FAQs
on Floppy drives, CD-ROM drives and DVD drives
Problems
with removable media, like floppy drives, CD drives, etc, are
usually difficult to diagnose as there are various causes for
a particular problem to occur. So various possibilities should
be checked, one by one, so as to find out what exactly could be
the cause, and the corresponding solution.
Floppy
drive FAQs
CD
FAQs
DVD
FAQs
Floppy
drive FAQs
Floppy
drive does not read from or write to floppy disks
This
is a very common problem with floppy disks. The first thing
to do is to check the disk. You could try changing diskettes
a few times unless you are sure that the floppy disks are not
faulty. Try a good, properly formatted diskette in your suspect
drive. A faulty disk can generate some very strange read and
write problems.
Try
cleaning the read/write heads in the floppy drive. There are
head cleaning disks available in the market that do a good job
of cleaning the drive. However, make sure that you do not run
the drive with a head-cleaning disk inserted for more than 30
seconds at a time, or you could damage the heads with excessive
friction.
Next,
check the signal cable. Make sure that the drive’s 34-pin ribbon
cable is attached securely at the drive and at the drive controller.
Try re-attaching the signal cable if it is loose, or rather,
try another signal cable to be sure that this is not the problem.
If
the problem persists, chances are that the floppy drive is defective.
It could be that the head read/write system has failed. Try
replacing the floppy drive with a known or a good drive from
another system to check if this is the problem.
If
changing the floppy drive too does not resolve the problem,
you may have a defective floppy drive controller circuit. If
this is the case, you may also receive a floppy drive or controller
error from the system BIOS while booting. To solve this, disable
the existing floppy controller and installing an expansion card
controller, with only the floppy controller portion enabled.
Contents
of the previous floppy disk get displayed in Windows Explorer
After
I replace a floppy disk in the drive with a new one and view
it in Windows Explorer, it shows me the contents of the previous
disk, rather than the current one. To view the current floppy
disk's contents, I have to restart the machine. Why does this
happen? What should I do to get rid of the problem?
This
problem is often referred to as the ‘phantom directory’ problem,
where your machine fails to refresh the contents of the disk
and, instead the contents of the previous disk are shown. If
this happens, do not try to write anything to the disk, as this
may damage the FAT table of the disk and chances are that the
contents of the disk will become inaccessible. The problem occurs
due to a faulty drive or bad signal cable. You should first
check the signal cable to see if it is properly secured at both
ends. You could also replace the cable, as this is usually the
suspect.
Next,
you should check the drive's jumpers, although this could be
a problem only if the floppy drive is new. Jumpers on some floppy
drives allow the Disk Change signal to be enabled or disabled.
Make sure that the Disk Change signal is enabled.
If
the problem is not still solved, then you should replace the drive.
Floppy
drive LED stays on at boot-up
The
problem here is that one end of the drive cables has been inserted
backwards. Open the CPU case and make sure that pin 1 on the
34-pin cable is aligned properly with the connector on both
the drive and controller. This usually solves the problem. Although
rare, failure of the drive controller can also cause the problem.
Replacing
older floppy drive as drive A
I
have an old system with an old 5.25-inch floppy drive as the
A drive. Now I have bought a 3.5-inch drive, which I would like
to be the A drive, so that the older one becomes B drive. Could
you tell me what things to look out for?
Your
first step is to check the cables. For floppy cables with a
wire twist, the end-most connector is for drive A and the connector
just before the twist is for drive B. Make sure these are connected
right.
Next,
check the floppy drive jumpers. The floppy drive which you want
as the A drive should have its jumper setting as DS0 (Drive
select 0); the floppy drive for B should be DS1 (Drive Select
1). Finally, check the CMOS settings. In Standard CMOS setup,
configure drive A and drive B as appropriate or use the option
of swapping floppy drives. This should solve the problem.
Read/Write
errors on extra floppy drive
I
recently installed an extra floppy drive on my Pentium II machine
running on Windows 98. After this was installed, Windows gives
a lot of read or write errors whenever I try to read/write from/to
the drive. I even reinstalled Windows, but the problem persists.
Reinstalling
Windows will not solve the problem as this is a problem of the
floppy drive. It could be that during installation, you left
the terminating resistors in place on the second floppy drive.
The terminating resistor pack on the drive is at the end of
the chain cable. Check
that the terminating resistors are in place on drive A and remove
the terminating resistors from the second drive (probably drive
B).If
this is not the cause of the problem, check if the signal cables
are installed securely on both drives. Faulty cables can cause
signal problems, resulting in read/write errors.
Error
making Windows 98 Startup disk from Add/Remove Programs
I
tried to make a Windows 98 Sstartup disk from the Add/Remove
Programs in Windows’ Control Panel. But even after many tries,
I am unable to do so. It always shows up some error and stops
the process midway. Is there any other method to do this? The
problem does not lie in the method; bad sectors on the floppy
disk or a damaged first sector are root causes of this problem.
To solve the problem, first try a different disk, if you have
not done so already. Be very sure that you eliminate the problem
of faulty disks before trying anything else. Next, check the
settings of your anti-virus software, if any. Some anti-virus
software could cause conflicts in floppy drive operations. Disable
the anti-virus program while making the Startup disk and see
if the problem is solved. Finally, check the CMOS settings.
Verify the floppy drive parameters against the actual physical
drives in the system, then make sure that the correct data is
entered in CMOS.
However,
if you would like to create a bootable floppy using another
method, you could do so from pure DOS mode. Insert the floppy
disk in the drive, enter the following command
and
press Enter. The /s switch will copy the
system files on the floppy.
CD-ROM
drive does not read disks
My
CD-ROM drive is listed in the Windows Device manager, but it
refuses to operate. It does not read disks and sometimes a few
buttons of the CD also do not operate. Please help.
It
could be that the drive is aging and is malfunctioning. However,
before going for another drive, you should try the following.
Check the connections of the drive. It could be that one or
more buttons of the drive are badly connected. The problem could
also lie in a micro-controller which is defective or which fails
to reset properly. Another cause of the problem is that the
drive gets missing or bad voltages from power supply. In such
cases, you may need to have the CD-ROM drive checked by your
vendor.
Problems
with CD tray
Whenever
I insert a CD in the CD tray, the CD tray comes out automatically
after a while. Sometimes, it refuses to eject and sometimes
it refuses to go in. Please help me fix this erratic behaviour.
Such
behaviour is often caused due to dirty sense switch contacts
or bad connections in the CD drive. There could also be other
reasons why this may happen, such as worn out or stretched belt
of the drive, poor or gummed up lubrication, defective motor
or bad connections to the motor, stripped gear or other mechanical
damage, defective micro-controller or other logic circuitry.
Chances are that none of these problems can be fixed by you,
nor are they easy to diagnose. Your best bet would be to get
the drive and the system serviced/checked by an authorised service
engineer.
CD-ROM
takes too long to complete operations on insertion of disc
When
I insert a disc in my CD-ROM drive, the operations take too
long to complete. For example, Wisndows Explorer takes a long
time to show the contents of the disk. Sometimes, this simply
fails and I end up rebooting the PC. Please help me fix this
problem.
If
this problem occurs only with a particular disc, chances are
that this disc is dirty, scratched, or defective. If this problem
occurs with most of the discs, then you could try cleaning the
drive first, which would involve cleaning the dirty or damaged
objective lens.
If
this does not fix the problem, then there is something seriously
wrong with the drive. There could be problems such as a faulty
sled motor or drive IC, faulty control logic, bad cables, faulty
tracking or CLV servo, or an engaged transportation lock. You
will have to get the drive checked.
Starting
Windows 95 in Safe Mode with CD-ROM drive support
It
is possible to access the CD drive in Safe Mode. To do so, you
must first edit the Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files to load
the real mode CD drivers. Then, restart Windows in Command Prompt
that loads the modified Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files, which
in turn, will load the CD drivers.
Now,
enter the following command
Win
/D:M
and
press Enter, to start Windows in Safe Mode with the CD drive
support.
I
recently purchased a CD, which claimed to have a few good software.
However, when I used it on my PC, my drive refused to read it.
However, when one of my friends used the CD on his drive, the
CD worked, although it gave a few ‘seeking’ problems. However,
the software got installed without a glitch. There is no problem
when my drive reads other CDs. What exactly is the problem?
It
is very likely that the CD you are talking about carries pirated
software. Such CDs are actually CD-Rs (recordable CDs), which
can be quite variable in quality. They are often produced on
a low cost writer of questionable design and calibration. It
would be advisable not to use such CDs, neither on your drive,
nor on your friend’s drive, which somehow reads the CD.
Apart
from the problem being caused because of the CD-R being of inferior
quality, it is quite common for a CD-R disc to play or read
fine on one drive and not even get recognised on another drive.
This is because there is a difference in the manufacturing process
of different CD-Rs. This implies that different CD-Rs have different
properties like reflectivity, etc. Thus, there is variation
in the ability of different drives in reading different CDs.
Using
the old CD drive as a stand-alone CD player after upgrading drive
I
have upgraded from my old 10x CD drive to a new, 52x CD drive.
Is it possible to use my old drive as a stand-alone CD player?
For
most common CD drives, this is possible. All you need is a voltage
regulator/adapter to power the drive. You would, however, face
a problem in the controls. Usually the controls are also available
in the form of combinations of a couple of buttons on the drive.
You will either have to find this yourself, or search the Net
to find out the button combinations for your particular drive.
Usually, such a combination will give you play, eject, next
track functions or a volume control that can be pushed to start
play and move to the next track. There is usually a jack on
the front panel, where you can plug in your headphones. If you
need to plug in the speakers of your stereo system, you will
have to use a suitable adapter that will allow the line outputs
in the rear to be connected to the CD or AUX inputs of your
stereo system.
CDs
do not autorun
The
problem occurs if there is an incorrect entry in the registry.
Please be careful while editing the registry and make a backup
first. Go to Start
> Run. Type
regedit and click OK. Navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
and modify the binary value for the NoDriveTypeAutoRun key to
0000 95 00 00 00. This should take care of the problem.
Writing
to CD-R gives buffer underrun error
A
CD-R requires an uninterrupted data stream from the hard drive
to write successfully to a CD. A buffer underrun message appears
when the data stream is interrupted. This may also occur if
another program interrupts the writing process or if your writer’s
write speed is set too high. Try recording at a lower speed.
Make sure that no other program is running which could possibly
interfere with your CD writing process. Examples of such programs
are usually fax programs, e-mail programs, screen savers, etc.
Close or disable any such programs. To be sure, you could also
try turning off the power saving features of the PC. Basic maintenance
of your PC and some tweaks would also help. This should include
scanning and defragmenting the hard disk regularly. In the Windows
temp folder, clean the files and folders that you do not require
often.
Recording
more than the stated disc capacity on a CD-R
CD-Rs
allow enough space to hold at least 74 minutes of CD-DA audio
CD format. The format defines the number of tracks on the disc
that contain digital audio data and the error correction routines
that save sound from minor data loss. The format allows for
a total of 74 minutes of digital sound to be transferred at
a rate of 150 kilobytes per second (KB/sec) and 90 seconds of
digital silence. The silent area, called the ‘lead-out’, is
included so that a CD player realises that it has reached the
end of the disc.
Your
recording software does not include the area reserved for the
lead-out, when it tells you the capacity of the disk. Thus,
data can be burnt on the reserved area, and possibly into a
few blocks past the end of it. This is referred to as ‘overburning’
a disc. This depends on a couple of factors, especially the
CD-R disk and the writer units. If a writer isn’t able to overburn,
it will usually reject the cue sheet before writing begins.
To
overburn, you need a software that won’t refuse to exceed the
disc capacity. For example, CDRWIN warns you that the write
may fail, but will allow you to continue anyway. Nero has a
preference under Expert Features, called ‘enable oversize disc’,
that allows the longer write.
Overburning
can also cause write errors. Depending on the disc and your
player, you may have trouble seeking out tracks near the end
of the disc. The disc surface past the end of the area reserved
for the leadout may be unreliable.
DVD
FAQs
DVD-ROM
vs DVD-R vs DVD-RAM drives
I
want to know the difference between the various types of DVD
drives, namely, DVD-ROM, DVD-R and DVD-RAM drives.
DVD-ROM
drives, which are the most commonly available, are read-only
devices and no data can be written on them by the end users.
DVD-R drives can write data to writable DVDs. However, after
data is written, it can no longer be modified on the disc. A
DVD-RAM drive can write and modify data an indefinite number
of times on the corresponding DVDs. So, essentially the difference
between these three categories of DVDs is very similar to that
between CDs, CD-Rs and CD-RWs.
Poor
playback and error messages while playing movies
Actually,
this is a common problem faced by many DVD drive users, but
the problem does not lie in the drive. To begin with, check
if you have the right and/or the latest drivers. Driver problems
are the major cause of playback problems, freezing screens while
playing DVDs, and giving error messages. You will usually find
the latest drivers on the site of the manufacturer of your drive.
At the same time, also make sure that you have the right drivers
for your graphics adapter and DVD decoder.
Next,
you should check if the DMA or Sync Data Transfer box is checked
in Windows. Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel >
System > Device Manager. Here,
choose CD-ROM, and click on driver properties. Click on the
Settings tab and make sure the appropriate box is checked, depending
on whether its an IDE drive or SCSI drive. If you are using
an AMD processor, or a VIA chipset, you may still face a problem;
in this case, uncheck the DMA option and restart.
Finally,
you could try a few basic tips while playing DVDs. Close any
unwanted programs that are running in the background. Allocate
more memory to the DVD Player, if there is an option for this.
SCSI DVD-ROM drives should either be the first or last device
in the SCSI chain, with appropriate terminations. If you are
viewing the DVD on a TV, you could face problems because of
a long cable or poor contrast settings.
Error
playing movie file copied from a DVD to hard disk
I
recently copied a movie file from a DVD to my hard disk drive.
Now I have the essential software to play it, but when I try
to play it, I get an error message saying, "Cannot play
copy-protected files". What is wrong?
DVDs
store DVD video as a .VOB file, which is essentially a specialised
MPEG-2 file. Most MPEG-2 decoders and players can play them.
However, all movies on a DVD are encrypted with CSS copy protection.
This is an encryption technique and the corresponding decryption
keys are stored in the normally inaccessible lead-in area of
the disc. If you copy the contents of an encrypted DVD to a
hard drive, these keys are not, or rather, cannot be copied.
So when you try to play the VOB file, the software decoder tries
to request the keys from the DVD-ROM drive, which fails and
shows the error message.
Audio
lag in movie played off a DVD
My
DVD plays movies well, but there is an audio lag in the movie.
You might as well mistake it for a lip sync, which is not actually
the case, as the DVDs are of good quality. Is there a problem
with my DVD drive or does it have something to do with the soundcard?
Please note that other audio files play very well.
No,
this is neither a problem of the soundcard, nor of the DVD drive.
The problem occurs because the audio and video codes are getting
processed at different speeds. This happens because some other
program is interfering with the movie, or there is some other
program running in the background. Sometimes, this could also
happen if the screen saver is activated. Try disabling the screen
saver, check your power saving settings and close all background
applications including any TSRs (Terminate and Stay Resident).
This should fix the problem.
Error
message saying ‘Illegal DVD Region’
I
recently brought a high end PC, which includes a DVD drive.
Now, whenever I try to play a DVD, I get the following error:
‘Illegal DVD Region. The region of the DVD movie that you are
trying to play does not match the authorized region of your
DVD player’. What does this mean?
Movie
DVDs are usually given a region code, which is basically to
protect the film-maker’s copyright. There are many issues and
arguments on this particular subject. You can only play DVDs
that are made for your region. If you don’t do so, you may get
a ‘Region Code’ error. You do have options to change the DVD’s
region, but there is a maximum limit to the number of times
this can be done. If you exceed this limit, you may get an ‘Out
of Region’ error. However, the cause of the error in your case
is that the DVD drive was probably not pre-configured when it
was installed on your PC. Therefore, when the DVD drive is initiated,
it is attempting to configure the proper region. You should
change the region and select the appropriate region using a
DVD region code table. You can find this on the Web site of
the DVD manufacturer.
DVD
gives error message saying ‘0x80004003 player region is 0’
I
have a particular DVD that always gives me an error message
that reads something like this, "0x80004003 player region
is 0". This does not happen in other DVDs. Is there a way
to solve this problem?
Please
refer to the above question for a brief introduction on the
subject. However, the error here, occurs because the particular
DVD probably indicates to DVD player that it supports all regions,
which could be a mistake, or an error.
What you could try is setting a different region that
correctly tells the DVD player which region it supports. After
the region has been changed, the DVD
should play. However, as stated above, there is a limit
to the number of changes you make.
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