CD drive not detected in Windows XP

[TheDukeofNothing]

I am running XP Pro. on a Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop. I started having some problems with Zone Alarm Security Suite so I tried to remove it from the computer. That resulted in some corrupt registry keys. I didn't have a suitable restore point so I decided to do a repair installation. All went well until I tried to install SP 3. For some reason the CD drive was now undetected by Windows Explorer. I checked he BIOS and sure enough the drive is shown there. I booted with the original XP CD in the drive and everything went normally. When I rebooted to the hard drive the CD drive (d went undetected all over again. It is not shown in Explorer, Disk Management or Device Manager. I went into the registry and deleted the High and Low filter strings from the appropriate Key and that had no effect.

I feel completely sure that I have a software problem, probably in the registry, but I don't know where to look. If anyone has a suggestion other than a reinstall of the OS I would love to hear it.

 

[linney]

See if you can isolate the problem via the MsConfig tool. As you are doing a repair install it is likely that some corruption is being carried over from the original install. You could fix that by saving all your valuable data and performing a clean install.

310353 - How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310353&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

316434 - HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316434&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

310560 - How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310560

 

[BadBigBen]

uninstall the driver for the CD ROM, first, then uninstall the driver for the IDE controller, then delete the Upper and Lower filters, then REBOOT...

if that does not help, then remove the CD ROM, place it onto another IDE port, or rejumper from Master to Slave or vice versa, and reboot...

Windows saves information on drives by name and location on the IDE BUS, so moving it to another location might do the trick...

Ben
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