cd roms not recognized by win 98

Comfy · 03-08-2005, 12:33 PM

every time i load up this sony vaio desktop the bios sees the drives and acknowledges that they are there but when win 98 finishes loading then i click on "my computer" and it doesnt see the drives there. i just reloaded win 98 on this computer but it still hasnt recognized the drives and i cant install any drivers for the rest of the stuff like sound card, video display adapters opr anything else if i cant get the computer to "see" the drives there. I hav tried switching the IDE cable to a different one but i get the same problem and cannot get the drives to work while windows is loaded....but yet i can use the drives to load windows.... i have also tried wiping the hard drive and then reloading win 98 but still it does not see the drives for some reason. Please help as I have no clue what could be causing this.

Geekgirl · 03-08-2005, 02:22 PM

Can you see them in the Device Manager? ( Right click on My Computer,
choose Properties. Device Manger tab)

Comfy · 03-08-2005, 03:53 PM

Yes i have looked and they arent listed there either.... but when i load the computer and i have a bootable cd in it like the win 98 2nd edition cd in it ... it will ask if iwant to boot from cd or hard drive......

Geekgirl · 03-08-2005, 04:07 PM

What kind of drives do you have installed?

Comfy · 03-08-2005, 04:12 PM

They are both sony branded drives.... one is a cd rom and the other is a cd burner...................

Geekgirl · 03-08-2005, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Yes i have looked and they arent listed there either.... but when i load the computer and i have a bootable cd in it like the win 98 2nd edition cd in it ... it will ask if iwant to boot from cd or hard drive......

I believe it asks you that because there is a cd in the cdrom and your boot sequence is not set properly.

Quote:

They are both sony branded drives.... one is a cd rom and the other is a cd burner...................

Are they both on the same IDE controller? Which one is set to master and slave. What is your setup in your system?

Start the computer in Safe Mode (by tapping the F8 key when booting.)
Once you get the desktop right click My Computer, click Properties. Look for anything with red or yellow colored symbols, these indicate problem devices.
Do you see your roms in there while in Safe Mode?

hayou · 03-08-2005, 09:57 PM

I have a similar problem.

I cannot read either CD drive after bootup. This happens even when booting off the Win98SE setup diskette. The drives are recognized by the MB BIOS, but not after bootup. I've tried resetting the CMOS. Also resetting flash BIOS to 3 different versions downloaded from manufacturer website. The MB is a Machspeed N2PAP Lite with AMD 2100.

I'm trying to do a clean (new) install to a new hard drive, but cannot read a CD drive. I've tried new cables and 3 different CD drives. Any ideas??

hessaacd · 03-08-2005, 11:43 PM

Are you ready? brace yourself...
rem out every line in your config.sys
win98 doesn't really use it, they say, but it sure seems to mess with the cdrom
type sysedit from start->run
then put the word rem in front of each line in the config.sys file. This tells windows not to read them.
Let me know if it works!
Alan

Hayou,
you too are in for a fairly simple fix. When loading from the bootdisk,
first, you have to create a config.sys file to tell the system to load the cdrom drivers. It's not, like, psychic!
Then you must tell autoexec.bat to assign a drive letter.

http://www.powerspec.com/support/drivers/pscdrom_1.html

just follow this link and it will tell you exactly what to do.

If you have any more questions, I'd be glad to help. You may prefer to start a new thread to keep everybody on the same page.
hope this helps

Alan

hayou · 03-09-2005, 09:31 PM

Hesaacd, Thanks for the link, but the boot diskette came with the original OS CD and has the cd drivers already. It reads the BIOS that sees the CD drives, assigns them as E: and F: However at that point any files on CD's in the drives cannot be read.

If the computer is booted normally from the hard drive, the CDs are now shown as 'cd E:' and 'cd F:' but I cannot read any files or load anything from CD's in those drives.

hessaacd · 03-10-2005, 10:18 AM

Hayou,
Yes I see what you're saying now.
I have the exact same problem actually and can't seem to fix it. The cdrom looks fine in device mngr, but I try to open a disk, it says please insert disk. So I tried an external drive through the USB port, and that worked just fine.

This happened when I decided to do a reinstall using disks I ordered from HP. All of the sudden cdrom won't read anything. I can't explain it.
The dvd-rom still worked, though.
Next time I get a chance, I'm going to try using a win98 start up disk and see if it will work with that.

Alan

03-08-2005, 12:33 PM	#1 (permalink)
Comfy Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 3 OS: xp	cd roms not recognized by win 98 every time i load up this sony vaio desktop the bios sees the drives and acknowledges that they are there but when win 98 finishes loading then i click on "my computer" and it doesnt see the drives there. i just reloaded win 98 on this computer but it still hasnt recognized the drives and i cant install any drivers for the rest of the stuff like sound card, video display adapters opr anything else if i cant get the computer to "see" the drives there. I hav tried switching the IDE cable to a different one but i get the same problem and cannot get the drives to work while windows is loaded....but yet i can use the drives to load windows.... i have also tried wiping the hard drive and then reloading win 98 but still it does not see the drives for some reason. Please help as I have no clue what could be causing this.

03-08-2005, 02:22 PM	#2 (permalink)
Geekgirl Assistant Manager, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Six-burgh, Pennsylvania Posts: 14,178 OS: XP Home SP3/XP Pro SP3/Vista Ultimate SP2/Windows 7 Professional	Can you see them in the Device Manager? ( Right click on My Computer, choose Properties. Device Manger tab) __________________ Compare NOD32 to your current antivirus and anti-spyware solution, HERE How to back up and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Vista Or Windows 7 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows 98/ ME / NT 4.0 / 2000 I DO NOT ACCEPT EMAILS AND WILL NOT REPLY TO THEM !!!!! TSF DOES NOT SUPPORT ASSISTANCE THROUGH EMAIL OR PRIVATE MESSAGES, PLEASE KEEP ALL QUESTIONS IN THE OPEN FORUM *The Pittsburgh Steelers - 6 X Superbowl Champions !!!!!!!* *The Pittsburgh Penguins - 2009 Stanley Cup Champions !!!!!!!*

03-08-2005, 04:07 PM	#4 (permalink)
Geekgirl Assistant Manager, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Six-burgh, Pennsylvania Posts: 14,178 OS: XP Home SP3/XP Pro SP3/Vista Ultimate SP2/Windows 7 Professional	What kind of drives do you have installed? __________________ Compare NOD32 to your current antivirus and anti-spyware solution, HERE How to back up and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Vista Or Windows 7 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows 98/ ME / NT 4.0 / 2000 I DO NOT ACCEPT EMAILS AND WILL NOT REPLY TO THEM !!!!! TSF DOES NOT SUPPORT ASSISTANCE THROUGH EMAIL OR PRIVATE MESSAGES, PLEASE KEEP ALL QUESTIONS IN THE OPEN FORUM *The Pittsburgh Steelers - 6 X Superbowl Champions !!!!!!!* *The Pittsburgh Penguins - 2009 Stanley Cup Champions !!!!!!!*

03-08-2005, 09:57 PM	#7 (permalink)
hayou Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2 OS: win98se	similar problem I have a similar problem. I cannot read either CD drive after bootup. This happens even when booting off the Win98SE setup diskette. The drives are recognized by the MB BIOS, but not after bootup. I've tried resetting the CMOS. Also resetting flash BIOS to 3 different versions downloaded from manufacturer website. The MB is a Machspeed N2PAP Lite with AMD 2100. I'm trying to do a clean (new) install to a new hard drive, but cannot read a CD drive. I've tried new cables and 3 different CD drives. Any ideas??

03-08-2005, 11:43 PM	#8 (permalink)
hessaacd Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 4 OS: win98	dude, check your config.sys Are you ready? brace yourself... rem out every line in your config.sys win98 doesn't really use it, they say, but it sure seems to mess with the cdrom type sysedit from start->run then put the word rem in front of each line in the config.sys file. This tells windows not to read them. Let me know if it works! Alan Hayou, you too are in for a fairly simple fix. When loading from the bootdisk, first, you have to create a config.sys file to tell the system to load the cdrom drivers. It's not, like, psychic! Then you must tell autoexec.bat to assign a drive letter. http://www.powerspec.com/support/drivers/pscdrom_1.html just follow this link and it will tell you exactly what to do. If you have any more questions, I'd be glad to help. You may prefer to start a new thread to keep everybody on the same page. hope this helps Alan

03-08-2005, 03:53 PM	#3 (permalink)
Comfy Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 3 OS: xp	Yes i have looked and they arent listed there either.... but when i load the computer and i have a bootable cd in it like the win 98 2nd edition cd in it ... it will ask if iwant to boot from cd or hard drive......

03-08-2005, 04:12 PM	#5 (permalink)
Comfy Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 3 OS: xp	They are both sony branded drives.... one is a cd rom and the other is a cd burner...................

03-09-2005, 09:31 PM	#9 (permalink)
hayou Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2 OS: win98se	Hesaacd, Thanks for the link, but the boot diskette came with the original OS CD and has the cd drivers already. It reads the BIOS that sees the CD drives, assigns them as E: and F: However at that point any files on CD's in the drives cannot be read. If the computer is booted normally from the hard drive, the CDs are now shown as 'cd E:' and 'cd F:' but I cannot read any files or load anything from CD's in those drives.

03-10-2005, 10:18 AM	#10 (permalink)
hessaacd Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 4 OS: win98	Hayou, Yes I see what you're saying now. I have the exact same problem actually and can't seem to fix it. The cdrom looks fine in device mngr, but I try to open a disk, it says please insert disk. So I tried an external drive through the USB port, and that worked just fine. This happened when I decided to do a reinstall using disks I ordered from HP. All of the sudden cdrom won't read anything. I can't explain it. The dvd-rom still worked, though. Next time I get a chance, I'm going to try using a win98 start up disk and see if it will work with that. Alan