I'm new to the forum, but experienced in computers. I think I know the cause of my problem, but the computer won't recognize the cd/dvd drive so I need some opinions on how to proceed.
The notebook computer is a Toshiba Satellite A25 S2792. Xp with SP3, 3.06 MGhz chip, 2 GB ram, 160GB HD. All recent anti-virus scans and Malware scans came back clean. All Microsoft updates installed as of 8/24/09.
I recently bought a used replacement cd/dvd drive (model SD-R2412). The new drive checked OK on another computer from the guy who sold it to me. The old cd drive got tossed by mistake so putting the original back in is not an option. The computer stopped recognizing the new cd drive.
The cd drive would not show in My Computer, and in Device Manager, there was an exclamation point next to the drive entry. When I tried to check to see what the problem was, and before I could click on 'properties', I got the BSoD. The STOP code was: "Page Fault in non paged area. STOP: 0x00000050, 0xE3564878, 0x00000001, 0x806EF134, 0x00000001"
I let the memory physical dump complete the process, then shut off the machine. I checked the 0x050 stop code and confirmed that it related to a device driver. I tried to restart using 'last known good configuration' and I get the splash screen showing the system is booting, then immediately a new BDoD. The STOP code was different this time, but I didn't write it down (my bad!). I turned off the computer and haven't tried again.
Normally, I would insert the XP Pro CD and run checkdisk /r, but since the computer wouldn't recognize the cd drive before the crash, I'm not optimistic that it will recognize the drive now to run the recovery module.
I have all of the data backed up as of a week ago, but there is some recent stuff that I don't want to take a chance on losing. Since the computer won't boot or recognize the cd drive, how do I reinstall or repair XP?
I am thinking of doing the following, but wanted some confirmation from the experts here before I attempted any of them.
1. Try to reboot again and see if it will go into Safe Mode before it crashes. (I doubt this will work because XP needs to start booting before I can get to Safe Mode).
2. I can download a new driver for the R-2412 cd drive onto a USB stick, but how do I install the driver if the system won't boot?
3. If I have to bite the bullet and attempt a reformat and reinstall, I'm thinking I will replace the hard drive before I try that. If the computer would recognize the drive and if I can install XP on a new HDD, then I can mount the old hard drive in an external enclosure to retrieve the files I want that may not have been backed up. I have the XP install disk and will call Microsoft about a reactivation before I start, so I'm not worried about obtaining a replacement license, even if I have to buy a new one.
The bottom line that has me stumped is how do I get the computer to recognize the cd drive at this point? Does anyone think that a new install of XP Pro on a new hard drive will solve the problem?
I apologize for the lengthy post, but I wanted to provide as much detail as I could.
Thanks in advance,
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