[acad1228]

I just wanted to ping all of you to this to see if anyone has a solution short of buying another CD-ROM. I'd appreciate any help.

Thanks,

acad

[backhoe]

Could you borrow an old ( but known to be good ) CD or DVD drive, and temporarily connect it? That will tell you if the existing drive has gone bad. I'm not familiar with how old that model PC is- you may have to enter the BIOS setup on boot, and be certain it recognizes the temp drive at hardware level.

[LegendHasIt]

It has been several years since I have encountered such a problem, but it used to happen to me often....

I never did figure out the exact nature of the failure, but for data your drive is probably not going to work again.....

Try swapping your data cable.... if you are lucky you just have a broken conductor....

But more than likely a bad component ... just get a new drive if swapping cables doesn't work. A new drive is cheap enough to make messing with it any further a waste of time and energy.

[beachn4fun]

Morning, acad. I'm not sure if I can help you. I have a Dell Dimension 4400 and have had problems with the CD drive. Mostly, it just stopped working.

I hope you still have a warranty on it. Dell tech support is usually very good. They've sent out a tech to replace the CD drive before. No cost. I've had them walk me through a CD drive problem where I had to disconnect some components inside the CPU to refresh/reset? the memory, which got it working again.

I haven't had problems with it since then.

If you don't find your answer here, be sure to call the Dell tech help number.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

a solution short of buying another CD-ROM

But new ones are so cheap now. You can pick up a new Sony for 15 bucks. And there are drivers galore for Sony units.

[Old Sarge]

ACAD!

I am currently using a Dell Inspiron 1150, customized by Brother Wakeup, here.

I have been pleased with all aspects of the Inspiron. Rightonline's suggestion of a memory boost has worked for me in the past. In this case, though, a memory boost will soothe the symptom, not cure the illness.

Sounds like we have a compatability issue between your drive and W2K. An XP upgrade might help.

In bygone days, I wouldn't say this, but with hardware prices as cheap as they are, replacing the drive is a viable option. Just a few thoughts.