My HP PC can not find my CD/DVD device

jagman55 · 02 Sep 2015

It was working fine until I upgraded to Windows 10 but then the so called, Windows Explorer was so bad, I had to go back to "7" to get anything done.

It worked fine up to the upgrade. Now that I am back to "7" it can only find my USB CD/DVD/Blu-ray drive. Not the one built-in.

The net says to look into the BIOS and there is nothing in there for a CD/DVD drive except the GROUP is there and enabled.

As a result, it will not open, can not find, etc. I did not think Windows 10 would do anything to the PC BIOS but it worked before the upgrade.

Think this is a indication the drive is bad? It is several years old.

Anyone have any idea what the problem is or where to look?
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ICIT2LOL · 03 Sep 2015

Hello jagman mate I don't think the 10 could have messed with the BIOS it is something you have to do manually as I believe you will have the legacy type BIOS anyway.

There are so many folks posting in here now that have done what you have done and are having a lot of different issues with the system back in 7.

Now there one or two things we need to know and that is some more specs than you have listed - it is rather a skimpy detail mate. The drive as you have said is old and I would argue that you replace it as it probably is close to throwing in the towel.
In that event have you any installation media because it would mean a clean install. Having said that if at least you have the activation code then you can use a borrowed Windows DVD and use the ei.cfg removal tool to actually install the system from it as you can see in this tutorial.
Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 < the authour has unfortunately left the forum now but no matter we can still help out if you go down that path.

What you can do before anything else is run these two please
https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html< if necessary include the /f and /r in the command line as per Option2 >in safe mode if need be

jagman55 · 03 Sep 2015

Yes, I used his CLEAN INSTALL to do this one. I took his advise and did not installed the HP bloatware he called it and used this forums link to the clean Windows but used the HP/Microsoft code and has worked out fine.
So, there is no other way to check to see if the problem can be fixed?

Yes, have my Windows 7 code that came with the HP
Reinstalling is no problem except, takes me a week to reload all the software I use so I avoid it like the plague. old password, etc have to be dug out for all that crap.

Being an ex-Sun Unix Sys Admin, it makes you hate Windows as it requires re-installing quite often, rebooting at least one a day.
I had one Unix box at Motorola that was in a store room, covered with crap and had been forgotten it was there for at LEAST 5 years, used every day but finally one day it failed and we found the system had not been rebooted in Over 5 years.

So, as far as we know, it is reinstall OS, or put in new CD/DVD and try it?
Wouldn't the BIOS show the CD/DVD was "uninstalled" if it was not communicating with the BIOS?

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ICIT2LOL · 03 Sep 2015

Sorry late reply jagman I am sorta a bit confused as I went back and re readyour original post and depending which way one reads it the optical drive thatis being recognised is the one in ht e machine or it could be the ?externalone?

It worked fine up to the upgrade. Now that I am back to "7" it can only find my USB CD/DVD/Blu-ray drive. Not the one built-in.

It would be good to know the machine model too as I am not sure but am assuming it is a desktop?
I am also left wondering if amongst the bloat there might have been some essential HP software for the correct operation of the optical drives though it does sound a bit far fetched.

jagman55 · 04 Sep 2015

First, the bloatware has not been on the machine for six month.
The OS for the last 6 mo is the one recommenced on this site to eliminate the HP bloatware. I downloaded it, and burned it and updated it.

The drive NOT being recognized is the HP INTERNAL CD/DVD/Blu-ray that has functioned fine UNTIL I tried the Window 10 upgrade.but when I removed Windows 10, I have not seen the internal drive be recognized.

The Pioneer External USB still works but the System OR the BIOS will not recognize it so I can not use it for a BOOT drive AND only recognizes it AFTER the OS is loaded,

The DESKTOP is a HP Pavilion, 64bit, Home Premium, SERVICE PACK 1
Model HPE 440f
Prod: BM 427A#ABA

I have had it for about 4 years.
Repeat, it has been running for over 6 month WITHOUT the original HP OS that is suppose to be the HP bloatware..

The last optical drive I had go bad in a previous HP desktop, failed but was ALWAYS recognized even if the drive didn't function.
The internal optical drive is NOT listed or recognized in the DEVICE MANAGER where before, is usually is and all one has to do is uninstall it, SCAN or reboot and normally Windows will load a new driver and off you go.
Reminder, the OS running is the one recommended on this site about 6 months ago and it has worked great UP until I loaded the Windows 10 and removed it.
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ICIT2LOL · 04 Sep 2015

Now that is all I needed to know mate > that it is the internal drive that is not being "seen". For it to seen then it needs a good connection both for the SATA data and power. The cables themselves could even be at fault here have you reseated and / or changed them to check yet? especially the SATA cable.
Have you checked to see if there is any power at the power plug for that drive? Very simple tests that one can do at little to no cost.

The other thing that could be wrong is the drive is bad and although you say the other time this happened the drive was still recognised doesn't necessarily mean it will be recognised this time, and as I aid above it needs secure connection for it to be seen - if you were to disconnect the SATA cable for example then there is no way the device will be seen.
They do have some extremely fine electrical / mechanical components in them including a small motor, fine etched cables that are used for controlling the movement and other functions which the drive uses for it's operation. Now having taken many of these devices apart I can vouch for them being very easy to damage either electrically or physically.

As for the OS there are so many members posting in here now that have gone to 10 turned around and gone back to 7 who have a multitude of problems it is hard to keep up with the sheer number. I think that anyone who uses the original drive to upgrade to 10 from 7 is in my mind foolhardy without considering the risks first.

Personally and you can say that it is alright for me to say because I can afford to do it - but I clone the original drive and then use the clone to try the upgrade - in this way if it all goes pear shaped then the original drive is swapped back in and the 7 system is usable straight away. On any case spinners are very cheap these days and for the cost of one this sort of pickle is avoided.