Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Laptop DVD/CD drive problem

by ChuckBa1es Jun 4, 2005 1:59AM PDT

This morning My Computer stopped showing the DVD/CD drive, only the HD is listed. I opened up Device Manager and the drive has a yellow hazard/exclamation point sign next to it. The properties menu gives this explanation:

''Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)

Click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter for this device.''

Troubleshooting told me to try uninstalling the drive then reinstalling, then to check for an update driver. I tried both, Windows could not find an updated driver for it. I believe its a Hitachi drive, it doesnt show in System Information and theres no writing from what I can see when I eject the tray.

Not sure where to go from here, any help would be great.

Discussion is locked

7 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
try...
by server Jun 4, 2005 2:05AM PDT

right click on the DVDdrive in device manager
and select REMOVE.

Reboot, and let windows re-detect new hardware.
when it asks for driver location, point to
system32\drivers (or equivalent) and see what
happens.

barring actual hardware failure, its most likely
a rogue driver that got displaced or corrupted.

- Collapse -
didnt work
by ChuckBa1es Jun 4, 2005 2:55AM PDT

I tried that, Windows didnt ask for a place to find the drivers and when I checked the Device Manager they were back with the exclamation points again, still not working.

- Collapse -
Test...
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jun 4, 2005 3:46AM PDT

Test that drive by attempting to boot from it.

If it fails ot boot, see if the device shows in your BIOS and try (power off of course) removing the CD/DVD drive and putting it back in to see if a cable connection failed.

Bob

- Collapse -
look for the clues...
by server Jun 4, 2005 5:10AM PDT

The fact that device manager asigns an
'exclamation' to the DVD drive tells me
that it is being detected but may have
a problem with conflicting drivers and
99% of the time it is the drivers!

IF the drive fails to boot from dos as bob
mentioned, then you may have a bad drive.

In your bios you can remap the boot sequence
to start boot from CD/DVD drive. This is a
sure way to know if the drive is broken.

If you have a dual boot system, then try booting
into another OS and test the drive there.

Or, if you have GHOST or DRIVE IMAGE you can use
a utility to test the drive in DOS. The app
must see the drive in order to work properly.


Also, when you open and close the drive door
do you hear anything? usually the laser pickup
will re-align momentarily and makes a small noise.

- Collapse -
The usual CODE 39 fix.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jun 4, 2005 5:29AM PDT
- Collapse -
whew
by ChuckBa1es Jun 4, 2005 5:49AM PDT

Followed the regedit fixes, rebooted, everything seems to be back to normal, thanks a bunch guys

now i just gotta find my wireless network driver which seems to have gone missing....

- Collapse -
Just FYI.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jun 4, 2005 5:55AM PDT

Sorry I didn't note this solutione the first time. I missed the code 39 information the first time I read your post. For me it helps if the Forum Note information is in the post and then put error messages in bold or quotes so they differ from your words.

Glad you nailed the problem.

Bob

Back to Laptops forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info