Where'd my D drive go? BIOS can see it, but ... 1

[Mickerry]

My D drive disappeared last night. It doesn't show up on My Computer now. On Device Manager, it shows up with a yellow exclamation - it's not found, though the drivers are still there. It says, can't locate device. Another place says, Logical Drive not found.

But the BIOS can see it and reads it as one of the boot-up devices!

I'm running XP Pro, all updated. I built this computer just over a year ago. The DVD drive is a Plextor 716-A. The cables are all connected and tight. There's been no hint of trouble before this untimely diappearance.

Could it have just died overnight? Or, what am i missing? (I mean, besides the freeking drive ! <LOL>)

THx
Mikl

 

[vacunita]

If you Right click on My Computer, Select Manage, then go down to Disk Management, does it show there?




----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[wahnula]

Could it have just died overnight?

Yes. These things happen.....but I wouldn't give up just yet. In Device Manager, right-click the ? and uninstall the device. Reboot. Yellow ??? still there? Try Update Driver, let Windows try through Windows Update. Other thoughts:

I assume this D: drive is a DVD drive? Try a known working one if on hand.

Try System Restore to a time when it worked.

Try another PSU lead, try another cable. Make sure master/slave jumper has not fallen out.

Time was, optical drives lasted for years. I've gone through several new Sony & Plextor drives while my old 1998 eMachines Samsung drive still works great. Had a Sony go out in a few months, yet I have machines in the office 10 years old with the original optical drive.

Newer drives just aren't made as well. Best of luck.

Tony

 

[Mickerry]

i attempted system Restore several times, without success ... i seem to get that a lot (more often than not) when i attempt restore. (Is that common?)

but after about 15 re-starts XP magically recognized the D drive again !!! (yes, it's my CD/DVD). God knows why - it was nothing i did. I wouldn't have wanted to try Uninstall because without the drive there would be no way to re-install the drivers.

thx lots for your help, folks. i love how people give their time and expertise on this site.

Mikl

 

[Mickerry]

oh - obviously i still don't know what happened, why the OS wouldn't find the DVD drive ... any guesses would interest me ... (since the cause is unknown, it could happen again)

 

[wolluf]

there's a known (as in if you Google for solution for a bit, you'll find one) issue with XP 'losing' optical drive letters. Glad yours came back - and I can't remember where I found the cure (bacause I'm not properly organised!) - but I've definitely found it 2 or 3 times over the last couple of years - so if anyone else has this issue, try googling.

 

[Freestone]

wolluf - Was it perhaps the UpperFilters and LowerFilters registry entries you were thinking about?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060

 

[Mickerry]

i will try googling it and see what i can find, and i think i'll try freestone's fix as well because i don't trust that the problem won't come back. I do run Easy CD Creator, as the KB article cites (although it cites problems after uninstall).
Thx for the help.

Mikl

 

[wolluf]

freestone - no it wasn't - though I have come across them as well. This was a little app that reset some system settings - I really must start filing stuff!

 

[Freestone]

wolluf - be sure to check with linney for tips about filing stuff otherwise you may end up like me, forgetting where I filed the stuff ;-)

 

[techguy2000]

Try this registry patch it worked for me.

http://aumha.org/downloads/cdgone.zip

 

[Mickerry]

thx, techguy2000, i will look into it to see what it changes in the reg ... it might be just the ticket.

 

[clapper62]

Mickerry,
Just a possibilty did you recently uninstall any Roxio apps? I vaguely remember a registry setting on a certain computer that had to be changed when the user did this because he uninstalled Roxio drag to disc or something like that.

"There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it.
." - Andrew Jackson

 

[Mickerry]

no uninstalls - i am in fact still running drag-to-disk

Mikl

A bird in the hand makes typing difficult.