I have a laptop with Win95. Recently I installed Win98 and since then, I have had problems accessing the content of CD's in drive D. Usually the following message appears:

D:/ Not accessible - peripheral is not ready

It sometimes work when I boot up and I left a disk in my drive. I can then access the content of the disk. But as soon as it stops reading info it doesn't want to restart and gives me the "drive D: not accessible" message.

Hard to say, but it sounds to me like a driver issue, or perhaps the CD-ROM is conflicting with something. Windows can be screwy in how it handles hardware.
I would start by checking in the Device Manager. Is the CD there? Any yellow "!" icons? Check the settings for it and make sure they are correct.
How old is the laptop? Any laptop built since late 98 should handle Win98 OK, but at the time I bought mine (just as Win98 was being released) there were some models that didn't like it much.

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Charles M. Kozierok ( ixlubb@PCGuide.com )
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...

I agree with ixl. Check in Device Manager for yellow splats, and reinstall the drivers. Get new drivers at WinDrivers (http://www.windrivers.com) or WinFiles (http://www.winfiles.com). I think drivers are the most likely bet.

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If you had everything...Where would you put it?

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

Originally posted by Paleo Pete:
I agree with ixl. Check in Device Manager for yellow splats, and reinstall the drivers. Get new drivers at WinDrivers (http://www.windrivers.com) or WinFiles (http://www.winfiles.com). I think drivers are the most likely bet.


The CD is listed in device manager and shows no conflicts or yellow "!". the driver is an old one from '97 (torisan model U112) and the portable is a Digital 1997. There is no other newer driver for this CD-Rom. Do i have to uninstall 98? i would be in trouble since i didn't do a backup for 95!

There is no other newer driver for this CD-Rom. Do i have to uninstall 98? i would be in trouble since i didn't do a backup for 95!

Never heard of anyone having to uninstall Win98 over a CD-ROM, so I don't think so. Drivers aren't generally installed for CD-ROMs, but their controllers. What is your other hardware, esp your IDE controllers? Maybe they need new drivers?


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Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

Didn't think of this the first time, although it might not make a difference in this case...
Did you format and do a clean install of win98 or install it over win95?

Also, this might be related to a dirty drive hub inside the CD ROM drive, especially with an older one. I've seen it happen more than once. Cost me a new drive too. I cleaned it a year later after I found out about this, and it's still working perfect on my neice's machine.
Open the drive, and clean the round rubber drive hubs that spin the disk with rubbing alcohol and Q-tips. Be very careful not to touch the laser lens. It's a small round glass lens that looks a bit like a bead. The drive will have one hub on top and one on bottom, that compress together and spin the disk. If they get dirty, the drive won't spin, and therefore can't read. Let it sit and dry for a couple of hours if you let any alcohol drip into the innards of the drive. With the cover on...
If you're not comfortable going into the drive, take it to a shop, where they'll try to sell you a new drive...lol Then they'll charge you enough to buy a new one if you talk them into cleaning it...If you have a friend who's good with hardware, that might be an option.

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If you had everything...Where would you put it?

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

This is a Digital VP575 portable so the other hardware i am aware of is :
166MHz Intel Pentium MMX processor
48Mb of Ram and 256Kb of level two cache.
A 2.1Gb IDE hard drive
12-speed CD-Rom drive and a floppy drive built in
12.1in active-matrix SVGA screen

yesterday i tried had it going when i started my computer but it died after it stopped reading in between installations. i waited a while and got ot going again and it just died a little while later! i really don't get thhis off-on thing!




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