BleepingComputer.com: Driver help & a good technician

Hello all

I'm new at this so squint so you can read this until I learn to get away from the "insurance" small print.
Of course I guess I'm lucky to get in here at all , Have been trying to find someone who can & will help me with my computer problem/s.
I have an Optorite DVD RW DD0401 DVD/CD writer /player which was installed by a local computer repair shop in East Tennessee,Needless to say he couldn't get it to work. .After several housecalls it / we decided he was wasting his time and my money.
This computer is "Generic" HOMEMADE, With Windows XP Professinal 32 bit

My problem "one of them"is. How do you get a Windows compatable driver for this unit when you don't have the installation disk or any paperwork on it.
Optorite has no website "that I can find, Tiger direct.com in Miami Fl. is the warrantee servicer . I have tried contacting them without any results
And folks that my sad tae of woe for this lovely New years Day .
Can you help me . All help and advice greatly appreciated. Thank you
OLD FELLER
HAPPY NEW YEAR

Edit: Moved topic from XP to the more appropriate forum. ~ Animal

Quote

Exactly what drivers do you need - Just the Optorite DVD RW DD0401 DVD/CD writer /player or more than that -
You seem to have an XP system installed already, so you needed a CD for that -

Take a look here for all the information about your drive: Optorite DD0401 Dual DVD Recorder

Use the pull down menu to get additional information and tech specs for your drive.

As for drivers, I was able to find this: Optorite DD0401 DVD¡ÀRW Firmware 160E Windows download

if computer doesn't see cdrom then firmwear will not help '
windows shouldn't need drivers for the ,cdrom to work ,something i wrong with the device in my opinion you need to try another dvd drive to see what happens,also i suggest you return it to the place you bought the drive

This post has been edited by caperjac: 02 January 2011 - 08:58 AM

Hi Folks

Thank you for the response/s, Never having being accused of being smart I am going to reply to each response in the order received.
# 1 NOKNOJON, My quote as to my computer being "generic" HOMEMADE,It is.
It's a Sys case with various components, It has a Biostar Motherboard except at that time it was called a"Mainboard"The reason I know that is I keep loose parts in the box it came in. I don't have any of the installation disks that came with it except Windows 98 & Windows 98se.Optorite DVD RW DD0401 was installed in October of 2010 by a technician that may (MAY NOT) know a little more about computers than I do.He could never get it to work and according to him he doesn't have the installation disk or and user manuals on it.
So this just left me with an almost useless computer.So as far as I know at this time all I need is a Windows compatable driver for this Optorite DVD RW writer.
But without the installation disk Windows will not let me download the disk I need (Which is a Microsoft driver)File version5.1.2600.5512 I did get a new computer for Christmas, It's a Compaq CQ5600Y with Windows 7 Home premium .
One other question, ( Well everyone needs a good laugh once in a while.)
I am so disgusted with the technicians we have here that I am studying to do my own repairs(Now you can laugh)
I am using the following books, The complete computer repair text book 3rd. edition , By Cheryl A. Schmidt,
The complete PC upgrade and Maintenance guide 16th. edition, By Mark Minasi
& Upgrading & repairing PCs 19th.edition , By Scott Mueller
Do you know any better training manuals? Or am I whistling Dixie?
Thank you
oldfeller

P.S. Whew , Thought I had lost my reply to you. I just got shutdown by a "stop error screen # 0X000000D1 (0x6917e8eb,0xOOOOOOO2,0x00000001,0xf55c939c)
rdbss, sys -address f55c9393 base at f55c9000
Datestamp 48025EE6

did you buy the dvd from said tech,if so i think he sould you a faulty device

Good Morning

Animal , Caperjac

Thanks for the response to my call for help, I do appreciate it.
Animal I have used the site you referred me to for the driver for my Optorite DVD RW DD0401 writer / player. I downloaded "driverfinderpro" Let's just say they are a lot easier to download than they are to uninstall.

Caperjac You are right about the technician selling me a defective DVD player.
Sorry but in East Tennessee there is no law against stupidity. Him for calling himself a computer technician, ME for letting him work on my computer.
Maybe if I keep studying computer repairs I will learn at least enough to not let these fellers in my computer.
Thanks to everyone.
Old Feller

Random stuff, sorry to be harsh.

There have been no individual drivers specifically for a CD/DVD drive since XP was released. The only relevent drivers are for the IDE/ATAPI controller, and chances are if those were borked, your hard drive would be having problems as well. Are there any yellow exclamation marks by any device in "Device Manager"? What XP service pack are you running?

oldfeller82, on 03 January 2011 - 09:08 AM, said:

Unless a post was edited, I don't think downloading "driverfinderpro" was suggested. I think you clicked the wrong link on those pages. No one of good conscience would suggest installing that program on a system. That is one reason I am hesitant to post links to some drivers/utilities as it is easy to click on the big "Download" button, and download something usless/annoying.

I have a few questions

Was the original cdrom drive in this system replaced?
If so, why?

Is this an IDE drive? If so, all you need to do to get it to work is to plug a power lead and data cable into the back of the device. Thats all. No drivers are required.

If you go into the system BIOS does the BIOS see the drive?
To enter the BIOS as soon as the system starts to boot and you get video there should be a prompt that says something like hit DELETE to enter setup.

Does the cdrom tray open?
All that would indicate is that it is getting power. If the tray doesnt open its not getting power and therefore will not work.

Hello
I will try to explain as best I can about my computer.
# 1 and biggest problem is me , I'm not smart enough to have a computer.Our Son in law brought this computer in here in boxes with the different thing he was going to install.
As earlier stated I don't have any of the installation disks except Windows 98 & Windows 98se.
I was ask if the computer had a CD writer /player, Yes it has a Plector CD-R PXW2410A
It was replaced by the technician I have discussed in my statements. The replacement was an Optorite DVD RW DD 0401 DVD /CD writer / player.
I was also told today in a reply to my call for help that all I had to do was plug the power cord in and that it did not need a driver,The following is a Trouble shooting report I got before I had the Plector replaced
CD/DVD reading & writing issues found. Drive is not capable of burning, Names Plector.
Install a CD/DVD writer.
Issues checked Class filter driver are corrupt,(Repeated on next line)
Devise is not workking properly, Drive is disabled. Drive is not assigned a drive letter
One or more class-specific filter drivers are missing or corrupt..
The frosting on the cake ,When you go into the drivers to check them . You are told the drivers are working properly. And if you are having problems click troubleshooting.
This is the gist of the report but it goes on for two (2) pages repeating what it has found. Without the Manufacturers installation disk the "Wizard " shines the flashlight on the monitor screen for a while and then says it can't continue with the installation.
When you attempt to update the driver you are told your deriver is as good as the one you want to update to .
Thank you
Old feller