Desktop Computer Packages

CD Drive Not being Recognized by Computer?

Hi, I just bought a second hand computer for my son. It is a DELL Optiplex GX150 1.0 GHz and runs well. The CD drive, however, is not recognized. It does not light up, open and is not listed in the hardware. I know it worked recently because the person who sold it to me gave me the discs with Windows Xp, which he had just installed. Normally I will go to the forums but since this is an older, workhorse computer, the forums are zillions of posts long. I gave up after about 20 pages. It has a floppy drive which works well and I have some old Iomega drives kicking about somewhere, but I would like to know if there is anything I can do before shelling out any more money.

Public Comments

1. this sounds like the old bug. give me a few minutes to find where you can fix it. ok I found what I needed go here... support.microsoft.com/kb/314060 try method 2
2. Not lighting up means it is not receiving power. Check the power cables on the CD-ROM drive, and then see if it will work. Possibly try another power cord, usually power supplies have more than 1 4-pin connector.
3. Check the power to it.
4. Gave you the DISKS he just installed Windows XP? There is only one disk for a WinXP full installation. Maybe the disks he gave you are System Restore disks. Sounds like the drivers for the cd-rom drive are not installed, or may be corrupted. No matter! Do this: With the computer on, and WinXP fully loaded, click on Start, then right-click on My Computer. Click on Properties, then when this window comes up, click on the Hardware tab, then Device Manager. You'll see a 'tree' in Device Manager. Click on the + sign next to IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers. Then go down to Secondary IDE Channel, and right-click on it. Then left-click on Uninstall. It will come up with a warning sign saying you are about to uninstall this device. Don't fret, it's okay! Now, close all windows, and shut down Windows properly. All the way off. Wait about 30 seconds to a minute, then start your computer back up. When Windows fully loads up, in a few seconds in the taskbar you'll see, " IDE Controller Found." WindowsXP has reloaded your secondary IDE controller, and will now 'see' your cd-rom drive.
5. I just had the same problem. If new cd/dvd burning software was installed (usually anything by Roxio (Sonic, etc.) has this problem because for whatever reason it locks up the cd/dvd drive. Uninstall the burning software, then restart your computer. BEFORE the computer gets to the windows loading screen, open the drive. Usually this will work, but I had to delete "Upper Filters" and "Lower Filters" in the registry for my situation. I would recommend doing that as well.