device driver not found

[Don Blanchard]

My computer is not loading windows in normal mode.  It has a message that states device driver not found. MSCD001  It will load in safe mode.  How can I get it working properly.

[MalikTous]

There has been a failure to load the CDROM device driver. This may be either from a hardware fault in the CD drive or an incorrect CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT line.

In Win9x, the default CDROM driver is oakcdrom.sys (usually found in the c:\windows\command\ebd directory) but there are others as well. Make sure the one for your drive is loading right. Set the startup to Verify Each Step from the F8 startup menu and watch the response to each line. The line in config.sys and the line in autoexec.bat should have the same /d:mscd001 parameter, if both are present.

In WinXP, you would need to go through Admin Tools steps or something...

In the hardware, unplug and reconnect both ends of the flat cable between the mainboard and the CDROM drive and make sure the power connector is in right (and that it is not a 12-volt-line-only 'fan power connector). Check the BIOS settings and make sure the CDROM is recognised properly.

[don blanchard]

What if the config.sys and the autoexec.bat lines are not the same.  What would I do to correct this problem.  And what if they are not both present.

[MalikTous]

Line in CONFIG.SYS should be something like:

devicehigh=c:\cdrom\oakcdrom.sys /d:mscd001

Line in AUTOEXEC.BAT should be something like:

lh c:\cdrom\mscdex.exe /d:mscd001 /m:12

I usually copy the CD drivers to their own directory for convenience, but you can use the existing locations. The parameter /d: must match between the lines.