suddenly a new DVD drive (G)..none was added..AND

[chacherry3]

suddenly a new DVD drive (G)..none was added..AND now it will not read my external drive!! (after disconnecting and then reconnect)

I have two 200gb external hardrives ...Once in a while I need to work on other PCs and need some files off of one of the drives ...I remove (using safe remove).

After working on the other PC...(had too many issues to repair...snarrrrl), I then returned the external drive to its original pc, and it would not read it as an external drive but instead found it to be a DVD drive..I then switched its usb to another port and it would not read at all...then I did some more switching, ...then it would readi t but not both ex. drives, then it would not read either one of the external drives....and even when all externals are disconnected I still show a new DVD drive!!!  
I do have a DVDrw in my pc but not a plain dvd player (and yes, the DVDrw shows as connected ...drive D...)  This new DVD drive is drive G...shows it sitting there along with my other DVDrw.

PC info:  WinXP ....1.80 gigahertz AMD
64 kilobyte primary memory ...128 kilobyte secondary
80g hardrive ....

Not sure what other info someone may need to help me with this.

I am just a Grandma, who once in a while can work a bit on an older PC and get it to run again for my grandkiddies to play on the net and their games.
So, I am not a computer expert....so I need one!...giggle

Please suggest what may of happened here???

HUGE THANKS in advance!!!
Granny

...also anyone interested in helping me with the other PC I was working on would be awesome!! ...It may have hardware issues...(so I was told)....Monitor will not turn on at start-up....then it does...then it doesn't again....also sometimes will load to windows...sometimes not ...and then it will again...(motherboard???)...dog-gone-it, such a nice pc....would love to get it running.

[GX1_Man]

Let's do one at a time.

Go to Control Panel/System. Is the extra drive listed there? If so delete it and reboot what happens now.

The other one sounds like a power supply issue, but start by checking that monitor on another computer and another computer with the monitor on this one to see where the problem really is.

[chacherry3]

WOW!...Thanks for the quick reply.

I have checked the disc drives in manager and it only shows my internal 80g and one of my external 200g hardrives. Oh Oops, the other 200g is not connected...hang on a minute (maybe it will read it in the device driver!!!!)
...well guess what shows up??? ...the now connected 200g shows but has a red x on it!!!....oh no...what now???


thanks for helping!!!

[GX1_Man]

You can click on it to find out what the error message is.

I would suggest safely removing ALL external drives, then deleting all DVD drives showing and then rebooting. What happens now?

Now add one drive and see if it is recognized? If so, reboot and check again. If it is all correct add the other drive. Check again for poper display. If all is good reboot again and check.

What happens now?

(You have to use a very methodical approach to these issues to find the problem.   )

[chacherry3]

Hey great idea ...you are so helpful and explain it so well THANKS

I have added this for you to take a peek at:
(I wrote this while I was waiting to see if
you would reply again...now I am off to try
what you had suggested.)

...a bit more info...

I do have more usb ports in the rear of this PC...perhaps if I connect in to there for now I will have it (the 200g) up and running...but that would be a bit inconvienent for me...(bad back, bending over goofy to get the cord in)...and this still does not help find out why I now have a DVD drive (g).

The other PC I was working on, does have a working monitor...it works with all my PCs (5 computers), only this PC has a problem. Oh and the PC has a brand new power supply with pretty blue lights in it...(grin) the setting on that, by the little "hard to switch over" red thingy is at: 115.

Perhaps I need more power?...switch it to high if it has it???....I wait for your reply.

[chacherry3]

I checked to see what the problem was, and another "oops" I had disabled it, thinking it was that new DVD G drive....so sorry ...it all is running ok now....thank you so much for your quick and "easy to follow" help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


.........now if you can just hang in there with me for just a few more minutes, please see what I wrote earlier of the OTHER PC I was having problems with ...Monitor ok...Newer power supply...etc.

If you have to go I will understand....thanks
Granny

[GX1_Man]

Let's do one at a time.

Go to Control Panel/System. Is the extra drive listed there? If so delete it and reboot what happens now.

The other one sounds like a power supply issue, but [highlight]start by checking that monitor on another computer and another computer with the monitor on this one to see where the problem really is[/highlight].

What is the make and wattage of the power supply and how old is it? Any recent power surges before the problem started?

[chacherry3]

I think you did not notice that I had sent other info before you wrote your last reply...I had already mentioned that monitor works on 5 of my other PC...plus my parents PC is here and I connected it to that as well...works fine...only THIS PC had the problem.....Power supply was mentioned as well....would you be mad at me if I asked you to please read what I wrote before about monitor and power supply.
Thank you so much.

....All is well with the original PC we were chatting about.  Except for the DVD (G) ....hmmm....another thought,.....could this drive be for my camara software? ..(not connected..but I do use the usb port for loading pics from camara memory card)...hmmm....I wonder if it was there all this time but I just "freaked out" because I did not see my external drives....perhaps it belongs there.  Maybe we are done with this for now.

    ...please advise on the other PC for me....THANKS!!!!!!!!!

[GX1_Man]

Whoops, missed that. Leave it at 115 if you are in the US. If you switch it to the other setting you can burn the whole thing up.

Unfortunately because it is pretty and has a blue light and is new does not mean it is a good PSU. That is why I asked about the make. The wattage on a power supply is dictated by the components in the computer. You can calculate it, but why don't you describe all of the hardware - CPU, drives, RAM, CD's, etc. If you didn't pay at least $50 for just the PSU it is suspect at best. Cheap chinese knock-offs cannot be counted on, unfortunately.

[GX1_Man]

You're a pretty resourceful granny that can zip up and attach a Belarc analysis.  

A quality 350 w power supply should be more than adequate for this. You could possibly get by with a quality 300w. but I wouldn't personally.

[chacherry3]

Oh the zipping?...hey if your gonna play on PCs...ya better learn something right?....wish I knew as much as you do!!!
Thank you for helping me!!

This PC was given to me by my sister.
Her friend was going to dump it because they had so many problems with it.
My sister convinced them to just let her give it to me.  They removed hardrive, and I got the PC. I put in one of my hardrives and it worked GREAT for about a half a year.

At one time I decided to get a larger (so I think) wattage power supply for this computer thinking it would then have enough power to run a DVDrw along with a DVD player.
This did not work, but I never removed the power supply.   someone once told me that it was possible that to have 2 DVD players on the PC I would need more wattage.  Thought I would just give it a try.
The PC continued to run GREAT even with this power supply. Which included watching TV and recording programs for my grandkiddies. (using one of my 200g for storage for the videos...the files are huge.  grin)...etc.

The PC began showing problems after a while....the monitor would simple shut off.  (PC stayed on.) ...had to reboot....Monitor on again..all fine....after a few weeks of minor monitor shut offs...I decided it might be getting too hot inside PC or something and would run a tiny fan at the PC and seem to do OK. much better as a matter of fact. ...then it started again,...and then it started to have loading problems....off and on....sometimes fine for 7 days in a row ...then 3 days of rebooting constantly etc. etc.  Then fine for 4 days...etc.  I finally called a computer store and the guy told me it probably was the motherboard...get a new PC...so Now I have that new PC we were working on earlier...I have had it quite a while now...and the other PC was left in a closet for a couple of months ...thought I would take her out again ...and see if it can be salvaged. So here we are trying to see if this can be done.

I am going to check to see what power supply I have in there and send that info next...THANKS!!!

[GX1_Man]

So that pretty power supply is not new? That sounds even worse. I will be around for another hour or so this evening.  

[chacherry3]

Oh Great....no easy info to see when I open PC...HOWEVER,...it does say,
For Pentium IV....uh oh...could that be a problem?

P/N 066252038393
S/N 0410104044

I have the original box to this power supply but have no idea at this moment where it is...dog-gone-it...I am so excited that you are here to help me, and now I cannot supply you with what you need!

Granny

[GX1_Man]

I think you have a cheap power supply that is failing. You may have heat issues as well that a case fan would help, but that is what I would replace to get this thing running.

These come in 20 and 24 pin varieties, based on the big plug that plugs into the motherboard. Be sure and get the right one. You have a MicroStar MS-6330 motherboard, so look at the cable and count the pins.

Here's the basics:
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/detail_spec/K7Tturbo2.htm

Also, make sure the CPU fan is turning. Here is another great tool for you:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

[chacherry3]

Another tidbit....When I took PC out of closet, I hooked it all up and it loaded great,...looked great,....and I had it on for about 2 hours...just messing around and looking at stuff.  Internet fine, TV ok, files ok...ran GREAT. then I went to shut down, and waited about 2 minutes...then turned her back on ...PC loaded, Monitor showed on, but nothing came to the screen.  I cold booted to shut down again....restarted, loaded fine....including monitor.  ...played a bit (maybe 15min)   and told PC to restart,....PC on Monitor back on ...nothing on screen again....cold booted, same thing...did it 3 more times, and still would not show on screen...so I shut it off...then removed my 200g from that PC to put backinto my newer PC and then hadthe problems that gotme here to get help.

By the way,...where in the world could you see what wattage that PC had for power in that Balarc stuff??   ...if I can get the PC to turn back on for me just one more time I can run Balarc and find out what this new power supply is.??