CD RW drive problem

[tKnilans]

Hello everyone I need some advice from hardware saavy people. A friend has a Dell Dimension 8200 desktop computer with two seperate optical drives. The "D" drive is supposed to be a DVD reader/writer but shows only as a reader. The "E" drive shows as a CD RW drive but won't read or write. She told me she had a virus (Trojan) and had some guy remove it for her by re-formatting/partitioning the drive. He didn't use her restore disks but his own discs when he did this. I know that Windows XP furnishes the drivers for the optical drives, so I"m assuming it's not the problem. I've uninstalled and re-installed the drive but it didn't fix the problem. I went to Dell's website, downloaded the firmware for the drive and flashed it as the instructions stated but that didn't help either. Is there anything else I can do besides change the drive? All suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

[yurimxpxman]

Right-click My Computer and click Properties. Go to the Device Manager and report any warning icons.

Also post your hijackthis log.

[Jokerswild]

The 8200 came with lite-on drives. Double check them and download the firmware from the lite-on website. I don't know if that will help but Dell is always lagging on their drivers and such. I had a 8200 also and one of the lite-on drives went bad on it.

Follow yurimxpxman advice first though.

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by yurimxpxman

Also post your hijackthis log.

For what reason? Some of your troubleshooting techniques are so off the wall. It’s a optical drive issue. The virus has been taken care of.

Windows XP does not always report drives correctly in the drive browser. Does the drive that you think is a writer, able to write? If it does, who cares what windows thinks it is.

[yurimxpxman]

Originally Posted by Hitman

For what reason? Some of your troubleshooting techniques are so off the wall. It’s a optical drive issue. The virus has been taken care of.

Viruses are still possible (although not probable), but one of the main concerns is the running processes. Perhaps a utility or something is screwing it up, or maybe he reinstalled some malware.

[gvblake22]

A very interesting problem, but I highly doubt it is a virus issue. You say the DVD drive isn't recognized as a writer, but will it still write? As for the CD drive, are you sure the drive is good? Did you try it another system and make sure the drive is in good working order. It is totally possible that you got a bunk drive.

[tKnilans]

Originally Posted by yurimxpxman

Right-click My Computer and click Properties. Go to the Device Manager and report any warning icons.

Also post your hijackthis log.

I've done that and there are no warning icons. I have no idea what "hijack this" is. This isn't my computer but a friend's.

Originally Posted by jokerswild

The 8200 came with lite-on drives. Double check them and download the firmware from the lite-on website. I don't know if that will help but Dell is always lagging on their drivers and such. I had a 8200 also and one of the lite-on drives went bad on it.

Follow yurimxpxman advice first though.

I've already downloaded and updated the firmware, it didn't help.

Originally Posted by Hitman

For what reason? Some of your troubleshooting techniques are so off the wall. It’s a optical drive issue. The virus has been taken care of.

Windows XP does not always report drives correctly in the drive browser. Does the drive that you think is a writer, able to write? If it does, who cares what windows thinks it is.

It doesn't read or write but shows up as a CD RW drive in My Computer and on the system/hardware/device manager page.

[tKnilans]

As I stated in the original post, I've tried everything I can think of. I've updated the firmware, re-installed the drive (after uninstalling it), tried different CD's, nothing works. It won't even READ the CD in the drive or show it's properties (ie: used/free space etc...)

[Jokerswild]

It could be the media isn't compatable with the drive but I doubt that. Does the drive spin up when you put a disc in? Does a disc show as being in the drive in My Computer? Does the burning software have a problem? try reinstalling the burning software.

Originally Posted by tKnilans

As I stated in the original post, I've tried everything I can think of. I've updated the firmware, re-installed the drive (after uninstalling it), tried different CD's, nothing works. It won't even READ the CD in the drive or show it's properties (ie: used/free space etc...)

Sounds like the drive is bad. Only way to know for sure is to install it in another computer.

[tKnilans]

Originally Posted by jokerswild

It could be the media isn't compatable with the drive but I doubt that. Does the drive spin up when you put a disc in? Does a disc show as being in the drive in My Computer? Does the burning software have a problem? try reinstalling the burning software.

Sounds like the drive is bad. Only way to know for sure is to install it in another computer.

The drive appears to be doing something when a CD is inserted (factory or recordable). The drive appears to be spinning and the light in the front of the drive blinks for awhile but nothing else happens. No disc shows on My Computer and the burning software (Roxio) doesn't recognize a disc in the drive. She doesn't have another computer to test it in and mine is 300 miles away.