Need Help: No CD/DVD drive accessible

Wozz wrote on 2/4/2006, 9:42 AM
Dear List,

I have been using Movie Studio6 and DVD architect 'heavily' - without major problems - I can still edit and burn videos, but all CD and DVD drives (IDE or USB2) have disappeared from windows explorer! Even within MovieStudio the drive letter is a funny character, but burning works.

Device manager puts a yellow mark next to each drive with the following message:
"Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware but cannot find the hardware device. (Code 41)"
They also do not show up in the ComputerManagement/DiskManagement window

I did not notice this until after a longer break. It is hard for me to say what might have happened before they disappeared. I know I had tried a demo version of MAGIX which crashed the PC...

I am not too familiar with XP - is there any setting (service) which might be wrong or changed ?


Any help highly appreciated -
Wolfgang

Comments

rustier wrote on 2/4/2006, 2:09 PM
I am guessing you have some corrupt files wozz, the quick and easy solution for me in the past has been to use the device manager, uninstall the device with the yellow question mark, restart the computer and let it do its thing. You may want to do a good spyware scan, and then system maintenance (scandisk, defrag) as well.

For your reference here is Microsoft's help file on this error:

Code 41
Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware but cannot find the hardware device. (Code 41)

Recommended resolution

A driver was loaded but Windows cannot find the device. This error occurs when Windows does not detect a non-Plug and Play device.

If the device was removed, uninstall the driver, install the device, and then click Scan for hardware changes to reinstall the driver. If the hardware was not removed, obtain a new or updated driver for the device.

If the device is a non-Plug and Play device, a newer version of the driver might be needed. To install non-Plug and Play devices, use the Add Hardware wizard. Click Performance and Maintenance on Control Panel, click System, and on the Hardware tab, click Add Hardware Wizard.

On the General Properties tab of the device, click Troubleshoot to start the Troubleshooting Wizard
ericlast wrote on 2/4/2006, 7:16 PM
If you haven't tried it yet, XP has a great feature called System Restore.

You can access it from Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore.

This will restore your computer to a working state it existed in prior to your problem. You simply open System Restore, choose "Restore My Computer To An Earlier Time," select a time point prior to your "disaster", and restore the computer to the status that existed at that point. That may well solve your problem.

I've gotten into the habit of trying to always set a new restore point prior to installing any new software or messing around with any important settings. That way, if I muck things up, I can "turn back the clock" to when things were just fine.

Hope this helps.

Eric