My vanishing disk drive

[banacek]

My CD-rom drive keeps "vanishing". I put a disk in and everthing is ok. Then a couple hours later I put in another disk and try to read it and nothing happens. When I check "My Computer" it doesn't even show the disk drive as being on my computer (D). Then a couple hours later it is there again and reads the same disk just fine.

I know nothing about the inner workings of a computer. Sounds like a "loose connection", but even when the computer says I don't have a D drive, I put in the disk and it spins around, so I don't know.

Anyone have any ideas? :confused:

[DJofSD]

That's an interesting problem.

It could be a loose connector or something in the drive electronics starting to go bad.

It might be heat related though that's kind of a long shot. You could try to run the system w/o the cover on the system unit to see if that allows for more/better cooling and hopefully the problem going away.

Others will likely have better ideas.

How old is the system? Do you tweak the hardware at all, i.e. have you made any changes recently?

[banacek]

How old is the system? Do you tweak the hardware at all, i.e. have you made any changes recently?

It's about 14 months old. I haven't changed anything on it. Everything has worked great until this thing. No D drive right now, but it will be back. (I hope!)

[DJofSD]

CD-ROMs are pretty cheap.

If you have to go the route of swapping in a new drive, it shouldn't set you back but only a 5 quid -- give or take.

[JustRalph]

are you using a screen saver or letting the machine power down to sleep mode? If so, some drives don't come back or are not seen after the screen saver or the sleep mode kicks out. It has to do with the firmware of the drive. go to the drive manufactures website and see if there is a firmware upgrade available. If so, follow the instructions.

[banacek]

are you using a screen saver or letting the machine power down to sleep mode? If so, some drives don't come back or are not seen after the screen saver or the sleep mode kicks out. It has to do with the firmware of the drive. go to the drive manufactures website and see if there is a firmware upgrade available. If so, follow the instructions.

Thanks for the advice, but I don't use a screen saver. I turn off the screen. And I've never used sleep mode. Anyways I've got a D drive tonight, so I'm burning a couple discs before the drive goes to sleep.:)

[Dave Schwartz]

The first answer in stuff like this is almost always re-install the driver.

Second answer is buy a new one 'cause they're so cheap.

And if you want, just move to #2 right away because (did I mention that they're cheap?)


Dave

[njcurveball]

Before you invest in a new drive, I would try swapping the ribbon cables and/or the power supply to the old one.

I also would not overlook the suggestion made above about heat. Is the computer situated close to a heating vent?

Another thing you can try is removing it from your hardware profile and rebooting Windows. It should detect it as a new device and add the appropriate drivers.

I hope you have something to check for Malware and Viruses. Make sure the PC is "clean" before thinking about any replacement.

best to you,
Jim

[Bathless]

You might try the following scenario. Most of my peripherals are on the same surge protector as the PC. I have a second surge protector with additional peripherals, (scanner, Zip Drive, and printer) which I rarely use and don't always power up. When I want to use the Zip Drive, e.g., rather than reboot, which takes a while, I power up the 2nd surge bar and do the following:

From Windows Menu, select Settings ==> Control Panel ==> Add Hardware

This will launch the 'Add Hardware Wizard'. Click 'NEXT'. The Wizard will then search for recently added hardware (takes a few seconds, but a lot less time than a shutdown/restart). In response to the question 'Have you already connected this hardware to your computer?', reply YES/NEXT. Then a list of your currently installed hardware is displayed. Hopefully, your drive will be detected and be on the list. In any event, CANCEL to exit the Wizard.

Worth a try.