oth63

I have hp computer with 740b dvd writer, stock sonic program and xp sp2 os. Drive will not recognize media regardless of type or brand. When operating drive thru my computer it freezes computer when you try and play media content. I have typ 2 drive setup and have always suspected a conflict between them (hp has been useless) now I get errror message when I close sonic after trying to burn. I used sys restore to regress to earliest possible date and the drive functioned. I am back at current date now. Is there a way to reload this software only using windows or such, I have no disk just restore in drive d. Also have no idea what I'm doing. Any help greatly appreciated

Systems_Analyst

Since you mentioned you have two optical drives can the other drive read CDs, DVDs, and other media fine?

I recommend replacing the malfunctioning DVD-drive and see if that works out for you. Another thing you can actually do first is to download the latest firmware of the DVD-drive from the HP website and install it.

Afterwards see if you can get the DVD-drive to work.

Houndog777

Hi,
You could try uninstalling and then unplugging one of these drives and you will find out if there is a conflict.
Try both drives on their own to see if they work properly. Jumper both as Cable Select.

You could also try this, from Microsoft........
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060/

Have you thought that maybe the Sonic software is the root of the problems? You could uninstall Sonic and download a different free burner.

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oth63

In the iterim I found an update for the firmware of the burner, deleted all the aspects of the sonic software, and then installed the update for hdware. I tried using the microsoft software to burn cd and it worked. I tried a second time and it did not recognize the media, yet again. Once again I tried diferent brands with no luck it even froze the system on one try. If the drive is going bad will it fail intermittently like this, I have no problem in replacing the drive, I would just hate to replace a good one and find myself in the same boat

Dont understand about the cables,etc

Houndog777

Hi,
If you have 2 Drives of any kind on the one ribbon cable going to the motherboard, one has to be the Master and one has to be the Slave.
Each drive has jumpers next to the cable and power socket on the drive itself. With these jumpers, you can select how each drive will operate and you have 3 options; Master, Slave or Cable Select.
When using Cable Select both the drives must be jumpered for it, and then whichever drive uses the middle connector on the cable is automatically the Slave.
Sounds more complicated than it is.
All you're doing is making one drive your Main and the other one an Extra.

I believe you should try this.....from Microsoft........
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060/

It fixes a multitude of problems when drives and/or discs are misbehaving.

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oth63

I tried the link you provided and used the automatic feature to delete the filters. It did not help, so I purchased and installed a new drive. works fine with the xp cd burn so I hope I'm done with this. My question is, should I go back to that link and try to reverse the process and reinstall those filters or just go ahead and load new software.

Thanks for all your help!!

Houndog777

Hi,
There's no need to reverse the process; new filters are created as soon as you use the drive. Sorry we couldn't get it fixed, but drives do sometimes just die on you or the lenses within the drive pack-up. Annoying, but true!

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