can't reinstall software

 

There have been some issues installing games that have copy protect on the CD.  If the game's install program detects certain CD burning software it will not install.  Shut down your packet writing CD software, such as Sonic DLA, Nero's InCd, Roxio's drag to disc (and Direct CD in earlier versions) then see if the games will install. 

 

If this doesn't help, suggest you repost in the Gaming section as it's most likely not a CD/DVD drive issue.

It's not just games, it's any software and I had installed this software before and never had a problem because of the burner. I didn't have to turn it off. I'm only having trouble installing from the CD-ROM.

What model PC and What operating System.  That is the next step.  And, do you have more than one CD or DVD drive?

 

Can you play commercial Audio CD's from the drive?

I have s Demension 3000 with XP. I have just one CD-ROM. The old one and now the new one work fine except that when I try to install anything from the CD-ROM that's when I have a problem. If the software is already installed I can pop the disc in and use it or play a game. I came put in a music CD and it plays great. I can get an update off the web and download and install without any trouble and I can download and install a game from the web without any trouble either. It just seems to be when I do it from a CD.

You keep referencing "installing games".  Is this all you have tried to install from the CD? 

 

Are you logged on as "Administrator" or are you logging on with some limited account?

It's not just games, it's any software and I'm loggin on Administator. I never had any trouble installing anything on my computer before. I've had the computer for a couple of years. I'm trying reinstall software that was previously on my computer.

It sounds like you did a reinstall of the operating system, and whatever else and now trying to get programs installed. 

 

Exactly what did you do to require you to reinstall programs?  If you did a reinstall, exactly how did you do it?

NO! I uninstalled certain things, like games an encyclopedia ets. Now I decided I want some of them back and they won't install again. I have uninstall and reinstall some of these several time now and never had a problem and now it's not working. What I want to reinstall ISN'T the operating system I DID NOT do that. The sofetware that I'm refering to are ones I either had before I bought this computer or after is seperate from the operating system and what came with the computer.

Frankly, I'm just about at a loss.  the only thing I can now think of is when you uninstalled, whatever you uninstalled, something in the Operating System may have been unintentionally removed.

 

There are two options to make sure you have all the Operating System Files. 

 

The first way is to use the command line option  sfc /scannow  (space between sfc and /) with your Windows XP CD loaded in the CD.  That will scan for missing files.    Click Start/Run, enter the command and then click OK.

 

If that doesn't work there is another option of a Windows XP "Repair" - and in that you boot up with the Windows CD but instead of selecting Install, you select "Repair". 

 

Or, if you have a PC that has the Dell restore partition on it you can do a complete reinstall back to the original power on condition with CTRL/F11.  However, you need to backup your user data to a removable disc before this type of reinstall.

Why would uninstalling say a game which I have done  several times before remove anything to do with the operating system?

I have no idea. But we don't know exactly what you've done or how you've done it, so we still have to guess as to what your actual problem is.  It's not a "cut and dried" issue, there are unknowns that we are dealing with. 

 

However, it is not a hardware problem with the CD drive.  It's still back to software and installations and with that you are back to an Operating System (Windows) problem.

Ok. This is how and what happened. Mid Nov. I reinstalled a game and about a week later I decided to reinstall another. The installation failed. Talking to Dell Support we figured that the disc was bad. A month or so went by and I decided to reinstall a different game and when that failed to install I tried another, an encyclopedia, etc. and they failed as well. I thought the drive was bad, Dell support did as well and had a Tech come out and replace it but nothing from a CD would install. I did not do anything to my computer during that week in between reinstalling the one game and then trying to reinstall another. I did nothing to the operating system (windows). That's where I'm at.

I understand you did not do anything to the OS, at least that you know about.  However, there can still be corrupted files that are causing you problems.  How did you uninstall the first program?  If you just deleted it, that is wrong. 

 

Your best bet is still to run the sfc /scannow, as noted earlier,  and check your Windows XP files.  There are so many things that can go wrong with the Operating System and you would never find the problem without doing the scannow or the repair.  It would be like looking for the proverbial "needle in a haystack". 

I always uninstall everything from control panel add and remove.