[NomDeKeyz]

Hello GeeksToGo!

I am a former visitor with very little computer know-how (and what little I have, I mostly owe to GeeksToGo).
I was told by friends that I should update my drivers, as it has been about a year since I last bothered...
After reading what some of my GeeksToGo gurus have to say on the matter, I am questioning the friendly advice.

I expect you will ask me if any yellow exclamation marks or red X's appear in my device manager window. Yes, and Yes.
HOWEVER, these have been there since my last reformat (assisted by rshaffer61, I think? It was a zombie pic then...)
I don't think I need/use these. So, if nothing else is yellow/red marked, do I need to update anything else?

I also suspect you might ask me if I am having any problems on my machine that prompted this friendly advice. Sort of.
Nothing I can't live with, but it would be nice to have an easier time of things. Besides the expected crashes of the
Oblivion video game (a very temperamental program), there are some visual glitches not fixed by the animation fixer.

The main issue that I have is that my DVD drive is not fully functional, but I have been able to work around that.
My DVD drive is a capable of writing to a DVD disk (or so says the maker), but I have never been able to write onto
a DVD with that drive. My CD writer drive writes just fine. I use a flash drive for anything larger than a CD holds.

Let me attempt to attach a pic of my device driver list so that perhaps you all can tell me which things I ought to
consider updating, and which things are best left alone. If it ain't broke, I don't wanna try my hand at fixin' it.

Thanks in advance for your wisdom and advice. Humbly ~Nom

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(assisted by rshaffer61, I think? It was a zombie pic then...)

Yep that is me
Right click on the red X nic in device manager and then click uninstall.
Reboot and let me know if it returns.

[rshaffer61]

(assisted by rshaffer61, I think? It was a zombie pic then...)

Yep that is me
Right click on the red X nic in device manager and then click uninstall.
Reboot and let me know if it returns.

[NomDeKeyz]

Hi rshaffer61! Nice to net with you again! And Thanks again too!

IT did not return, however, a new thing with a red x did appear...
bottom right corner, there is a duo-computer icon with the red x?
That wasn't there before. I suppose I can disable the "Local Area
Connection 2" to make the "a network cable is unplugged" go away...

Edited by NomDeKeyz, 12 July 2011 - 03:16 AM.

[NomDeKeyz]

Ooops, my GoOf...

It DID return, but without a red x (I failed to expand the relevant icon). Call me newb-ificent.

When I disabled it in network connections, the red x reappeared on the device manager icon.

Does this have any relevance to my minor irritations? Is it ignorable? Is it a security risk?

And back to my initial ponderance... do you think I need to update any drivers? Or best not to?

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Edited by NomDeKeyz, 12 July 2011 - 03:19 AM.

[rshaffer61]

Well now it is working right in Device Manager but it baffles me why the icon in the lower right shows a cable unplugged.
Do you use wireless or a wired internet connection?
Also on your dvd problem do you know what the make and model is on the drive is?
Have you ever been able to write to a dvd disk with this drive?
If you don't know the dvd drive make and model please do the following instructions.



Download and install Free Everest Home Edition
Open it.
1: In left pane expand Computer folder.
2: Click once on Summary
3: In upper menu, go Report
4: And then to Quick Report-Summary
5: Save it in text file, and paste it in your next post.
Click the + by computer, click on Sensor. Get a screenshot and post it so I can check your temps and voltages...


DO NOT INCLUDE ANYTHING UNDER THE LINE THAT SAYS "DEBUG- PCI"

[NomDeKeyz]

Do you use wireless or a wired internet connection?

Yes, I use a wireless connection. If you look at the screen shot above again, you can see that I am using a D-link device.

Also on your dvd problem do you know what the make and model is on the drive is?

Not really. I am about to follow your directions to determine what I've got; I'll post that next.
It has this printed on its black plastic face-cover: Super Writemaster - lightScribe - SpeedPlus

Have you ever been able to write to a dvd disk with this drive?

No, nor with the drive I had in there before. (I got a new one last year -different model- hoping it would fix the issue.)

[NomDeKeyz]

Everest Report (computer name was edited):

--------[ EVEREST Home Edition © 2003-2005 Lavalys, Inc. ]------------------------------------------------------------

Version EVEREST v2.20.405
Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/
Report Type Quick Report
Computer V
Generator V
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)
Date 2011-07-13
Time 01:53


--------[ Summary ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 3
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name V
User Name V

Motherboard:
CPU Type AMD Athlon XP, 1833 MHz (11 x 167) 2500+
Motherboard Name Unknown
Motherboard Chipset VIA VT8377 Apollo KT600
System Memory 2048 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type AMI (11/06/04)

Display:
Video Adapter RADEON X1600 Series Secondary (512 MB)
Video Adapter RADEON X1600 Series (512 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI RV530 Pro
Monitor Samsung SyncMaster 730B (Analog) [17" LCD] (HVEY603143)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter Creative SB Live! Player 1024 Sound Card

Storage:
IDE Controller VIA Bus Master IDE Controller
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive Maxtor 6Y080L0 (80 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133)
Optical Drive HP CD-Writer+ 9100 (8x/4x/32x CD-RW)
Optical Drive TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S222L
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 76285 MB (26690 MB free)

Input:
Keyboard HID Keyboard Device
Mouse PS/2 Compatible Mouse

Network:
Network Adapter D-Link WDA-1320 Desktop Adapter (192.168.1.110)
Modem Generic 56K HCF Data Fax Modem

Peripherals:
Printer Brother MFC-9840CDW Printer
Printer Brother PC-FAX v.2
Printer PaperPort Image Printer
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB2 Controller VIA USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Device USB Composite Device
USB Device USB Human Interface Device
USB Device USB Human Interface Device
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Screenshot:

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[NomDeKeyz]

THANX!!! I have been wanting to know how to look up all that information; what a nifty tool you introduced me to! Schnazzztacular!

[rshaffer61]

OK I see 2 optical drives installed on your system

HP CD-Writer+ 9100... This is a cd writer only.

TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S222L... this would be your dvd writer.



IS this right you have two optical drives on your system?

[NomDeKeyz]

IS this right you have two optical drives on your system?

This is correct; I have two drives that write. One CD drive, and one DVD drive

[rshaffer61]

It would seem the write side of the laser is not working then. Are both optical drives seen in My Computer?
Both work fine except for the dvd writer will not write correct?
The cd writer works fine making cd's correct?
As for drivers there has been no need for them since XP basically. The OS contains the drivers for the drives now.


Windows XP

Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
In the navigation pane, locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
In the right pane, click UpperFilters.

Note You may also see an UpperFilters.bak registry entry. You do not have to remove that entry. Click UpperFilters only. If you do not see the UpperFilters registry entry, you still might have to remove the LowerFilters registry entry. To do this, go to step 7.
On the Edit menu, click Delete.
When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
In the right pane, click LowerFilters.

Note If you do not see the LowerFilters registry entry, unfortunately this content cannot help you any further. Go to the "Next Steps" section for information about how you can find more solutions or more help on the Microsoft Web site.
On the Edit menu, click Delete.
When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
Exit Registry Editor.
Restart the computer.

[NomDeKeyz]

It would seem the write side of the laser is not working then. Are both optical drives seen in My Computer?

Yes. (see screenshot below)

Both work fine except for the dvd writer will not write correct?

Yes.

The cd writer works fine making cd's correct?

Yes.

As for drivers there has been no need for them since XP basically. The OS contains the drivers for the drives now.

Good to know. ThanX!


What about drivers for the other things I have? Do I need to update drivers for anything else?
Nothing has really changed on my computer in the last year except I installed Sims3, teehee.
I was concerned that out of date drivers might be a security risk, but then I have read several
comments stating that sometimes updating drivers can produce unwanted/unexpected results...


I suspect that the issue with this DVD writer has something to do with how it was physically installed.
My housemate (who installed this) grumbled something about SATA. I don't really know what that means...
An X once grumbled about SATA on my computer a few years prior. I don't expect anything to fix it.
I will attempt to follow the above instruction, and will get back to you later. Thank You Muchly!!!

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Edited by NomDeKeyz, 13 July 2011 - 05:57 PM.

[rshaffer61]

Sata is the type of connection to the motherboard. It obviously is working because the drive is useable though not completely.
When ever I have seen a drive do as your drive is doing it in most cases is the writing side of the drive has failed. It still reads but won't write anything.
I suspect the drive was faulty from the beginning and depending on how long you have had it then it probably is out of warranty.

Drivers for other things unless you are having a issue there is no need to update unless there is something specific the driver will address.

[rshaffer61]

Are you still having problems with your issue?
It has been 18 days since your last response and I was wondering if the issue has been resolved?
If so can you explain how it was resolved so others may be able to fix it if they have the same issue.
If not please let us know and we can continue with helping you to resolve the issue.

[NomDeKeyz]

I am so sorry that I have not responded in sooooo long. You were so graciously prompt to me, and deserve the same in return. Sincere apologies. When last I was here, my housemate fell terribly ill. The chaos that is hospital and recovery time is finally abating and we are returning to semi-normal activity in our house again. This is no excuse, as it really wouldn't have taken me long to post a note, at the very least.

At this point it seems I am going to be getting a new computer altogether. I have had a good run with this current computer, tho I never did/could get the DVD writer to write (I could not make use of your last set of instructions; no visible upper-filters/lower-filters. We also tried installing 3 different drives, all had the same issue), lol. My HD is now insufficient for my needs. And something is definitely going (soon-to-burn-out?), as my computer is having increasing difficulty starting up (periodic freezing mid-startup).

I have been informed that upgrading/replacing things on my computer would be problematic due to the changes in available slot types; furthermore, the cost of starting from scratch may prove to be well worth it compared to any further attempts (and frustrations) at make-shifting my current computer. I have already found a home/use for my soon to be retired computer (internet access for house guests and friends-in-need, also possible temporary loans to computerless-friends on job-hunts, until it becomes truly unsalvageable).

Again, I apologize for my very delayed response. Thankyou for your tremendous patience, direction and tech-wisdom. ~Nom

Edited by NomDeKeyz, 27 October 2011 - 03:36 PM.