Cannot access CD

Try calling again. Sometimes, some techs are too by the book and some are more helpful. Its just in the rolling of the dice, or so they say somewhere here in the forum.

Peace!

Trlow,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.

CD on my Inspiron 7500 stopped working.
I cannot open data or audio files. However, I can view DVDs.
DVD drives have two separate lasers for reading media.
One laswer reads standard CD media, and the other laser reads DVD media.
If the standard CD media laser has gone out, it would cause the problem you are seeing.

I put in a spare hard drive with windows 98 and I got the same problem.
Looks like a hardware problem.
Dell Support told me to reformat the hard drive and reinstall windows 98.
If this is a hardware problem, reformatting won't help.
You are correct on this.
Try the following troubleshooting steps to try and isolate the cause of the problem.
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CDROM Troubleshooting steps:

1.Remove and reseat the drive.
A loose connection can cause the drive not to work properly.
If possible, remove the drive from the system and reseat it making sure it is firmly and well seated.
Fixed Optical drives can be removed, you just have to remove the "capture screw" on the bottom of the system first.
Look at the system documenation for instructions on how to do so.

2.Remove the drive from device manager.
Removing the drive controllers from device manager and rebooting to let Windows reload them sometimes helps.

Win95,98,ME:
Right click on My Computer, click on properties.
Click the Device Manager tab.
Click the + next to CDROM
Click the appropriate device entry that appears under CDROM then click the REMOVE button.
Perform this step for any other devices listed under the CDROM category.
Reboot the computer.

Win2000, WinXP:
Right click on My Computer, click on properties.
Click on the Hardware Tab.
Click the Device Manager button.
Click the + next to DVD/CDROM devices.
Right click the appropriate device entry that appears under DVD/CDROM then click Uninstall.
Perform this step for any other devices listed under the CDROM category.
Reboot the computer.

3.For Windows95,98,ME Check for the NOIDE Error.
Click on Start, Run and type in: Regedit.
Then click OK.
You will get a Registry Editor window.
Click on Edit, Find.
Type in: NOIDE
Click Find Next.
If the search finds any icons with NOIDE, delete those icons.
Then close all windows, and reboot the system.

4.Install an Antivirus program and run a full virus scan.
A virus will cause the cdrom drives not to work properly to keep you from cleaning out the virus.
If you already have an antivirus program installed, run a full system scan.
If you don't have an antivirus program installed, try to install one and run a full system scan.
If you are unable to install an antivirus program because of a possible virus, get a dos version of the program to run.

5.Reset the bios defaults if applicable on the system.
Resetting the bios defaults resets any bios settings that may have gotten corrupt.
This should allow the cdrom drive to redetect if the problem is caused by the bios.
You can find information on how to do so on the following sites:
--How do I restore the Setup Defaults on my Dell™ Inspiron™ portable computer?
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=1035265
--How do I restore the Setup Defaults on my Dell™ Inspiron™ portable computer?
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=FA1035265
--How do I restore setup defaults on my Dell™ Latitude™ system?
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=FA1035267

6.Update your bios file to the latest version.
Go to the main Dell Support site:
https://support.dell.com/register.aspx
Input your service tag number and click "Sign in to Standard Support".
Click the Downloads button.
Under the "Select Your Download Category" section, choose "Flash Bios Updates".
Then click GO.
Click the Dell XXXX XXXX System Bios link that comes up.
Click the Dell XXXX XXXX System Bios link that comes up again.
Click on the file name XXXXXX.EXE for FLOPPY version.
Click Download Now Using HTTP.
Save the file to your desktop.
Put a blank formatted floppy in the floppy drive.
Double click the file to create the bios update boot floppy.
Once that is done, leave the floppy in the drive and reboot the system.
The bios will be updated when the system boots to the floppy.

7.Try upgrading the drives firmware revision.
Find the model type of the drive.
Then go to the Dell downloads page and put in the model type of the drive to see if there are any firmware updates for it.
Go to the main Dell Support site:
https://support.dell.com/register.aspx
Input your service tag number and click "Sign in to Standard Support".
Click the Downloads button.
Put the drive model in the search box and click GO.
If there is a firmware updated listed, download it, create the update disk, and update the drives firmware.
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Question:
How do I find out what model of Hard Drive, CDROM, CDRW, DVDROM drive I have?

Answer:
Win2000 WinXP:
Right click on My Computer, click on properties.
Click the Hardware tab.
Click the Device Manager button.
Click the + next to DVD/CD-ROM drives.
You should see your drive listed, an example would be: Lite-On LTN483S 48X MAX.
The drive model number would be "LTN483S"

--Another way to tell is to check the system registry.
You can use the steps below that are listed for checking the drives firmware revision.
An example of a drive listing in the registry would be:
IDE\CdRomLite-On_LTN483S_48x_Max_________________PD03____\5&261012d&0&0.1.0
The drive model number would be ""LTN483S""
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8.Uninstall any 3rd party programs.
If you installed any 3rd party programs before the problem started, (Roxio Easy CD Creator, Nero Burning Rom, Intel Application Accelerator), then uninstall the program and reboot the system.

9.Test the drive in dos.
If your floppy drive is external, attach it to the system.
Have your cdrom drive in the media bay in the system.
Put in your Windows CD in the cdrom drive.
Boot to a Win98 or WinME dos boot disk using the floppy drive.
You can download a dos boot disk from http://www.bootdisk.com
I like using the "Windows ME non-OEM" boot disk.
Once you have booted to the dos boot disk, A:\> try accessing the cdrom in dos.
If you can access the Windows CD, the drive is working and you probably have a Windows problem.
If you cannot access the cd in dos, then the drive is probably bad.

10.Test the drive using the Dell Diagnostics.
You can find information on how to run the Dell Diagnostics on the following site:
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=1060550#toc

11.Test another drive if possible.
-Try another drive in your system, does it work?
If so, your old drive is probably bad.
If not, the cdrom connectors on the motherboard are probably bad.
-Try your drive on another system, does it work?
If so, the cdrom connectors on the motherboard for your system are probably bad.
If not, then the drive is probably bad.

12. Check the Windows XP/2000 Registry.
Click Start and then click Run.
The Run window appears.
In the Open: field, type Regedit and then click OK.
The Registry Editor window appears.
Click the plus (+) sign next to the following folders:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software
Microsoft
Windows
CurrentVersion
Policies

Click to select the Explorer folder.
In the right-pane, check to see if an entry labeled NoDrives is present.
If this entry is listed, right-click the entry and then left-click Delete.
The Confirm Value Delete window appears.
Click Yes to confirm removal.
Close the Registry Editor window.
Restart the computer.

13.If all else fails, contact tech support to get a replacement drive.
If you are out of warranty, you can purchase another drive from Dell Spare Parts.
Dell Spare Parts Phone# 800-372-3355 Ext:6-9937

Additional Information:
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Problem:
My cdrom icon is missing from "My Computer" and there is an exclamation mark next to it in device manager?

Answer:
Go to "Start" then select "Run"

b) Type "regedit" and click "OK"

3) optional step
Backup you registry by:

a) Highlight "My Computer" by clicking on it once.

b) At the top of the page you should see "File"(Win XP) or "Registry" (Win 2000), click on this and then select "Export Registry File"

c) The following screen will allow you to select where you would like to save this backup and what file name you would like to save it as.

d) Please note at the bottom of the screen where it says export range "All"; this should be selected to ensure your entire registry is backed up completely.

e) Give the File a name and Click on the "SAVE" button (this will bring you back to the registry editor)

4) Remove the Upperfilters and Lowerfilters values by:

a) Expand the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" key (looks like a folder) by double clicking it.

b) Expand the "SYSTEM" Key

c) Expand the "CurrentControlSet" Key

d) Expand the "Control" Key

e) Expand the "Class" Key

f) Please look for a key containing the following string of letter and numbers:

{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
g) High light this key by left clicking once on it

h) On the right hand side you are looking for "Upperfilters" and "Lowerfilters", once you find these please delete them by high lighting (left clicking on them once) and then right clicking on them and choosing "delete"

5) Restart your computer.

6) Your CD-ROM should be back.

Information provided by Bacillus Dell Forum Member.
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