cd-rom not recognized and other problems

Suddenly my cd-rom (cdrw) is not recognized by my system. I have
a Dell Dimension L733r with WindowsMe. I have tried several
things already, but nothing has helped:
I ran Ad-Aware, SpyBot, CWshredder, Stinger and AVG (all updated
yesterday) but nothing was found. I had this happen once before,
but found some malware then, deleted it and system recognized
cdrom again. This time there is a problem with extremely slow
loading of Windows also. When I hit esc and watch as things load
it is very slow loading system memory. It steps thru it 4 mb at a
time up to 384mb, then the keyboard and mouse are recognized and
the usb. Then it sits there for a long time (about 3 or 4 minutes)
before the hard drive shows up. Then Windows loads normally, but
the cdrom drive never loads. Device manager did not show it in
full mode, but in safe mode it was there. I removed it thinking
it would reinstall upon reboot, but it didn't. This is a 5 yr old
computer, but I have updated it quite a bit so here is what I have
now:

80 gig Western Digital hard drive (only 1 partition)
nVidia Geforce4 mx440 video adapter
cmedia CMI8738 /c3dx audio device
Westell dsl modem from Bellsouth (dsl lite)
Benq FP731 flat panel monitor
Original LG cdrw

What do you suggest as my next step? Does this sound like the
hard drive is about to go? maybe the motherboard? or just some
malware I haven't found yet?

Thanks,
Janice

The following ASS-U-MEs that the CDRW is the only CD-ROM on your PC.

This may not necessarily be a viral or WinMe issue - there are other things
to consider first.

First question - has anyone been 'under the bonnet' and disturbed any of the
wiring within the computer?

You must ensure that the PC does actually 'see' the CD-ROM. Its cables *may*
have become dislodged. Either look in the BIOS to see if it is recognised
there, or confirm that you can 'see' it in Real Mode DOS

To 'see' it in Real Mode DOS, Boot, using your WinMe Startup (floppy) Disk
in the A: drive.
Select option 2. Start computer with CD-ROM support.

Let the screen information scroll until you eventually see a line which
should report a drive letter for the CD-ROM - but note that it may not
necessarily the same letter as you would expect to see in Windows.

For example, you should see the CD-ROM, becoming the E:, so the screen
should show:
Drive E:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 0
Your CD-ROM Is Drive E

When the boot disk finally settles down, you will be presented with an A:\
prompt.

Now put a (data) CD into the CD-ROM and at the A:\ prompt, type "E:" (no
quotes and note the colon after the letter E) Then Press Return.

Now, at the E:\ prompt, type "DIR /P" (no quotes and note the space) Then
press Return.

You should see a listing of the CD contents.

Come back with your results. Give EXACT errors reports - if any

Mart


"granjan" wrote in message
...
Suddenly my cd-rom (cdrw) is not recognized by my system. I have
a Dell Dimension L733r with WindowsMe. I have tried several
things already, but nothing has helped:
I ran Ad-Aware, SpyBot, CWshredder, Stinger and AVG (all updated
yesterday) but nothing was found. I had this happen once before,
but found some malware then, deleted it and system recognized
cdrom again. This time there is a problem with extremely slow
loading of Windows also. When I hit esc and watch as things load
it is very slow loading system memory. It steps thru it 4 mb at a
time up to 384mb, then the keyboard and mouse are recognized and
the usb. Then it sits there for a long time (about 3 or 4 minutes)
before the hard drive shows up. Then Windows loads normally, but
the cdrom drive never loads. Device manager did not show it in
full mode, but in safe mode it was there. I removed it thinking
it would reinstall upon reboot, but it didn't. This is a 5 yr old
computer, but I have updated it quite a bit so here is what I have
now:

80 gig Western Digital hard drive (only 1 partition)
nVidia Geforce4 mx440 video adapter
cmedia CMI8738 /c3dx audio device
Westell dsl modem from Bellsouth (dsl lite)
Benq FP731 flat panel monitor
Original LG cdrw

What do you suggest as my next step? Does this sound like the
hard drive is about to go? maybe the motherboard? or just some
malware I haven't found yet?

Thanks,
Janice

Mart, thanks for your prompt reply. I had been under the bonnet
about 3 months ago, but that was the last time and the current
problem was only about a week old. But I needed to do some
cleaning anyway, so I opened her up and removed the cdrom drive
and played around with it trying to get a music cd out of it that
had been there about a week. At that point I didn't care if ruined
the drive and I wanted my cd.
I reseated the memory modules, checked all cables, etc., put it
back together and voila! it works. Who'd a thunk it? (as we say
here in the South).
Anyway, thanks very much,
Janice
PS: Everything loaded much faster too.

"Mart" wrote in message
...
| The following ASS-U-MEs that the CDRW is the only CD-ROM on your
PC.
|
| This may not necessarily be a viral or WinMe issue - there are
other things
| to consider first.
|
| First question - has anyone been 'under the bonnet' and
disturbed any of the
| wiring within the computer?
|
| You must ensure that the PC does actually 'see' the CD-ROM. Its
cables *may*
| have become dislodged. Either look in the BIOS to see if it is
recognised
| there, or confirm that you can 'see' it in Real Mode DOS
|
| To 'see' it in Real Mode DOS, Boot, using your WinMe Startup
(floppy) Disk
| in the A: drive.
| Select option 2. Start computer with CD-ROM support.
|
| Let the screen information scroll until you eventually see a
line which
| should report a drive letter for the CD-ROM - but note that it
may not
| necessarily the same letter as you would expect to see in
Windows.
|
| For example, you should see the CD-ROM, becoming the E:, so the
screen
| should show:
| Drive E:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 0
| Your CD-ROM Is Drive E
|
| When the boot disk finally settles down, you will be presented
with an A:\
| prompt.
|
| Now put a (data) CD into the CD-ROM and at the A:\ prompt, type
"E:" (no
| quotes and note the colon after the letter E) Then Press Return.
|
| Now, at the E:\ prompt, type "DIR /P" (no quotes and note the
space) Then
| press Return.
|
| You should see a listing of the CD contents.
|
| Come back with your results. Give EXACT errors reports - if any
|
| Mart
|
|
| "granjan" wrote in message
| ...
| Suddenly my cd-rom (cdrw) is not recognized by my system. I
have
| a Dell Dimension L733r with WindowsMe. I have tried several
| things already, but nothing has helped:
| I ran Ad-Aware, SpyBot, CWshredder, Stinger and AVG (all
updated
| yesterday) but nothing was found. I had this happen once
before,
| but found some malware then, deleted it and system recognized
| cdrom again. This time there is a problem with extremely slow
| loading of Windows also. When I hit esc and watch as things
load
| it is very slow loading system memory. It steps thru it 4 mb
at a
| time up to 384mb, then the keyboard and mouse are recognized
and
| the usb. Then it sits there for a long time (about 3 or 4
minutes)
| before the hard drive shows up. Then Windows loads normally,
but
| the cdrom drive never loads. Device manager did not show it
in
| full mode, but in safe mode it was there. I removed it
thinking
| it would reinstall upon reboot, but it didn't. This is a 5 yr
old
| computer, but I have updated it quite a bit so here is what I
have
| now:
|
| 80 gig Western Digital hard drive (only 1 partition)
| nVidia Geforce4 mx440 video adapter
| cmedia CMI8738 /c3dx audio device
| Westell dsl modem from Bellsouth (dsl lite)
| Benq FP731 flat panel monitor
| Original LG cdrw
|
| What do you suggest as my next step? Does this sound like the
| hard drive is about to go? maybe the motherboard? or just
some
| malware I haven't found yet?
|
| Thanks,
| Janice
|
|
|
|

Well done, Janice.

A misaligned connector doesn't take much to shake loose, which would
certainly explain your previous symptoms. Good to hear that you've resolved
the issue.

Mart


"granjan" wrote in message
...
Mart, thanks for your prompt reply. I had been under the bonnet
about 3 months ago, but that was the last time and the current
problem was only about a week old. But I needed to do some
cleaning anyway, so I opened her up and removed the cdrom drive
and played around with it trying to get a music cd out of it that
had been there about a week. At that point I didn't care if ruined
the drive and I wanted my cd.
I reseated the memory modules, checked all cables, etc., put it
back together and voila! it works. Who'd a thunk it? (as we say
here in the South).
Anyway, thanks very much,
Janice
PS: Everything loaded much faster too.

"Mart" wrote in message
...
| The following ASS-U-MEs that the CDRW is the only CD-ROM on your
PC.
|
| This may not necessarily be a viral or WinMe issue - there are
other things
| to consider first.
|
| First question - has anyone been 'under the bonnet' and
disturbed any of the
| wiring within the computer?
|
| You must ensure that the PC does actually 'see' the CD-ROM. Its
cables *may*
| have become dislodged. Either look in the BIOS to see if it is
recognised
| there, or confirm that you can 'see' it in Real Mode DOS
|
| To 'see' it in Real Mode DOS, Boot, using your WinMe Startup
(floppy) Disk
| in the A: drive.
| Select option 2. Start computer with CD-ROM support.
|
| Let the screen information scroll until you eventually see a
line which
| should report a drive letter for the CD-ROM - but note that it
may not
| necessarily the same letter as you would expect to see in
Windows.
|
| For example, you should see the CD-ROM, becoming the E:, so the
screen
| should show:
| Drive E:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 0
| Your CD-ROM Is Drive E
|
| When the boot disk finally settles down, you will be presented
with an A:\
| prompt.
|
| Now put a (data) CD into the CD-ROM and at the A:\ prompt, type
"E:" (no
| quotes and note the colon after the letter E) Then Press Return.
|
| Now, at the E:\ prompt, type "DIR /P" (no quotes and note the
space) Then
| press Return.
|
| You should see a listing of the CD contents.
|
| Come back with your results. Give EXACT errors reports - if any
|
| Mart
|
|
| "granjan" wrote in message
| ...
| Suddenly my cd-rom (cdrw) is not recognized by my system. I
have
| a Dell Dimension L733r with WindowsMe. I have tried several
| things already, but nothing has helped:
| I ran Ad-Aware, SpyBot, CWshredder, Stinger and AVG (all
updated
| yesterday) but nothing was found. I had this happen once
before,
| but found some malware then, deleted it and system recognized
| cdrom again. This time there is a problem with extremely slow
| loading of Windows also. When I hit esc and watch as things
load
| it is very slow loading system memory. It steps thru it 4 mb
at a
| time up to 384mb, then the keyboard and mouse are recognized
and
| the usb. Then it sits there for a long time (about 3 or 4
minutes)
| before the hard drive shows up. Then Windows loads normally,
but
| the cdrom drive never loads. Device manager did not show it
in
| full mode, but in safe mode it was there. I removed it
thinking
| it would reinstall upon reboot, but it didn't. This is a 5 yr
old
| computer, but I have updated it quite a bit so here is what I
have
| now:
|
| 80 gig Western Digital hard drive (only 1 partition)
| nVidia Geforce4 mx440 video adapter
| cmedia CMI8738 /c3dx audio device
| Westell dsl modem from Bellsouth (dsl lite)
| Benq FP731 flat panel monitor
| Original LG cdrw
|
| What do you suggest as my next step? Does this sound like the
| hard drive is about to go? maybe the motherboard? or just
some
| malware I haven't found yet?
|
| Thanks,
| Janice
|
|
|
|