[warreng]

System is Dell Dimension 4500 2.0 Ghz, Windows XP. I had problems downloading an OCR Software App, after which my CD Drive "disappeared". I suspected I picked up a Boot Sector Virus, but I have not been able to reocver my drive yet. I tried to "uninstall" my IDE Controller in System Properties, but on reboot, everything BUT my CD drive reinstalled. Any Ideas? Thanks.

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ok, first, are there any other drives sharing that IDE cable the drive is on?
you said you dont see the drive in device manager, correct? you may need to go into BIOS and make sure the drive is detected there.
Im curious why you uninstalled the IDE controller, instead of just the drive. did the controller reinstall on the reboot?

[audioboy]

ok, first, are there any other drives sharing that IDE cable the drive is on?
you said you dont see the drive in device manager, correct? you may need to go into BIOS and make sure the drive is detected there.
Im curious why you uninstalled the IDE controller, instead of just the drive. did the controller reinstall on the reboot?

[warreng]

Thank you for reading my post.

I have only one CD drive. My drive does not show up in device manager, so I couldn't uninstall it there. I read somewhere to try and remove the controller, and let it reinstall itself, which it did (everything except the CD). In Device Manager, I have a listing for:

- IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers

- Intel ® 82801DB Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 24CB
- Primary IDE Channel


I "uninstalled" the Intel Storage Controller and let it reinstall all devices. (Except CD). Should I attempt the same process with the Primary IDE Channel?

Am I barking up the wrong tree? How do I check if my CD Drive is still in BIOS?

Thank you.

[audioboy]

Dell is referring to BIOS as the "system setup screen."

you will have to reboot, and when it first starts up, press the delete key a few times, until the system setup or BIOS screen appears.

then navigate to the advanced screen, go to IDE config. make sure the CD drive is being recognized there.

This is the online walkthrough for your system.

let me know the results, and if you needed to changed the settings to see the drive.

[warreng]

Thank you for your reply. I have gone to the System Setup Screen, then to Advanced, then to IDE Config. But no CD drive shows up there. IDE Controller is set to BOTH. PCI IDE BUS Master is Enabled. Primary IDE Master is set to my first Hard Drive. Primary IDE Slave is set to my second Hard Drive. Secondary IDE Master and Secondary IDE Slave are set to "not installed". I think this is where the CD drive should be, right?

Thank you for your help.
WarrenG

[audioboy]

yes, the cd drive (since you said you have only one) would be the secondary master. go back to bios, and set that to be a cd drive.

actually, first, does the drive power up? usually the first question I ask...I NEED MORE COFFEE!
I have been assuming this whole time that the drive is powered and connected correctly. if you havent been in the case recently, it should be all connected properly.

if BIOS doesnt recognize the drive, then you need to look under the hood. if the drive gets power, and the door opens and closes, good. shut down the PC, unplug it to be overly cautious. open it up, and touch a metal part of the case before touching any components (this is to make sure you dont zap anything with static shock by accident).
check the ribbon cable that goes from the CD to the motherboard. make sure it is seated firmly in both places.
if the drive wasnt getting power, make sure the white plug with 4 wires is firmly seated in the drive. thats the juice to make it run. try another of those power plugs to the drive if the one didnt work.

then plug it back in, and see if BIOS sees the drive. you may need to tell it about the CD again.

[warreng]

Thanks for the suggestions.

When I go to the BIOS, and the IDE submenu, I cannot even select the Secondary Master. It is not highlighted, and cannot be selected. It shows "not installed". So I cannot change the values.

The drive does not open/close. But I have never been inside the case, and haven't made any changes to the cd drive. The only way to open it is by the "pin" access door.

This all started as I was trying to download and install a software application for OCR. That is why I suspected a boot virus of some kind. I have since removed the application.
(Cuneiform Pro OCR).


Thanks again for your help.

[audioboy]

its sounding like you have a dead cd drive. you can go into the case and check the power connection like I mentioned earlier. this might be able to ressurect the drive, but its hard to say for sure.

it would be an odd coincidence if the drive died while you were installing that program, but theres no way a program would kill the drive.

if your comfort level in going in the case is low, the dell site has some walkthroughs with pictures. check there, or I can find one and post the link for you.

it might be time to get a new drive, but it wont hurt to check a few things on this one first.