CD Read Problem

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Dell Christopher

Dell Dimension 4600, WinXP Home, NEC CD-RW

I was enjoying the contents of a CD-R with photos. I took it out and put in
another CD, with completely different content, and it still showed up with
the previous CD contents, using My Computer and Windows Explorer.
Amazingly, it even opens the files it thinks it sees from the first CD. I
am at a loss to explain how this is happening.

The only troubleshooting I did was to uninstall the CD-RW drive thru Device
Mgr, then it reinstalled upon rebooting the computer. Unfortunately, the
problem remains. If anyone can shed some light on how this could be
happening, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!
 
Dell Christopher said:
Dell Dimension 4600, WinXP Home, NEC CD-RW

I was enjoying the contents of a CD-R with photos.
Click to expand...

What viewer were you using?
What graphic programs are installed in your system?

I took it out and put in another CD, with completely different content, and
it still showed up with the previous CD contents, using My Computer and
Windows Explorer.
Click to expand...

This is most unlikely, but nothing is impossible.

Amazingly, it even opens the files it thinks it sees from the first CD. I
am at a loss to explain how this is happening.
Click to expand...

Sound like the the second CD is a duplicate of the first.

The only troubleshooting I did was to uninstall the CD-RW drive thru
Device Mgr, then it reinstalled upon rebooting the computer.
Click to expand...

This was not necessary, and not the cause of the alledged problem.
Was the first CD copied into your harddrive.
You need to supply much more detail, much more!

Mickey
 
Dell Christopher said:
Dell Dimension 4600, WinXP Home, NEC CD-RW

I was enjoying the contents of a CD-R with photos. I took it out and put
in another CD, with completely different content, and it still showed up
with the previous CD contents, using My Computer and Windows Explorer.
Amazingly, it even opens the files it thinks it sees from the first CD. I
am at a loss to explain how this is happening.
Click to expand...

Easy one: The contents of the previous CD have been cached and what you see
is coming from the cache.
The only troubleshooting I did was to uninstall the CD-RW drive thru
Device Mgr, then it reinstalled upon rebooting the computer.
Unfortunately, the problem remains. If anyone can shed some light on how
this could be happening, I would greatly appreciate it.
Click to expand...

For whatever reason, the CD drive is not flagging to XP that the disc has
been ejected and a new one inserted. The usual means is that there is a
what is known as a 'change switch' in the drive that is used to trigger the
process off. It can happen that XP itself has decided to ignore the fact
that the disc has changed. The way to find out is to try the drive on
another PC or to try another drive on the current PC. If the drive is
faulty, they are at least as cheap as chips to replace (<£20).
 
Dell said:
Dell Dimension 4600, WinXP Home, NEC CD-RW

I was enjoying the contents of a CD-R with photos. I took it out and put in
another CD, with completely different content, and it still showed up with
the previous CD contents, using My Computer and Windows Explorer.
Amazingly, it even opens the files it thinks it sees from the first CD. I
am at a loss to explain how this is happening.

The only troubleshooting I did was to uninstall the CD-RW drive thru Device
Mgr, then it reinstalled upon rebooting the computer. Unfortunately, the
problem remains. If anyone can shed some light on how this could be
happening, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

After reading the two responses you've received so far, I wonder if
pressing F5, or opening the drive in "My Computer" or Explorer, pressing
F5 to refresh that view, will display the new content.. I wondered if
the program that was viewing the photos had somehow locked you into that
view. If so, stopping that program might return control.
 
Thanks, Joe, but I did try refreshing the view several times during
troubleshooting. For the record, I was using the Windows Picture and Fax
viewer, and the Thumbnail view when in My Computer/Windows Explorer.
 
Thank you for that insight, M.I. Is there a physical switch on the drive,
perhaps on the back where the power cable plugs in, that I can change? Or
maybe, some adjustment in the drive Properties I can make?
 
Dell Christopher said:
Thank you for that insight, M.I. Is there a physical switch on the drive,
perhaps on the back where the power cable plugs in, that I can change? Or
maybe, some adjustment in the drive Properties I can make?
Click to expand...

Usually there is - its a tiny switch inside the drive itself, but often
these days it is an optical sensor detecting when the drawer is opened.
 
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