Thank you for using the
Dell Community Forum. The drive is for C-series portable systems, so it should work with your system.
The problem your going to run into is that your system does not have enough video memory to decode
the dvd movies onboard. DVD playing/decoding is handled by software in todays newer systems.
Unfortunately since your system only have 8MB of video memory, that will not be enough to do the DVD decoding with the DVD software alone. You will also have to purchase and use a PCMCIA DVD Decorder card that will decode the DVD movies on the hardware level, instead of using the software.
When Dell first shipped this system, this is the card we sold for decoding DVD movies.
"Margi DVD-to-Go PCMCIA DVD decoder card."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
There is not an available on-board hardware DVD decoder on the Latitude CPt V-series, or Latitude CPx H-series. Latitude systems will not use the software DVD solution.
The Margi DVD-to-GO PC Card will be available on the Latitude CPt V-series, and Latitude CPx H-series.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Along the same thread, I have the margi dvd to go card and have upgraded to windows XP home. Now I can't get the card to work and I am unable to find a driver that will allow it to work in XP. DVDs do play well just from software on this maching.
What solution does Dell recommend for this? I have been to Margi website, they no longer make or support the card.
What solution does Dell recommend for this? We don't have one, the newer system have enough hardware support to simply use the DVD decoding software and not need additional DVD decoding hardware.
DVDs do play well just from software on this maching. I find this very interesting, can you provide more info.
What system model do you have?
What video card or size of video memory do you have?
What DVD decoding software are you using?
I have a Latitude CPx H500GT with Windows XP professional that I bought off a friend. I installed the IBM travelstar 40 GB hard drive. I'm also searching (it's a long quest now) for CD-RW/DVD for my laptop. I don't know what drive would be compatible or best (internal or external) for my computer, can anyone please help me?
Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum. The following CDRW/DVD combo drive is a C-series drive. It should work in your Latitude CPX-H as it also uses C-series drives. 24X/10X/24X CD-RW and 8X DVD-ROM.
The problem is that the CPX-H does not have an onboard decoder card.
So, the decoding of DVD movies may or may not work with a Software Decoder like WinDVD or PowerDVD. You may also have to purchase a Margi DVD to GO decoder card to use with the drive. --------------------------------------------------------------------- DVD There is not an available on-board hardware DVD decoder on the The Inspiron 3700, Latitude CPt V-series, or Latitude CPx H-series. The DVD solution for the Inspiron 3700 system is Software CineMaster, from Ravisent. Latitude systems will not use the software DVD solution. The Margi DVD-to-GO PC Card will be available on the Latitude CPt V-series, and Latitude CPx H-series. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Short question because this relates to my problem... i have the same laptop with a Matshita UJDA330 CD/CDRW... Recently bought a LG dvd/rom DNR8080b, it worked fine on the other laptop, including the DVD functions, but on mine it does not read at all... my laptop "sees" and recognizes the hardware, but i can not even read any cd's or dvd's - i have searched the site and FAQ's, made some minor registry changes as suggested, I have the latest bios but could not find drivers for the LG... am i doing something wrong?
At minimum the drive should be able to read store purchased CD's.
In order to burn cd or play DVDs, you need software installed like Roxio Easy CD Creator or WinDVD or Power DVD.
Here are some basic troubleshooting steps you can try.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DVD General Troubleshooting steps:
--WinDVD studders when playing movies on battery.
Go into Display Properties, Screen Saver tab, clicked on Power, changed power scheme to 'Always On'
--DVD does not display a picture or is blank.
Click Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.
The Control Panel window should appear.
Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
In the list of installed programs, click PCFriendly and click the Add/Remove button.
Follow the on screen instructions to uninstall the software
--DVD drive is not recognized in My Computer or Device manager, but is shown as a CDROM drive.
If you have WinDVD and have updated to the latest patch, then completely uninstall WinDVD.
Then reboot the system and reinstall WinDVD to see if the same problem occurs.
If the problem does not occur, then reinstall the latest patch to see if the patch is causing the problem.
--DVD flickers during play back.
1.Install the latest WinDVD patch.
2.Uninstall your video driver, then download and install the latest version of the video driver.
3.If you do not have access to the Internet, you can perform the following steps.
Click Start, click Run, then type Regedit in the Open box. Click OK.
The Registry Editor window should appear.
Click the plus (+) sign next to each of the following keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Software
Intervideo
Double-click the WinDVD folder.
Double-click HWMC.
Type 0 in the Value Data box.
Click OK.
Close the Registry Editor.
Click Start, click Shutdown, click Restart, and then click OK.
--DVD skips/stutters/is out of sync/ or hangs during playback.
1.Update your DVD decoding software such as PowerDVD or WindDVD with the latest patch or update.
2.Update to the latest video drivers available for your system.
3.Stop all background applications using MSCONFIG in Windows 98,ME, and XP.
4.Reinstall your DVD decoding software.
5.Make sure that hardware acceleration is set to full.
Win98,ME
To confirm that the Video Acceleration is set to "Full" select System in the Control Panel.
Click on the Performance Tab, and then on the Graphics Button. Move the slider bar, all the way to "Full."
Then click Apply and OK to all windows.
Win2000 and XP
Click on Start, Control Panel, Display.
Click the Settings Tab, Advanced Button, Troubleshoot tab.
Make sure Hardware Acceleration is set to Full.
Also make sure that Enable Write Combining is enabled.
If the above options are already enabled, try disabling Write Combining and reducing Hardware Acceleration one notch.
Click Apply and Ok.
6.Disable Auto Insert Notification.
Win98,ME
Click Start |Settings | Control Panel.
Double click the System icon, then select the Device Manager tab.
Double-click the CD-ROM icon, and single-click the entry for the DVD drive.
Click on the Properties button, and then the Settings tab.
Locate the checkbox labeled Auto-Insert Notification and click the checkbox to select or de-select it.
Click OK to save the change. At this point, you may need to restart for the change to become active.
Win2000 and XP
Open My Computer.
Right click on your CDROM drive and click properties.
Click the Autoplay tab.
Choose the media format file type, such as Music file or Video file.
Click on the red circle for Take No Action.
Click Apply and Ok.
7.Confirm that DMA is enabled.
Win98,ME
Select Control Panel from the Settings list in the Start menu.
Double-click the System icon, then select the Device Manager tab.
Double-click the CD-ROM icon, and single-click the entry for the DVD drive.
Click on the Properties button, and then the Settings tab.
Locate the checkbox labeled DMA and click the checkbox to select or de-select it.
Click OK to save the change. At this point, you may need to restart for the change to become active
Win2000 and XP
Click on Start, Control Panel, System.
Click the Hardware Tab, Device Manager button.
Click the + next to IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
Right click on the Primary IDE Channel and click properties.
Click the Advanced Settings Tab.
Make sure that Transfer Mode is set to DMA if Available.
You must also repeat these steps for the Secondary IDE Channel listing.
8. Try the ReClock DirectShow Filter.
http://ogo.nerim.net/reclockfilter/
Info provided by Harald Becker forum member.
Description:
The purpose of ReClock is to definitely get rid of jerky playback of AVI and MPEG material on a PC (or a PC connected to a TV). It's a DirectShow filter which is loaded in place of the default directsound audio renderer.
It provides a new reference clock that is locked to the video card hardware clock, in order to ensure that frames are played at the exact speed of what is expected by the video card vertical sync.
It also provides a frame rate adaptator for media files that do not match a multiple of the video card refresh rate (ex: playback of 23,976fps IVTC NTSC on a PAL TV).
Finally it is an audio renderer with hardware or software rate adaptation in real-time, multi-channel audio, and dynamic range compression capabilities.
For a full description of ReClock, please read carefully the README file in the distribution. There is also a little FAQ at the bottom of the page that answers common questions.
9.Turn off indexing for the drive.
To verify if a CD, DVD, CDRW drive has been indexed, perform the following;
Right Click on My Computer and choose Manage
Click the plus sign next to Applications and Services
Click the plus sign next to Indexing Service
Click the plus next to System
Select Directories
A list of directories that have been indexed will appear in the window to the right. Look for any entries that include the Drive letter of the optical device, such as D:\
If an entry for an optical device exists, perform the following action;
1. Double click on the appropriate entry
2. Select the Radio Button for No under the Include in the Index? Section
It is suggested that a reboot is performed at this time.
--Drive is not recognized in the system bios or by Windows at all.
Or- the drive does not play any media or has problems reading media.
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.If the drive is in MS_DOS Mode or does not show up under My Computer, and may also have a yellow exclamation in device manager.
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.
------------
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""
Question:
How do I find my DVD drives firmware revision in Windows XP:
Right click my computer,manage,expand storage,removable storage,libraries
right click on your drive,properties,device infomation.
-------------------------------------------------------
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.
Also reinstall your DVD decoding application such as PowerDVD, or WinDVD.
If the application is corrupt, reinstalling it will solve the problem.
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.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:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem:
My cdrom icon is missing from "My Computer" and there is an exclamation mark next to it in device manager?
Answer:
1)Go to "Start" then select "Run"
2)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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karell
2 Intern
•
2.5K Posts
0
October 31st, 2003 14:00
Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.
The drive is for C-series portable systems, so it should work with your system.
The problem your going to run into is that your system does not have enough video memory to decode
the dvd movies onboard. DVD playing/decoding is handled by software in todays newer systems.
Unfortunately since your system only have 8MB of video memory, that will not be enough to do the DVD decoding with the DVD software alone. You will also have to purchase and use a PCMCIA DVD Decorder card that will decode the DVD movies on the hardware level, instead of using the software.
When Dell first shipped this system, this is the card we sold for decoding DVD movies.
"Margi DVD-to-Go PCMCIA DVD decoder card."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
There is not an available on-board hardware DVD decoder on the Latitude CPt V-series, or Latitude CPx H-series. Latitude systems will not use the software DVD solution.
The Margi DVD-to-GO PC Card will be available on the Latitude CPt V-series, and Latitude CPx H-series.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
jmfstone
4 Posts
0
November 1st, 2003 15:00
What solution does Dell recommend for this? I have been to Margi website, they no longer make or support the card.
Jack
Karell
2 Intern
•
2.5K Posts
0
November 3rd, 2003 14:00
What solution does Dell recommend for this?
We don't have one, the newer system have enough hardware support to simply use the DVD decoding software and not need additional DVD decoding hardware.
DVDs do play well just from software on this maching.
I find this very interesting, can you provide more info.
What system model do you have?
What video card or size of video memory do you have?
What DVD decoding software are you using?
mycherryrocks
1 Message
0
December 21st, 2003 13:00
Karell
2 Intern
•
2.5K Posts
0
December 22nd, 2003 13:00
Mycherryrocks,
Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.
The following CDRW/DVD combo drive is a C-series drive.
It should work in your Latitude CPX-H as it also uses C-series drives.
24X/10X/24X CD-RW and 8X DVD-ROM.
The problem is that the CPX-H does not have an onboard decoder card.
So, the decoding of DVD movies may or may not work with a Software Decoder like WinDVD or PowerDVD.
You may also have to purchase a Margi DVD to GO decoder card to use with the drive.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DVD
There is not an available on-board hardware DVD decoder on the The Inspiron 3700, Latitude CPt V-series, or Latitude CPx H-series.
The DVD solution for the Inspiron 3700 system is Software CineMaster, from Ravisent.
Latitude systems will not use the software DVD solution.
The Margi DVD-to-GO PC Card will be available on the Latitude CPt V-series, and Latitude CPx H-series.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SwakMar
1 Message
0
December 29th, 2003 00:00
Hi,
Short question because this relates to my problem... i have the same laptop with a Matshita UJDA330 CD/CDRW... Recently bought a LG dvd/rom DNR8080b, it worked fine on the other laptop, including the DVD functions, but on mine it does not read at all... my laptop "sees" and recognizes the hardware, but i can not even read any cd's or dvd's - i have searched the site and FAQ's, made some minor registry changes as suggested, I have the latest bios but could not find drivers for the LG... am i doing something wrong?
Mario
Karell
2 Intern
•
2.5K Posts
0
December 30th, 2003 14:00
At minimum the drive should be able to read store purchased CD's.
In order to burn cd or play DVDs, you need software installed like Roxio Easy CD Creator or WinDVD or Power DVD.
Here are some basic troubleshooting steps you can try.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DVD General Troubleshooting steps:
--WinDVD studders when playing movies on battery.
Go into Display Properties, Screen Saver tab, clicked on Power, changed power scheme to 'Always On'
--DVD does not display a picture or is blank.
Click Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.
The Control Panel window should appear.
Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
In the list of installed programs, click PCFriendly and click the Add/Remove button.
Follow the on screen instructions to uninstall the software
--DVD drive is not recognized in My Computer or Device manager, but is shown as a CDROM drive.
If you have WinDVD and have updated to the latest patch, then completely uninstall WinDVD.
Then reboot the system and reinstall WinDVD to see if the same problem occurs.
If the problem does not occur, then reinstall the latest patch to see if the patch is causing the problem.
--DVD flickers during play back.
1.Install the latest WinDVD patch.
2.Uninstall your video driver, then download and install the latest version of the video driver.
3.If you do not have access to the Internet, you can perform the following steps.
Click Start, click Run, then type Regedit in the Open box. Click OK.
The Registry Editor window should appear.
Click the plus (+) sign next to each of the following keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Software
Intervideo
Double-click the WinDVD folder.
Double-click HWMC.
Type 0 in the Value Data box.
Click OK.
Close the Registry Editor.
Click Start, click Shutdown, click Restart, and then click OK.
--DVD skips/stutters/is out of sync/ or hangs during playback.
1.Update your DVD decoding software such as PowerDVD or WindDVD with the latest patch or update.
2.Update to the latest video drivers available for your system.
3.Stop all background applications using MSCONFIG in Windows 98,ME, and XP.
4.Reinstall your DVD decoding software.
5.Make sure that hardware acceleration is set to full.
Win98,ME
To confirm that the Video Acceleration is set to "Full" select System in the Control Panel.
Click on the Performance Tab, and then on the Graphics Button. Move the slider bar, all the way to "Full."
Then click Apply and OK to all windows.
Win2000 and XP
Click on Start, Control Panel, Display.
Click the Settings Tab, Advanced Button, Troubleshoot tab.
Make sure Hardware Acceleration is set to Full.
Also make sure that Enable Write Combining is enabled.
If the above options are already enabled, try disabling Write Combining and reducing Hardware Acceleration one notch.
Click Apply and Ok.
6.Disable Auto Insert Notification.
Win98,ME
Click Start |Settings | Control Panel.
Double click the System icon, then select the Device Manager tab.
Double-click the CD-ROM icon, and single-click the entry for the DVD drive.
Click on the Properties button, and then the Settings tab.
Locate the checkbox labeled Auto-Insert Notification and click the checkbox to select or de-select it.
Click OK to save the change. At this point, you may need to restart for the change to become active.
Win2000 and XP
Open My Computer.
Right click on your CDROM drive and click properties.
Click the Autoplay tab.
Choose the media format file type, such as Music file or Video file.
Click on the red circle for Take No Action.
Click Apply and Ok.
7.Confirm that DMA is enabled.
Win98,ME
Select Control Panel from the Settings list in the Start menu.
Double-click the System icon, then select the Device Manager tab.
Double-click the CD-ROM icon, and single-click the entry for the DVD drive.
Click on the Properties button, and then the Settings tab.
Locate the checkbox labeled DMA and click the checkbox to select or de-select it.
Click OK to save the change. At this point, you may need to restart for the change to become active
Win2000 and XP
Click on Start, Control Panel, System.
Click the Hardware Tab, Device Manager button.
Click the + next to IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
Right click on the Primary IDE Channel and click properties.
Click the Advanced Settings Tab.
Make sure that Transfer Mode is set to DMA if Available.
You must also repeat these steps for the Secondary IDE Channel listing.
8. Try the ReClock DirectShow Filter.
http://ogo.nerim.net/reclockfilter/
Info provided by Harald Becker forum member.
Description:
The purpose of ReClock is to definitely get rid of jerky playback of AVI and MPEG material on a PC (or a PC connected to a TV). It's a DirectShow filter which is loaded in place of the default directsound audio renderer.
It provides a new reference clock that is locked to the video card hardware clock, in order to ensure that frames are played at the exact speed of what is expected by the video card vertical sync.
It also provides a frame rate adaptator for media files that do not match a multiple of the video card refresh rate (ex: playback of 23,976fps IVTC NTSC on a PAL TV).
Finally it is an audio renderer with hardware or software rate adaptation in real-time, multi-channel audio, and dynamic range compression capabilities.
For a full description of ReClock, please read carefully the README file in the distribution. There is also a little FAQ at the bottom of the page that answers common questions.
9.Turn off indexing for the drive.
To verify if a CD, DVD, CDRW drive has been indexed, perform the following;
Right Click on My Computer and choose Manage
Click the plus sign next to Applications and Services
Click the plus sign next to Indexing Service
Click the plus next to System
Select Directories
A list of directories that have been indexed will appear in the window to the right. Look for any entries that include the Drive letter of the optical device, such as D:\
If an entry for an optical device exists, perform the following action;
1. Double click on the appropriate entry
2. Select the Radio Button for No under the Include in the Index? Section
It is suggested that a reboot is performed at this time.
--Drive is not recognized in the system bios or by Windows at all.
Or- the drive does not play any media or has problems reading media.
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.If the drive is in MS_DOS Mode or does not show up under My Computer, and may also have a yellow exclamation in device manager.
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""
Question:
How do I find my DVD drives firmware revision in Windows XP:
Right click my computer,manage,expand storage,removable storage,libraries
right click on your drive,properties,device infomation.
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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.
Also reinstall your DVD decoding application such as PowerDVD, or WinDVD.
If the application is corrupt, reinstalling it will solve the problem.
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.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:
1)Go to "Start" then select "Run"
2)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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