DVD Rom Drive Issues

Miroslav

Having only had my DVD Rom drive fixed last Tuesday, it's messing up again!

It stopped working during a burning session, and after a PC restart, it would not work before.

I called PC Service Call, they went through a few things with me and discovered the CD Drive was fine when not used in Windows (ME)

Since then, CD's have started working in Windows again, but, my Easy CD Creator still says my drive is not a recordable CD Drive.

Also, if I purchased an external DVD Drive, would it work on my PC? I have an oldish machine which has 1.1 USB? But the drives apparently need 2.0? Is there a way around this?

Thanks

T4i

Windows ME is a nightmare! You'd be much better with 98SE, but thats just my opinion.

An external DVD should work fine on your computer, if you only have USB1.1 then the DVD should work at a lower speed. USB2.0 is backwards compatible with USB1.1 - u just wont get USB2.0 data transer speeds.

You can buy a PCI card though that will support USB2.0, if you have a free PCI slot.

Something like this.. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000WWP60/qid=1146672428/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_1_4/202-3014639-6912630

Have you not got a copy of Nero you could try. I've had many complaints with Roxio software.

Miroslav

T4i wrote:

Windows ME is a nightmare! You'd be much better with 98SE, but thats just my opinion.

An external DVD should work fine on your computer, if you only have USB1.1 then the DVD should work at a lower speed. USB2.0 is backwards compatible with USB1.1 - u just wont get USB2.0 data transer speeds.

You can buy a PCI card though that will support USB2.0, if you have a free PCI slot.

Something like this.. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000WWP60/qid=1146672428/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_1_4/202-3014639-6912630

Have you not got a copy of Nero you could try. I've had many complaints with Roxio software.

I was thinking of buying XP and upgrading

850Mhz processor
192mb Ram

Any use to me?

I asked at PC World and they said 2.0 would not work, however PC Service Call said it would, but may not properly, so I am confused.

I've no idea about PCI slots or anything, I am not very techincail.

I have Nero here somewhere, but I seem to recall it didn't like my machine....

I downloaded a burner once before that was quite good, can't remember what it was..........never had probs with Roxio before now

T4i

XP will run on those specs.....The RAM you have though will be hammered by XP as it has lots of 'extras'.

It will run, what do you use the computer for? Is it just basic browsing and office type applications?

You'd be better with 98SE though. Unless you bought some more RAM.

PC World are funny.....did they give you a reason it wouldnt work? I'm sure USB2.0 is backwards compatible with USB1.1.

Miroslav

T4i wrote:

XP will run on those specs.....The RAM you have though will be hammered by XP as it has lots of 'extras'.

It will run, what do you use the computer for? Is it just basic browsing and office type applications?

You'd be better with 98SE though. Unless you bought some more RAM.

PC World are funny.....did they give you a reason it wouldnt work? I'm sure USB2.0 is backwards compatible with USB1.1.

How much RAM would I need to upgrade too?

Internet Browsing, CD Burning, Football Manager/Championship Manager games (No serious graphic games) and MS Word etc is all I use it for.

They just said by USB wasn't up to date enough for my PC to handle it.

Thanks

Miroslav

BTW, downloaded 'Cheetah CD Burner' from Download.com - it's just burnt a CD perfectly.

I'm confused, as sometimes CD's play, and sometimes they won't! But Easy CD Creator won't burn a thing!

albertross_2

If it is a PC, as opposed to a laptop, you could get a DVD writer for around £30, or a DVD ROM/CD-Writer for half that, and wouldn't have to worry about usb issues (which are backward and forward compatible). USB drives usually cost much more than a bare internal drive.

If the burner works with cheetah, and not easy CD, it sounds like a software issue, try reinstalling easy CD.

As far as upgrading to XP is concerned, it would almost be cheaper to buy a new Dell PC by the time you have bought XP, upgraded to 512 MB of ram, and a new DVD drive.

T4i

Easy CD creator has a problem with your DVD then.

You could try updating your version of Roxio here..

http://www.roxio.com/en/support/software_updates.jhtml

Your question about 'How much RAM' is a hard one. XP runs sweet on 512mb, it runs even better on 1GB and more. BIG games with BIG maps need the RAM, otherwise it takes yonks for the games to load up.

All the stuff you do arn't RAM hungry. If you want XP I would say 256mb - 512mb would be ok.

If you goto http://www.crucial.com/uk/systemscanner/ and scan your system you will know what modules are already installed and what spec they are, then you can get onto pricing some up to see if its worth doing (you may have 3 slots for RAM, you may also have all 3 slots filled up - in this case you would have to get rid of some to put some more in - if that makes sense)

Miroslav

albertross wrote:

If it is a PC, as opposed to a laptop, you could get a DVD writer for around £30, or a DVD ROM/CD-Writer for half that, and wouldn't have to worry about usb issues (which are backward and forward compatible). USB drives usually cost much more than a bare internal drive.

If the burner works with cheetah, and not easy CD, it sounds like a software issue, try reinstalling easy CD.

As far as upgrading to XP is concerned, it would almost be cheaper to buy a new Dell PC by the time you have bought XP, upgraded to 512 MB of ram, and a new DVD drive.

Well, I have a DVD Rom drive installed, I was thinking of external as a backup, as my warranty runs out July 28th.

Tried re-installing, but to no avail - I will continue with Cheetah for the 15 day trial, then worry about it! I have found Nero 5, may give that a go, or download another.

I am considering a new PC. This one is old, always knackering out, my monitor has lost 2 pins in the connection, but still works, and rather than buy a new monitor, XP etc, may just save the £150 I have, try and add to it over the next few months and get another PC!

Thanks.

Miroslav

T4i wrote:

Easy CD creator has a problem with your DVD then.

You could try updating your version of Roxio here..

http://www.roxio.com/en/support/software_updates.jhtml

Your question about 'How much RAM' is a hard one. XP runs sweet on 512mb, it runs even better on 1GB and more. BIG games with BIG maps need the RAM, otherwise it takes yonks for the games to load up.

All the stuff you do arn't RAM hungry. If you want XP I would say 256mb - 512mb would be ok.

If you goto http://www.crucial.com/uk/systemscanner/ and scan your system you will know what modules are already installed and what spec they are, then you can get onto pricing some up to see if its worth doing (you may have 3 slots for RAM, you may also have all 3 slots filled up - in this case you would have to get rid of some to put some more in - if that makes sense)

Tried the update, but it didn't work. Oh well, had Roxio for ages, but if I can find any that works, it will do for now! Free is even better!

As I said to albertross, it may be better to save up for a new PC over the next few months. My requirements aren't too much. I find my 20GB harddrive more than sufficient, and I have Rambooster

I have 2 RAM slots, one 64MB the other 128MB. I may consider upgrading RAM.

Thanks for that link - off to test it out

T4i

albertross wrote:

If it is a PC, as opposed to a laptop, you could get a DVD writer for around £30, or a DVD ROM/CD-Writer for half that.

Quality advice. If your not happy with taking the side of your p.c then think again. Its a simple proceedure.

5-20mins of a job. Take both sides of p.c (about 4 screws) unplug the power connector (MOLEX) from your exisiting CD drive. Unplug the IDE cable. Unscrew the screws holding the drive in place (4 scrws)

Slide the unit out, slide the new unit in. Then do the above backwards. You may even have a empty slot for another drive, in which case you dont have to take the old one out.

If you do deciede to do it this wat remember the MOLEX plug will only fit in one way, the IDE connecter has a pink/red line down one-side, this goes closest to the MOLEX plug. You really cant go wrong!