OS: Windows XP Pro w/ SP2

A friend gave me a BUSlink (http://www.buslink.com/B1/) external DVD ROM/burner that connects to the USB port. According to the owner's manual it's plug-and-play and Windows XP already has drivers so it should immediately recognize it. It doesn't. There is power because the power light comes on. I've tried two different USB cables, so I don't think that's a problem. When I run the new hardware wizard it doesn't find it and at the end I'm prompted to insert a CD with drivers which I don't have.

I searched the BUSlink website for drivers for this model (DVRW412RD) but there are none. Again, I'm not supposed to need a company-provided driver according to the owner's manual. I've disconnected, reconnected, rebooted, etc., etc., etc. with no luck. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Relztrah

Have you tried it on a different machine?

1. Perhaps the USB circuitry for the external drive [hardware] is faulty.
Any idea where the USB circuitry is located?

2. Example
I bought an external USB HDD enclosure complete with "Smart Cable".
The USB circuitry [faulty] was built into the plug on the cable.
When I replaced the cable all was well once more.

3. Try this:
a. Go to "Device Manager" and view devices "By Connection", and expand all of the tree [do that by highlighting the top device, then hit Numlock * then Numlock again].

b. Now either connect the external USB drive, or else...
If it has its own power supply and power switch and is already connected but powered off...
Switch on the power-up the drive.

c. As Windows detects the presence of this new device you should see the device tree collapse [indicates presence detected] then after a short pause be rebuilt.
The USB drive aught to be shown in its place, but will it?
At least you will see whether Windows is detecting its presence.

4. Is the drive USB 2.0 capable, and is the PC also USB 2.0 capable?

MJC - I have plugged the device into three different computers all with the same results.

Sylvander - I see no change in the Device Manager when I plug the device in. No collapse and rebuilding of the tree. I supposed my USBs are the old variety (1.1?) because I always get the, "This device can perform faster" message when I plug in a flash drive. But that shouldn't prevent the DVD/burner from working, right? That would only cause it to run slower.

Any other ideas?

"I see no change in the Device Manager when I plug the device in. No collapse and rebuilding of the tree"
Ouch, and this was with the tree expanded?
If so, it means that the presence/connection of this USB device [in that socket] isn't being detected by windows. :(
Are any other USB devices being detected when connected to this or any other USB sockets?
I deduce so since you say that Windows reports your other devices as being better than the existing Hardware/software combination on the PC.
I was getting that warning on an XP system that had USB 2.0 hardware fitted.
That was because XP needed the latest Service Packs installed.
I used Autopatcher to do that rather than going online with that PC.

I wonder whether your USB/drive would work within the OS environment provided by a distro of Linux loaded off a live optical disk?
If it it worked ok there, that would tell you it's the software that's the problem, but it looks to me like it's the hardware.

How can I determine if my USB ports are 1.1 or 2.0? I don't see any indication in the Device Mgr. I am going to test the theory that my problem here is the USB port speed, and if that doesn't resolve it, I'm not going to pursue it any further.

A friend has asked me to retieve all data from his computer that crashed and if it boots up, I would really like to use this external DVD burner since his machine doesn't have a CD or DVD burner installed. I can probably fit all his files on a flash drive or just install a standard CD burner, but I'll use this opportunity to experiment with the BUSlink external DVD burner.

I have a VIA 5-port 2.0 USB card that I can stick in his machine (a Gateway 450 which probably has Win98SE) and assuming the machine boots up and assuming the drivers I found work for the card and Windows recognizes the card, how do I know if those USB ports are indeed running at the 2.0 speed?

"How can I determine if my USB ports are 1.1 or 2.0?"
Run Device Manager, view devices "By Connection", highlight the top device [the PC] and hit Numlock * and Numlock again to expand all of the device tree and reset Numlock back to on.
You should then see all your USB devices beneath a PCI branch.
One of those should be some make of "USB Enhanced Host Controller" [that's USB 2.0].

e.g See mine shown in the screenshot below.
I have both USB 1.1 and 2.0.
Notice the "Enhanced Host Controller" and the "USB 2.0 Root Hub" beneath it.
.

It appears to be there's one PC that has only usb1.1 but the otherpc's involved may or may not.

External devices don't usually 'play well' with early USB ports so your problem can be that or, you can try the device removed from the caddy and installed onto a spare ide channel ie slave drive on primary or secondary ide cable.

This at least can verify if the drive is ok and it is a caddy and/or USB problem.