Dell Inspiron notebook, XP Pro SP2, DVD/CD Combo drive. Problematic reading issues. I'll try to put this in order. There's a lot going on. Will be using 2 CD's (ACD and BCD) (it doesn't matter what disks are used, music, data, etc., the behaviour is the same).

1. Notebook in on, put in ACD, open Explorer. Does not read directory/files (d/f's) on CD and DON'T get an error about not being able to access the drive or put in disk.

2. Reboot notebook (leave ACD in) and the disk is read fine, no problem. ACD can be removed and put back in and it is always read. HOWEVER changed disks with BCD and the drive will not read d/f's.

3. Reboot as in #2 and it's the same scenario. The drive will not read a NEW disk.

Workaround:

1. Open Control Panel/System/Hardware/Device Manager.
2. Open DVD/CD-ROM Drives.
3. Double-click (or Right-Click/Properties).
4. Click on the Volumes tab.
5. Click the Populate button. All information is filled in. DO NOT CLOSE.
6. Open Explorer. Click on D:\ drive (the drive letter for this drive). The files are there.
7. Close Device Manager.

This has to be done anytime you put in a new disk of any sort.

I have unistalled the drive, I have gone to Dell for the latest drivers, done a search in hopes of finding other drivers. DVD Region is 1.

Don't really think it's so much hardware as software, but thought I'd start here before posting in software (I'm new here and don't want to be ostracized or branded for a cross-poster... as opposed to a cross-dresser, which is for another forum altogether).

After uninstalling the drivers, you should also follow up with a registry cleaner.

One of my computers did the same thing, for a long time until I finally fixed it.

It may also have to do with what you may be using to view your media and hear your media. In other words, the problem may be from from you have installed on your computer, which is disrupting the drive(s) drivers.

please advise us type nr of this drive...

Walkman,
Nothing is really loaded on the notebook outside of what came with the Dell install (Roxio, MS Media Player... oh sorry, I replaced Roxio with Nero). I'll try the uninstall and registry cleanup.

Fozzie,
Don't understand "nr of the drive."

Okay, unistalling the DVD and cleaning the registry did not help.

Next.

Go into Device Manager again and delete the drive. This time, after you reboot, do not install any cd\dvd drivers. Let Windows do it for you automatically.

Sorry for not answering sooner. When the device is removed, I've never installed the driver/device, Windows has always installed it.

Since this is not the hardware at fault, I'm going to try the software part of BC. I say it's not hardware because the drive will read under certain circumstances (i.e. booting/rebooting with desired DVD/CD in drive or populate the device from device manager.

JWH

It can still be a hardware problem - either an intermittent problem or a problem related to certain functions that are being called from the drive.

But, working with the software is easier (and cheaper) than replacing the drive.

Here's a tweak that may or may not work for you (I know that it's not the situation you're in - but it's worth a shot): http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...b;EN-US;q320553

Try this free CD/DVD burner to see if it works. It doesn't require installation - so it'll bypass most of the Windows and CD software that's installed: http://www.silentnight2004.com/microburner.html If it works without issues - then it's likely that it is a software problem.