hi, hope u can help me
i dont know much about pcs so please keep it simple if you can

i have a time pc fitted with a samsung 308b cdrw combo
it was working ok but then decided it didnt like reading data disks - pre recoreded ones ( re written disks ok )
it reads audio disks fine but when you insert a data disk it dosnt recognise that a disk is in the d drive and tells you to put a disk in
i cant remember which section it was under but i found a device not ready message - the device manager tells me the cdrw is functioning correctly and ive re installed the drivers - although the initial message told me the unit didnt require drivers to be installed -

i am now very confused.....
i dont know if it plays dvds as i dont have any to test with ...

Hello daddyblade102815@aol.com,

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif Forums!

Did you remove the drivers in SafeMode? If not I would direct you to go there and remove. You didn't mention which Operating System you are using? If Win9x or Me the protocol is usually begin tapping F8 on bootup and that will take you into SAFEMODE. It appears you know how to get into DEVICE MANAGER. Once there highlight all instances of the CDRW and REMOVE. Reboot and let Windows locate and reinstall the drivers.

As you mentioned...usually these are generic drivers that Windows can provide.

As far as the data disk reading...I seem to remember a problem with some reading the data...you might need to download a "reader" patch to enable you to do so. Hang on there are those onboard who can direct you or let you whether there will be a perpetual problem! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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May all your dealings in life be win/win!


Whyzman
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Reserved for Punishing Humor...A Pessimist's blood is always B-negative!

[This message has been edited by Whyzman (edited 06-01-2002).]

hi whyzman, thanks for your reply

I did as you suggested and removed all cdrw from safe device manager
I noticed that in safe mode 2 cdrw disks were listed cdrw/dvd sm-308b & 304 - 304 dosnt appear in normal device manager.
since removal in safe mode it no longer appears in safe device manager ?

I also noticed that 3 disk drives appear in safe mode generic ide disk type 47 - (c) generic ide disk type 80 (d) and nec floppy disk (a )

type 80 does not appear in normal mode device manager - is this correct.

I didnt remove the type 80 disk type - should I ???

as you may have guessed - it didnt work - still the same

I have tested all rewritten disks (cd-r) & they all load ok - whether audio or data, but no pre recored disks load - even system & driver cd -supplied with pc message says load cd into d drive & retry.

does a cdrw read differently off a pre recorded & burnt cd ???
what is a reader patch ????

any further help gratefully recieved - daddyblade.102815.

hi whyzman,

forgot to say o/s is me

WinMe....OK!

In SafeMode you see things not evident in your "normal" Windows DEVICE MANAGER. Appears you had a "Ghost Device" and probably drivers. This often serves to confuse the system. If you did not, I would also remove the other device and reboot. There's a possiblity that "Ghost Drivers" might exist for that device also.

The other devices you mentioned with the floppy...remove all of them also and reboot letting windows do the "clean" reinstall of drivers.

We just had a recent discussion regarding your very question...I'll have to see if I can find the link.

Ah, HERE (http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/Forum11/HTML/000952.html) it is!

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May all your dealings in life be win/win!


Whyzman
----------------------
Reserved for Punishing Humor...A Pessimist's blood is always B-negative!


[This message has been edited by Whyzman (edited 06-02-2002).]

hi whyzman, thanks for your last reply.

i did what you suggested and removed the ghost drivers and reebooted,
once this was done the cdrw drive would read all my pre recoreded cds ( eg games cds ) i couldnt get a cd to load with scanner installation info and then i shut the system down.
the next day my wife started the pc & tried to load a game cd and it wouldnt work - ive gone back into safe mode and the ghost drives no longer appear.
i read the link u supplied but, unless ive missunderstood applies to new instillation of cdrws - mine has been fitted when i bought the pc and was working correctly.
the section on checking ide drives in device manager - i have no conflicts shown but, i dont have a specific ide drive with samsung 308b as in the example ......

any more ideas..........

If it was working beforehand without a hitch...have you installed/removed any software recentely, or hardware?

When you press Ctrl+Alt+Delete...what shows up in the TASK MENU? And, would you write those down for us?

------------------
May all your dealings in life be win/win!


Whyzman
----------------------
Reserved for Punishing Humor...A Pessimist's blood is always B-negative!

hi whyzman, thanks for your last reply

it was working correctly 8 or 9 months ago and ive installed loads of stuff since then - the fault was intermittant but seems to have got worse - if anything my wife suspects it has started since we installed quicktime, but im not convinced.....

presing control, alt, delete brings up.

Explorer
Mouse32a
Realplay
Directcd
WKcalrem
Rundll
Systray
Pctvoice
Navapw32
E_sicn03
Nsched32
Aoltray

Since your last message ive hired a dvd and it loads and runs ok - seems a bit stilted, not fluid on movement though.

thanks for your help...any more ideas ????????

Your Sweetie may be on to something! Seems we've had this discussion someplace before regarding QuickTime.

You might want to have a look HERE (http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm) for some comments and advice on what's running in your TASK.

There are some folks here familiar with the idiosyncrasies of QuickTime...I will defer to them for advice. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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May all your dealings in life be win/win!


Whyzman
----------------------
Reserved for Punishing Humor...A Pessimist's blood is always B-negative!

hi whyzman, thanks for your last reply.

i read the task list you supplied and removed Directcd from the program add/delete.
all the others seamed ok - Mouse32a, Pctvoice & Aoltray were not listed.

i installed quicktime 6 from the internet to see if it would make any difference - it didnt.

ive downloaded the latest drivers from samsung uks web page - no difference.
ive emailed samsung uks technical dept for any info - no reply yet...

i dont understand why it all worked when i deleted the ghost drivers in safe mode - then stopped working again .. does this point to anything?????

did you get a chance to speak to the people u mentioned about quicktime -
( THIS IS PROBABLY ME BEING DUMB ) but would quicktime stop the drive recognising a disk was in the drive -

what is the difference between a cdrw and a pre recored cd ???
are they read off different bits of the drive or is there different software used to read them ????

hi whyzman, sorry to bother u again...

i went into safe mode to see if any ghost drives had appeared and found that in my computor/open there was no listing for D: - it appears in the normal mode - is this right.

when i downloaded the new drivers they went into a compressed file on my desktop - ive extracted them but cant get the driver wizzard to use them - it keeps going back to the old drivers - do i have to do anything else to get the wizzard to recognise them .

thanks for your continued hepl....

In reading your recent response regarding the things in the TASK menu...I "jumped the gun" by not providing you with some information regarding where the programs that run in the TASK are found.

Easiest route is to START>RUN>type in msconfig>OK...

On the General Tab put the bullet into Selective Startup and then click on the STARTUP tab. It is here you will find the programs which load into TASK and it is also here that you "disable" them. Disabling them in the TASK is not the same as removing a program through the ADD/REMOVE...you still have access to most of these through the START>PROGRAMS etc.

The only ones that you would best leave alone:

Scan Registry
PC Health
System Tray
Load Power Profile (both)
StateMgr

Then, check with "Answers that Work" for the balance of the programs.

I need to run for a bit...I'll post back with what to do to enable you to load the new drivers.

HERE'S (http://www.jv16.org/) a great Registry Cleaning program. It searches for Registry Entries that are either no longer used or are dead ends. TOOLS>REGISTRY CLEANUP>AUTOMATIC REGISTRY CLEANUP




------------------
May all your dealings in life be win/win!


Whyzman
----------------------
Reserved for Punishing Humor...A Pessimist's blood is always B-negative!

[This message has been edited by Whyzman (edited 06-04-2002).]