C: and D: Drive Vanished! Dissapeared!

[lmkj]

Hello
Can anybody help me. My Cd rewriter usually C: drive and my DvD player usually D: Drive have dissapeared. Niether drive appears on my computer folder. I have attached what it says on my computer. can anybody help. any advice welcome!

Many thanks

[Calum]

If you right click and choose properties on either of the two drives with yellow marks, what does it say?
What OS is this?

[lmkj]

Gosh what a quick response!

the operating system is Microsoft XP service pack 2.

The first item (the cd writer) has this written in the properties:
Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware but cannot find the device (code 41)

The second item (the dvd payer) has this written in the properties:
Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in its registry) is incomplete or damaged (code 19).

Its just wierd how they have both dissapeard off the my computer folder. Has this information helped at all.  :-/

Kind regards

[Calum]

What happened before this started?
Did both drives read disks OK before they stopped working?
Are either or both of them seen in the BIOS?

[lmkj]

What are the Bios? sorry!

I havent used the drives for a while ( a couple of months). Last time i used tem there were no problems whatsover. i cant understand why they dont seem to be working anymore. very mysterious.

[Calum]

OK, fair enough.
When you boot your PC, there should be a message on screen saying how to get into the BIOS, also knows as Setup or similar.
Common ways are pressing Delete, F2, or F10, although they vary between manufacturers.
So press whatever key is indicated during the boot sequence, before Windows loads, to get into the BIOS.

[lmkj]

Ok i have been into my setup and assuming you want to see the following. et me know if i have given you the wrong information

[lmkj]

attachement 1

[lmkj]

attachment 2

[lmkj]

last attachment 3

[Calum]

OK, good stuff.
That's exactly what I wanted to know.
This shows that the drives are physically there, but Windows doesn't work with them.
Boot back into Windows and go into device manager again.
Right click both drives and uninstall them.
Then reboot.
Windows will install drivers for both of them when you reboot.
Hopefully this will solve the problem.
Let us know how it goes.

[lmkj]

Ok!

I uninstalled both drives and rebooted the system. When i rebooted there were little balloons popping up recognising that it had found new hardware. was i meant to click on anything at this point because i just lef thte computer to it. It was all very exciting until i clicked on my computer and found nothing there so went to the device manager and right clicked and this message came up for both drives:

Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in its registry) is incomplete or damaged (code 19)

I tried updating but it made no difference. oh dear. back to square 1!

[Calum]

What you did sounds right, it's what I've done before for this sort of thing.
If that's made no difference, I'm afraid I don't know what to say next.
Sorry, and I hope someone else can help you out here.

[lmkj]

Thank you so much for your help. maybe i will try again and see what happens. wish me luck!

[Calum]

Good luck.
I'll stay with this thread to see what the solution is.

[GX1_Man]

What happened prior to all of this? Can you try a system restore to a point before that? This will not fix defective hardware, but it may be enlightening.

[street1 (RIP)]

This may have 'to do' with your DMA settings.

http://www.real-knowledge.com/dma.htm

[lmkj]

Its been a few months since i last used the cd and dvd drives. The only thing i can think that i have done posibly is at some point a few months ago slotted in a 1gb Ram. I was very sure not to have knowcked anything and have chedcked all the connetions. could the new RAM have something to do with it?

I will look at enabling tha DMA if you think this will help although i have no idea what i am doing!

[lmkj]

i have checked the DMA settings according to that link and they are all fine.

Its all very wierd. i cant help thinking there must be a simple solution... but its looking very unlikely!

[lmkj]

I've Done it!!!!!!

After a seious amount of timeon google and somebravery on my part because i had no idea what i was doing i have founda solution to Code 19.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;320553

Method 1: Remove the registry entry
Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.
Note If you had installed multiple CD-writing software products on your computer, you need to uninstall the software products before you remove the registry keys.1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/Control/Class/{4d36e965-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}
4. On the File menu, click Export.
5. In the File name box, type savedkey, and then click Save.
6. Click the REG_MULTI_SZ data type UpperFilters, and then click Delete on the Edit menu. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.

Note If this data type is missing, go to Method 2.
7. Click the REG_MULTI_SZ data type LowerFilters, and then click Delete on the Edit menu. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
8. Quit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

I chose to do the method 1 as i had already done methos 2 and it hadnt worked! its all working fine now.

Thank you all for your help.
kind regards

[Calum]

Well done, glad you got it sorted.