where do sys.files go

[neveryona]

I have recently been having problems with my cd-rom, as in it doesn't work at all, door won't open...nothing. I discovered though, that the last time I ran scandisk, it had found lost chains, I saved those files and they saved them as dir0001 whatever in the root directory of C:, on further examination of those files, I discovered that two of them were .sys files for either the cd-rom, or the communications port. Now, first do I assume that those files are actually for the com port, as when I tried to find new hardware, the only thing that came up was com port? Now, where would I put these files. Do I just put them in system and rename them? And is this why my cd-rom is not responding?

[tjaymadison]

Lost chains "recovered" by ScanDisk are not reliable, especially non-text files. They are the best attempt at what was there, but most likely they still contain a byte or two from where the cross-linking occurred in the first place. You can't rely on these files, and I know of no way to determine either their original names or directory locations.

As for your CD-ROM drive, did it ever work right? If it's a new problem that cropped up, check the power and data cables to be sure they are tight. If the tray still won't open, try a different power lead. If that's no help, it sounds like the problem is mechanical. If it's out of warranty, it will be less expensive to replace than repair.

[tk421]

right. There are apparently two problems here: hardware and software. If the door's not opening, then that has nothing to do with your drivers or sys files.

tk

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[neveryona]

so what do you suggest? Just scrap the cd-rom, or should i take it out of the computer and see if something is stuck in there or what. I will say one word...kids!

[Randy_tx]

It depends on your budget.....you could spend $100 worth of time trying to figure out how to get it working again or spend $60 and replace it with a faster,newer and warrantied unit. Mechanical problems that I cant fix in about 20 min are reason enough for me to find a trash can.

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I'm putting a new Fat32 partition in my Head Drive...hope it speeds me up.......

[neveryona]

I will take your advice to heart and spend no more time than 20 minutes on the darn thing, just to make sure some kid hasn't stuffed a pokemon card in it or soemthing. It just seems wierd that all these things are happening at the same time, and I had absolutely no problems with the cd-rom before it stooped working. Argghhhh! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/mad.gif

[mjc]

Well, you can take the cover off the drive, that means taking it out of the computer, if after you take the cover off there is a Pokemon card or something in it then all should be well, if not you've already got step 1 for replacing it done...

That's how many hardware failures happen, all of a sudden - everything is working fine then nothing. Not everything has a way of monitoring itself for failures (hard drives and motherboards being notable exceptions) so usually you'll get no warning; it just won't work. This is especially true if you've had recent thunderstorms and then your computer isn't working right. Even a minor power surge can cause problems, especially if the piece of hardware in question was borderline to begin with.

Any mechanical system needs some form of regular maintenance; cleaning and checking connections...... also paying attention to how the device behaves when it is working properly can help diagnose upcoming problems. Things to pay attention to are noise levels, access patterns and times, amount of time used... if anything changes then it is time to check it out and see if something in the configuration has changed or if there could be a mechanical cause (dirt or something else)

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

468th Rule of Aquistion: Debugging of software is foolish, there is much profit in updates and upgrades.

[steveo]

if available you could swap out your cdrom and try it in another pc. If it's not a device problem then the cdrom should work fine. To further it, borrow a cdrom and try it on your pc to see if your getting the same failures. This may seem unrealistic but it does narrow things down and only takes a moment to swap devices in and out. If your running your cdrom as a master you might condsider the ide controller driver went wonky or the controller itself is failing. Check the device manager for more info. Hitting the windows/pause-break keys will bring up the window you need. While in device manager check the dma setting for the cdrom, I leave mine unclicked (clicking the dma box causes problems). Could be a power issue as well, try another power plug if available. Your last resort would be replacing the device.

good luck

[rmac]

reinstall windows without formatting that will restablish the inf file then you can see if the CD works

[Paleo Pete]

No, don't reinstall Windows. That is a last resort only.

Boot into Safe Mode, open Control Panel, System icon, Device Manager and remove all CD ROM drives listed, reboot and let windows reinstall it. After you check to be sure nothing is inside the drive, like a Pokemon card...If it still won't work, chances are it's gone bye bye.

If the COM ports are working right, no reason for alarm, if you start having mouse or modem troubles you can do the same as above, remove them in Safe Mode and reinstall. If the mouse is PS/2 it won't use COM1, so the COM port for the modem will be your only concern.

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