Rich--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
This means a few specifics goes a long way toward helping someone help you.
"when i try to do a clean install I get an error message that says I need to
put in the dvd drivers. when I put the sony disk into the drive it says they
aren't there."
When you try to do a clean install of *what in the world* Rich??? DVD
***druvers*** doesn't make much sense to me.
Could you post the key words of the message and number. If you don't have
it putting eventvwr.msc in the run box and clicking on Application>use down
error to scan the errors logged at the time your problem occurred. By Sony
Disc I assume you mean media --a CD or a DVD not a CD or DVD writer. You
can also check the bios to make sure that your optical drives show up in the
list, that if you enter each item it is not off and on automatic.
This message is pretty nebulous. Most new DVD writers don't have "drivers."
Extrapolating from what you've typed I'm going to guess you mean what we see
all the time and that is that you can't find your DVD *drive.*
The most common remedy for this is Part 1 of this article--to delete the
registry filter values.
CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive appears to be missing after you install
Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320553/en-us
This situation is consierably more rare:
CD-R drive or CD-RW drive is not recognized as a recordable device
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316529/en-us
Good luck,
CH