specs (you'll be there to get the drivers anyway)
3. Download, install and run a free system inventory program like Belarc
Advisor or System Information for Windows.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html - Belarc Advisor
http://www.gtopala.com/ - System Information for Windows


Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

"Never install drivers thru windows update"...OEM software usually doesnt get
installed unless its passed thru microsoft WHQL.Hence,it goes thru microsoft
before the hardware mfg lets it drivers go to the public...

"Malke" wrote:

Andrew E. wrote:

OMG Andrew, you're actually *responding* to someone else! Excellent advance
on your part. Unfortunately, you're still wrong about the advisability of
installing drivers from Windows Update (it isn't advisable), but how very
nice that you've started to communicate with others.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

On Mar 8, 9:59*am, Malke <ma...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
Should really completely read the post before responding. Andrew was
not recommending to get drivers from Windows Update but explaining why
not to!