CDRW/DVDRW missing from My Computer, Device Manager, Drive Management...

t_shanky_n · 11-27-2007, 01:55 AM

Hi,
My Toshiba A105 laptop with XP SP2 was working fine till two days back. The last thing I did with my CD drive was to write a data CD using Nero software. The next day, I could not find the CD/DVD drive in My Computer, Device Manager, and Disk Management. I used the 314060.exe tool provided in Microsoft forums to remove the upper and lower filters. This did not solve the problem. Then I did a system restore to the day on which everything was working fine. But, this did not help. I have also removed all third party CD/DVD writing software.

I tried logging into Safe Mode to fix, but still did not find the CD/DVD in My Computer, Device Manager, and Disk Management.

If I load a data CD, I can hear the disk spinning and the LED also lights up. I believe this indicates that the disk still has power. The Toshiba Dignostic Tool says that it could not fing the CD/DVD drive.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Shankar

Rebellion88 · 11-27-2007, 10:38 AM

Have you checked your system BIOS?

t_shanky_n · 11-27-2007, 05:20 PM

Hi,
I am a novice in doing such things. How do I check the system Bios.

Thanks
Shankar

Rebellion88 · 11-28-2007, 01:53 AM

Ok when you first boot your PC, you either press F2 or Delete, one of them will enter you into your systems BIOS, be careful you don't change anything but somewhere most likely on the first screen should be a list of IDE devices such as Hard drives and CD drives.

t_shanky_n · 11-28-2007, 03:50 AM

Hello Dean,
I checked the Bios settings as you had mentioned. The optical drive is missing under Bios. What does this mean?.

Thanks,
Shankar

Rebellion88 · 11-28-2007, 04:54 AM

Try this: http://eu.computers.toshiba-europe.c...jsp?service=EU

Product type: options / Family: Drive Devices...

Then it gives you some options for device drivers including CD drives, I also believe that either the hardware is not connected properly or is not functioning correctly as it should be displayed in the BIOS.

t_shanky_n · 12-11-2007, 06:44 AM

Hello Dean,
I gave up on getting my CD/DVD drive a few days back as I could not locate it in Bios. I assumed that it had stopped to work and was making plans to take it to a Toshiba service center. But suddenly today it started working. All I did was to use "System Mechanic" to clean the system. I guess there was something wrong with the registry.

Thanks for your help.
Shankar