dvd drive probs

[kernowman]

Hey There
hope some tech head can help me
for some reason both my drives on my computer arent showing up in my computer..
the problem started a few days ago when i was trying to copy a dvd using nero and it just stopped half way thro..the drive then jammed when i tried to open it but finally managed to open them after i powered doen the computer and restarted it!
but for some reason both drives now wont open! and arent as ive said showing up in ''my computer''
even my cd/dvd software ive got isnt registering any drives there as well!
so are me drives fecked or is it something simple
any help would be very much appreciated
im a total PC novice im afriad so be gentle with me!!
many thanks in advance
kev (kernowman)

[direwolf-pgh]

might need more info, but read this article/fix

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060

[saltman]

Can you verify that they have power going to them? Do the lights come on? Can you hear them spinning?

Open the case and verify that the power and data is plugged in. Use a different power rail from the PSU. Switch to a different IDE or SATA port. Determine it is not hardware related first.

[kernowman]

ok....what i dont understand is one minute they seem to be ''there'' (the drives) next the drives wont even open up but they will after a computer restart but will again disappear after a while... am totally confused LOL
am gonna get a tech guy to have a look at it to be honest he thinks it mabee a registry entry has become corrupted?? but hes not sure hope fully will get it sorted out soon,got a stack of dics to do LOL
cheers for the advice tho guys believe me its very much appreciated

[Aimee Wilbury]

It sounds like a firmware or driver issue to me, but might be hardware.

Try restarting your computer agan, and try to open the drive before Windows starts up (if you were more advanced user, I'd suggest disconnecting the HDD). If it opens, it's probably a problem within the OS. If not, it might be a firmware/hardware issue.

[sjmike]

Have you recently installed or uninstall any cd/dvd software from Roxio? I had a problem similar to yours when the drives weren't appearing in My Computer. Turns out I needed to delete some registry settings left behind by Roxio. After that all was good.

[kernowman]

cheers for the advice etc
well the strange thing is ive come back form work and all seems ok now! im just burning a dvd to see what happens but both drives appears and i seem to be copying ok
not that im complaining to be honest i do think me burner is on its way out its three years old and ive must have burned thousands of discs on it...so mabee its that!
to answer a question yeah when i restart the computer if the drive jams it will open before windows starts up guess its one of those ''glitches''
anyhoo fingers crossed to see if it lasts!!

[Aimee Wilbury]

yup, sounds like an OS problem.

Well, now its fixed. Did you try screeching at your computer? Never underestimate the power of threatening electronics.

[direwolf-pgh]

posterbot??!!