DVD+RW disappears

  • Thread starter Thread starter Elliott Alterman
  • Start date Start date
E

Elliott Alterman

The DVD+RW (Drive E) on my machine doesn't appear on Windows Explorer any
more. I used it 2 days ago - but now it's "gone."

Any thoughts on possible causes - and fixes?

TIA
 
Update

Not only has it disappeared, but my Zip drive, formerly F, now appears as E
and I just got a message from XP that if "found new hardware" and "Problem
occurred with new hardware installation"

Yechh.

Any ideas?
 
Thanks.

What I ended up doing was (a) power off, (b) pull all USB cables, (c) power
on and do a general look-see (looked ok), (d) power off, (e) recable, (f)
power on.

It works again!.
 
Hi, Elliott.

Now, may I suggest one more step. Go to Disk Management. (At the Run
prompt, type: diskmgmt.msc) Use Disk Management to specifically assign
drive letters to each of your CD/DVD drives. Then you (and WinXP) should
always know where to find them.

WinXP assigns drive letters each time it starts, using a built-in algorithm.
(Primary partitions first; then logical drives in extended partitions; then
devices that use drivers, such as Zips, SyQuests, CD/DVDs, etc.; with
letters for network drives and removable devices such as the popular little
USB "key" drives in there somewhere, too.) Depending on what is plugged in
the next time you boot, the drive letters may or may not be the same as the
last time. But, if we use DM to specifically assign a letter to a drive,
then WinXP will attempt to assign that same letter to the same drive each
time we reboot.

It also is a very good practice to assign letters for CD/DVD drives so that
they won't conflict with hard drive letters as you add or reorganize drives
and partitions. For example, my DVD-ROM is Drive V: and my CD-RW is Drive
W: - and they keep those letters even after I plug or unplug my little USB
key drive.

RC
 
Good idea - will do.

Thanks


R. C. White said:
Hi, Elliott.

Now, may I suggest one more step. Go to Disk Management. (At the Run
prompt, type: diskmgmt.msc) Use Disk Management to specifically assign
drive letters to each of your CD/DVD drives. Then you (and WinXP) should
always know where to find them.

WinXP assigns drive letters each time it starts, using a built-in algorithm.
(Primary partitions first; then logical drives in extended partitions; then
devices that use drivers, such as Zips, SyQuests, CD/DVDs, etc.; with
letters for network drives and removable devices such as the popular little
USB "key" drives in there somewhere, too.) Depending on what is plugged in
the next time you boot, the drive letters may or may not be the same as the
last time. But, if we use DM to specifically assign a letter to a drive,
then WinXP will attempt to assign that same letter to the same drive each
time we reboot.

It also is a very good practice to assign letters for CD/DVD drives so that
they won't conflict with hard drive letters as you add or reorganize drives
and partitions. For example, my DVD-ROM is Drive V: and my CD-RW is Drive
W: - and they keep those letters even after I plug or unplug my little USB
key drive.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
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