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#1
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Drive Not Accessible
Suddenly I cannot use my CDRom. All I get is a message
saying "J:\is not accessible. The device is not ready". Device Manager says it is working properly but it isn't? I cannot load any new software now so I am really stuck. Anyone got any suggestions please? |
#2
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Drive Not Accessible
It is not unknown for a CD-ROM drive to simply fail. Check that the drive
cables are properly connected. Boot to safe mode and remove all CD-ROM drive devices that you find. Re-boot to safe mode and see if Windows installs replacement drivers. Get a startup disk at www.bootdisk.com and boot with it - is the CD-ROM drive detected and useable? Install the drive in another machine and confirm that it works OK there, and install a known-good drive in this machine and ensure that it works OK. -- Jeff Richards MS MVP (DTS) "George" wrote in message ... Suddenly I cannot use my CDRom. All I get is a message saying "J:\is not accessible. The device is not ready". Device Manager says it is working properly but it isn't? I cannot load any new software now so I am really stuck. Anyone got any suggestions please? |
#3
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Drive Not Accessible
Jeff
Thank you for your suggestions which have given the following (mixed) results. Cables ok. Removed CD Rom devices in safe mode and re- booted in safe mode but Windows did not recognise the device. Tried booting with a startup disk from bootdisk.com. At start-up it found the drive and re-assigned another drive letter to it. However, the although the screen said Windows 98 was starting, the process stopped at the A:\ prompt. The good news is that by changing to the newly assigned drive letter I could get DIR to read the CD in the drive and hoped that meant the device was OK? I tried repeating the process a few times. Mostly, but not always, I could read the CD - but sometimes the system would hang for a few seconds then I would get "not ready - abort, retry or fail". Perhaps an transient mechanical failure? The bad news is that I could not get windows to start at all to test it properly. When I changed to the C:\ drive and the windows directory all I got was a message "A device or resource required by VFAT is not present or is unavailable. VFAT cannot continue loading. System halted". [Incidentally, my normal "start-up disk" which I have never tried before now gives the same result]. Is this a related problem or one for another newsgroup? I do not have easy access to another PC or drive so I may not be able to pursue your final suggestion for some time. Meantime, is there anything you wish to add? Thanks. -----Original Message----- It is not unknown for a CD-ROM drive to simply fail. Check that the drive cables are properly connected. Boot to safe mode and remove all CD-ROM drive devices that you find. Re-boot to safe mode and see if Windows installs replacement drivers. Get a startup disk at www.bootdisk.com and boot with it - is the CD-ROM drive detected and useable? Install the drive in another machine and confirm that it works OK there, and install a known-good drive in this machine and ensure that it works OK. -- Jeff Richards MS MVP (DTS) "George" wrote in message ... Suddenly I cannot use my CDRom. All I get is a message saying "J:\is not accessible. The device is not ready". Device Manager says it is working properly but it isn't? I cannot load any new software now so I am really stuck. Anyone got any suggestions please? . |
#4
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Drive Not Accessible
My original instruction was incorrect - after removing the device in safe
mode, re-boot in _normal_ mode and Windows should install new drivers. You cannot boot to Windows from a boot floppy - the behaviour you saw was correct. The testing you did with DOS is useful in indicating that the drive is probably working, although it's possible that a transient error in DOS is seen as a permanent error in Windows. When Windows is running do Start / Run / Regedit. Remove the NOIDE entry (if it exists) from the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\VxD -- Jeff Richards MS MVP (DTS) "George" wrote in message ... Jeff Thank you for your suggestions which have given the following (mixed) results. Cables ok. Removed CD Rom devices in safe mode and re- booted in safe mode but Windows did not recognise the device. Tried booting with a startup disk from bootdisk.com. At start-up it found the drive and re-assigned another drive letter to it. However, the although the screen said Windows 98 was starting, the process stopped at the A:\ prompt. The good news is that by changing to the newly assigned drive letter I could get DIR to read the CD in the drive and hoped that meant the device was OK? I tried repeating the process a few times. Mostly, but not always, I could read the CD - but sometimes the system would hang for a few seconds then I would get "not ready - abort, retry or fail". Perhaps an transient mechanical failure? The bad news is that I could not get windows to start at all to test it properly. When I changed to the C:\ drive and the windows directory all I got was a message "A device or resource required by VFAT is not present or is unavailable. VFAT cannot continue loading. System halted". [Incidentally, my normal "start-up disk" which I have never tried before now gives the same result]. Is this a related problem or one for another newsgroup? I do not have easy access to another PC or drive so I may not be able to pursue your final suggestion for some time. Meantime, is there anything you wish to add? Thanks. -----Original Message----- It is not unknown for a CD-ROM drive to simply fail. Check that the drive cables are properly connected. Boot to safe mode and remove all CD-ROM drive devices that you find. Re-boot to safe mode and see if Windows installs replacement drivers. Get a startup disk at www.bootdisk.com and boot with it - is the CD-ROM drive detected and useable? Install the drive in another machine and confirm that it works OK there, and install a known-good drive in this machine and ensure that it works OK. -- Jeff Richards MS MVP (DTS) "George" wrote in message .. . Suddenly I cannot use my CDRom. All I get is a message saying "J:\is not accessible. The device is not ready". Device Manager says it is working properly but it isn't? I cannot load any new software now so I am really stuck. Anyone got any suggestions please? . |
#5
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Drive Not Accessible
Jeff
Thanks for the explanation about using a boot floppy. I used Regedit as suggested but do not seem to have anything called NOIDE. I shall be away until 20 June so can do no more until then but if you have any further suggestions, please bear with me - I am very happy to pursue all avenues. Thanks. -----Original Message----- My original instruction was incorrect - after removing the device in safe mode, re-boot in _normal_ mode and Windows should install new drivers. You cannot boot to Windows from a boot floppy - the behaviour you saw was correct. The testing you did with DOS is useful in indicating that the drive is probably working, although it's possible that a transient error in DOS is seen as a permanent error in Windows. When Windows is running do Start / Run / Regedit. Remove the NOIDE entry (if it exists) from the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servi ces\VxD -- Jeff Richards MS MVP (DTS) "George" wrote in message ... Jeff Thank you for your suggestions which have given the following (mixed) results. Cables ok. Removed CD Rom devices in safe mode and re- booted in safe mode but Windows did not recognise the device. Tried booting with a startup disk from bootdisk.com. At start-up it found the drive and re-assigned another drive letter to it. However, the although the screen said Windows 98 was starting, the process stopped at the A:\ prompt. The good news is that by changing to the newly assigned drive letter I could get DIR to read the CD in the drive and hoped that meant the device was OK? I tried repeating the process a few times. Mostly, but not always, I could read the CD - but sometimes the system would hang for a few seconds then I would get "not ready - abort, retry or fail". Perhaps an transient mechanical failure? The bad news is that I could not get windows to start at all to test it properly. When I changed to the C:\ drive and the windows directory all I got was a message "A device or resource required by VFAT is not present or is unavailable. VFAT cannot continue loading. System halted". [Incidentally, my normal "start-up disk" which I have never tried before now gives the same result]. Is this a related problem or one for another newsgroup? I do not have easy access to another PC or drive so I may not be able to pursue your final suggestion for some time. Meantime, is there anything you wish to add? Thanks. -----Original Message----- It is not unknown for a CD-ROM drive to simply fail. Check that the drive cables are properly connected. Boot to safe mode and remove all CD-ROM drive devices that you find. Re-boot to safe mode and see if Windows installs replacement drivers. Get a startup disk at www.bootdisk.com and boot with it - is the CD-ROM drive detected and useable? Install the drive in another machine and confirm that it works OK there, and install a known-good drive in this machine and ensure that it works OK. -- Jeff Richards MS MVP (DTS) "George" wrote in message . .. Suddenly I cannot use my CDRom. All I get is a message saying "J:\is not accessible. The device is not ready". Device Manager says it is working properly but it isn't? I cannot load any new software now so I am really stuck. Anyone got any suggestions please? . . |
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