I have a BIG problem. It appears that my CD drives are dead. There is a problem with the drivers, and I can't get them to work. I have tried to get the drivers from various websites, but they will not work. Obviously, I can't get them from the Windows CD. I am convinced that there is more going on than meets the eye. I am quite sure that my motherboard is beginning to fry. When I shut down the computer, I get a Blue screen error about my keyboard driver. It is found in the System 32 folder, and is called kbdclass. I have replaced this driver from a backup copy that I have on another hard drive, but it has not fixed the problem. I am screwed. Without CD support, I can not re-install Windows. Also, the BIOS can not find the DVD drive sometimes. ARGH!!! :cry: :? I am so pissed right now I could just take a hammer to this thing. Any ideas from the Tech crew?
Trust me, I am pretty confident of my computer skills, and I have tried all of the easy fixes that I can think of. I am going to try to find a floppy and make a boot disk to see if I can re-install Windows that way. Any other ideas?

CD drives. do you have access to another working computer? try the CD drives in the other computer to see if they really work or not.

motherboard. do you overclock? if so, put it back to normal speed and see if it helps. if you're not overclocking, are all the cooling devices (heatsinks/fans) working properly? power supply? how about the motherboard battery?

BIOS. besides not finding the DVD drive, are there any other anomalies that show up in the BIOS, like an incorrect clock or a setting reverting back to default? if the BIOS can't hold the correct settings, then it may be that the motherboard battery needs to be replaced.

what recent changes have you made to the computer? new hardware? updated the motherboard BIOS?

a way to isolate the problem is to strip down to the bare minimum. video card, motherboard, processor, 1 stick of RAM, a floppy drive, and a keyboard. if that works, then start adding other stuff one by one until you start seeing a problem.

- clemmentine ( everlasting_lórien / AngelPriestessKayura / Tenku_no_Touma / Korin_no_Seiji / Tempest_Cloud_Arashi )

Agreed Clem. Damn you're good at this stuff. Jarg, did you install EZCD Creator 4 Delux Edition on to an XP OS system? If so, I know the fix. I don't have it but I could find it.

I'd open the case up and make sure your stuff is all plugged in good. Really! Doublecheck it. i don't have any other suggestions right now. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks Clem :D
To answer your questions:


Yep. I switched them out, and still the same problem. Device mgr sees the drive, and when I try to install the drivers, it says that they are corrupt. I have downloaded new drivers, but get the same message.

Nope. Intel 850 mobo. Dell version.


Yes to all. Everything is working okay, except the CD drives. :?


Nope. The battery is okay as well. Tried that too.


The problem started last week. It was sporadic at the time. The BIOS would not detect the CD drives on some occasions, and would detect them on others. This is why I suspect the mobo. I decided that it was time for a re-install of Windows anyway, so I did. That is the only change. No hardware, and I just re-installed all of the stuff that was on the PC to begin with.
The BIOS has remained the same for years. No change.



I have not tried that. Sounds good to me. I hope that It is a hardware problem. I do not think that Dell Computers will accept another type of motherboard. That would be a shame, because I have about $8000 in this rig. :shock: If it is the mobo, then I'm sure Dell would sell me another for around $250, if at all. My other option is to find another Intel 850 for PC 800 RDRAM, and start over again. I would hate to just let this money go to waste. :cry:

Perhaps Max is right. :wink:

Herm, you are on to something there...

Herm typed:


I sure did. After install, when Windows said that the drivers are incompatible, I un-installed the program. There were two shared drivers that were no longer being used left over after un-install, so I deleted the drivers. PLEASE tell me that you know the fix for this. In the mean time, time for some GOOGLE searching.

Thanks Herm :D

This still does not explain the BIOS problem, but it's a start.

I would suspect not just the motherboard, but also the CD drives, the cables, and the power supply. so you did a reinstall of windows AFTER you started having problems with the CD drives?



are you saying that you're getting the same problem with a known good CD drive? if so, check the cable and the connections, and also the power to the CD drive. how is the CD drive connected to the motherboard? if it's IDE, what's connected to the primary and secondary IDE ports? anything else on those ports having problems?


- clemmentine ( everlasting_lórien / AngelPriestessKayura / Tenku_no_Touma / Korin_no_Seiji / Tempest_Cloud_Arashi )

Did you install any software during the period where you noticed your drives starting to have problems? I bet it has everything to do with software and partly with EZCD. I had the same problem on my laptop -- I think Roxio was fighting with another DVDburning software I had installed. I thought my DVD drive was dead and had Dell swap it out. Same thing happened. So I uninstalled all CD/DVD software, started from scratch, made sure the bios and device manager recognized my drive, and then put only the CD/DVD software I needed back on.

Hope Herm's solution works for you.

Mah

Isn't it funny that I guessed that? That is amazing that he and I had the same issue. Yes I have the fix around here somewhere and I will post it for you in just a sec. I did the exactl same thing but uninstalling it doesn't fix it. Don't do anything else towards fixing it until I post the solution OK? Thanks. BRB I hope.

Jarg,

It was so long ago when I did this that I can't remember for sure if this is what I did but I will say this is very very familiar. I did on my system for the fix because I usually save helpful articles and fixes to problems I run into but I couldn't find anything so I went on the google hunt and found this page. I hope it does the trick for you and after reading it, like I said above, this sounds like what I did. Please use at your own risk but I feel good about this. Here it is:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.as ... us;q315345

Good luck and let us know.

Jarg! This is what I used when I had the same problem. Do this instead of the other one though the results will be the same, this is the easier way to do it and this is exactly what I used to fix the same problem. Sorry it took me a few more minutes to find this one but like I said, either one does the same thing and you will get your drives back.

http://www.roxio.com/en/support/kb/ecdc/eez000021.jhtml

Well. I was right. Last night, the mobo conked out on me. Now I am using my old computer... Time to build a whole new computer with the old parts. All I need is a mobo (on order), power supply, and case and I'm back in buisness :D

Thanks for the help folks. I appreciate it a lot.

Heck, while you're at it, give yourself an early Xmas gift and get a 3+Ghz processor and an FSB of at least 800. :lol:

(or buy a Mac :razz: )

yea !!! get one of those or a 2.4 800 Fsb's and O/Clock that puppy :twisted: sweeet :D I would definatly go with the 800 Fsb compatible Mobo for sure ,as some of them are backward compatible to use the 533fsb and you'll be set for a while !! that would be a must for me !!, just my .02 c. , but it would be the way to go :mrgreen: !!


Chef Tri

Actually, I am SERIOUSLY considering an Alienware @ 3.2 Ghz. Sigh... I still don't have the broken P.O.S. paid in full.... Sad...

I know what you mean Jarg. Computers are frickin expensive. Still, you could have worse and more expensive hobbies, like nice cars or crack. :lol: