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When I insert a CD/DVD disc in my CD/DVD drive a message comes up saying "Please insert disk in drive E:"

CLICK HERE! TO RETURN TO THE CD/DVD/BLU-RAY DRIVE PROBLEMS PAGES

CD/DVD/Blu-ray driver/writer problem: Windows XP/Vista won't play a CD/DVD - it does not detect a disc inserted in the optical drive

I have a fault with my CD/DVD drive. When I put a CD or a DVD disc into the drive, I get the message "Please insert disk in drive E:". I have tried another optical drive that I know works and I get the same message. I think this is a software problem. Is there a fix for the fault? I don't want to re-format the PC's hard disk drive and reinstall Windows XP. The CD/DVD drive is connected to it's own IDE data cable that is connected to the secondary IDE connector on the PC's motherboard and is set as a master drive.

Answer

The AutoPlay Repair Wizard

Try using the Autoplay Repair Wizard.

"The Microsoft AutoPlay Repair Wizard scans your computer devices to find defective AutoPlay settings, and attempts to fix those it finds." It can be used on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 systems. -

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?...

At the time of writing (April 2010), there was no AutoPlay Repair Wizard for Windows Vista or Windows 7, but there are these pages:

Troubleshoot [Vista] AutoPlay problems -

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/...

Troubleshoot AutoPlay problems [Windows 7] -

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/...

If you can't get the optical drive to work by making use of this information, you can try uninstalling the drive in the Device Manager. To open the Device Manager in Windows XP enter devmgmt.msc in the Start => Run box (the Start => Start Search box in Windows Vista - just enter device manager in the Start => Search programs and files box in Windows 7).

The drive is listed under DVD/CD-Rom drives. Click the + beside that title, right-click on the make/model of drive (in my laptop computer the entry is Philips DVD-RAM SDVD8821) and click Uninstall. Then restart the system and Windows XP/Vista will reinstall the drivers for the device. The latest drivers and firmware for the drive can be obtained from its manufacturer's website, or the website of the computer's manufacturer. You can download and install them as you would a standard program.

In my case, I would visit http://global.msi.com.tw/ for the drivers for my MSI M662 laptop, because they are probably not available from the Philips site.

Just make sure that you download and install the device drivers for the exact model of drive, especially the firmware. If the firmware for a different model is installed, the drive can be rendered unusable. You can also run the drive's troubleshooter by double-clicking on the make/model of the drive.

If that doesn't work, try the drive in another computer. If it doesn't work, the drive has failed irrecoverably and will have to be replaced, because to repair it would cost far more than to replace it. It is an unfortunate fact of life with optical drives that they can become unusable out of the blue for no apparent reason.