Problem... CD-ROm Drive not detected...

SupraS

Hi I have a problem with my desktop. Sometimes (esp. if I leave my comp on for a few days) the CD-Rom Drive just vanishes from the My Computer window and is no where to be found. I dont think it's a power supply problem because the drive can still be opened and closed while it's "gone". Could there be a problem with my IDE cable? Any help would be appreciated. thanks! =)

Tipstaff

It could be due to a faulty IDE cable, or a bad power supply/power connector. I would try picking up a new IDE cable (or swap with a spare one), and switching to a different molex power connector. As well, if your hard drive and CDRom drive is on the same IDE ribbon/cable I would recommend putting the CDRom onto a second cable.

Couple other things: check your bios to see if the drive is on Auto Detect, and that it is indeed detecting it properly. Also, make sure you aren't loading any generic drivers. Look for an autoexec.bat and config.sys file on the root of your C: drive. If you have, open them up with notepad, and put an ; before any device listings.

Lastly, the CDRom drive might actually be failing. If this is the case then the only remedy is to buy a new one. If possible I would try using that drive on another machine to verify this.

-Tip