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?

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?

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?


.

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?


.

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?


.



.