Compaq Presarion CD-ROM won't read !!!

[pctechnician]

I have a Presario CD-ROM drive and was working a few weeks ago. recently i installed new RAM (128MB) and installed Win98. Now the CD-ROM won't read. It wont show up in my computer, and when i use a Win98 startup disk w/ CD-ROM support, I put a CD-ROM in and it says abort,retry,fail and the CD door pops out. The only time i can get the CD door to open is when i first boot the computer. checked the post and it is showing up.

Don't want to spend $$$ for a replacement. What could it be? check compaq, there are no supported drivers for the model of compaq i have (Compaq Presario 1200 XL)

A+,Network+,MCP

 

[dgzylstra]

How old is this Presario CD-ROM?

 

[pctechnician]

Don't really know, it is a project i'm working on for someone.

The thing is the damn thing was working a week ago. thats how i installed win98 the first time. used a win98 startup disk

i get the following message:

CDR101: Not ready reading drive E:
abort? Retry? Fail?

I have a great suspicion that the drivers are not right on that startup disk, but they worked before so i dont get it.

Any Suggestions?

A+,Network+,MCP

 

[franklin97355]

Make sure you didn't knock any cables loose while you were inside the computer.

 

[pctechnician]

cables are fine

A+,Network+,MCP

 

[TekTippy4U]

This may sound silly but is it supposed to be E:\, not D:\....
On another note;
Read this as far as loading DOS drivers, for now....

http://www.bootdisk.com/readme.htm#cdromdos

HOW TO MAKE A BOOTDISK FOR YOUR PC
....then thumb down to this on the same page..
I WANT MY CDROM TO WORK IN DOS


TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions....I try very hard to impart correct info at all times.

 

[ceh4702]

The CDROM may have a black Eye! The laser eye can get dirty. Sometimes the CDROM can be opened up and the Eye cleaned, they also make disks to try to clean it. YOu can order a new one for like $20.00 at

http://www.newegg.com.

I would check the device manager for information that might help. CDRW drives sometimes cause trouble in the windows registry look for error codes and look up on the windows knowledge base.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[TekTippy4U]

You say you installed new RAM and Win98....Did you Fdisk first and then Format..?...did you install win98 "on top of"...what OS was there???

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions....I try very hard to impart correct info at all times.

 

[JeffeVerde]

The 1200-xl's a laptop, right? I've also got a couple older Presario notebooks, and I've found that when Compaq says the drivers only work with a specific OS, there's no way around it -- you're really stuck with that OS.

If it's not an issue to wipe the hard drive, I'd use the Compaq setup CD, and reimage the system to it's original config - which will tell you whether it's a hardware or driver issue. (if you don't have you'rs, and don't know anyone you can borrow from, you can often find them on eBay for $5-$10).