Need Help Installing A External DVD Drive

[BckDSmith]

Need Help Installing An External DVD Drive

Hi

I just bought an external dvd drive. The drive supports the plug and play feature and works with windoes 7. When I plug it in the drive isnt recognised by Windows 7 and the plug and play doesnt start the driver install.

The drive works fine with XP and Vista but not 7. I dont know if my Windows plug and play feature isnt working anymore or what.

The drive works fine with other Laptops/Desktops but not with my Laptop. The drive operates via USB and also gets its power via USB. A green light turns on when plugged in meaning it is recieving power via the USB but the laptop wont recognise it and nothing will play.

Any help?

 

[wallyinnc]

The drive works fine with other Laptops/Desktops but not with my Laptop.

Does it work on other laptops running Windows 7? If that is the case, it might be a BIOS setup for the USB port, not specifically related to the drive

 

[BckDSmith]

Its only my laptop that has Windows 7. The others have XP and Vista

 

[wallyinnc]

Have you tried to install manually? Sometimes plug and play just doesn't work for some hardware, at least that is my experience.

 

[DocBrown]

Does it show up in Device Manager or Disk Management in win7 ?

Have you done a Windows Update online while it is plugged in ?

 

[BckDSmith]

Have you tried to install manually? Sometimes plug and play just doesn't work for some hardware, at least that is my experience.

I never got a disc with the dvd drive. Just the drive and 2 cables

 

[wallyinnc]

I thought of Control Panel -> Devices and Printers -> Add a Device and see if Windows 7 recognizes it. Or select from the list and then have it download the drivers
Sorry, I am not on my windows 7 computer so I can't give more details. Let me know if you don't know what I am talking about

 

[BckDSmith]

I thought of Control Panel -> Devices and Printers -> Add a Device and see if Windows 7 recognizes it. Or select from the list and then have it download the drivers
Sorry, I am not on my windows 7 computer so I can't give more details. Let me know if you don't know what I am talking about

I know what you mean. I tried this but it just keeps searching and nothing shows up

 

[whest]

Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs

 

[karlsnooks]

bckDwest,

Follow the advice given to you by whest.

If you carefully read and follow the procedures given in there for Window 7, there is a 99.999% of success.

 

[BckDSmith]

Nothing worked. I treid it all. I uninstalled the dvd drivers and restarted the laptop so the installed themselves. The external dvd drive then showed up in My Computer. I put a disc in to read and it wouldnt read it and the drive vanished again. Dont know what to do.

my internal dvd drive also doesnt work. It shows up in My Computer but wont read discs. They just spin round and the drive makes an attempt to read them but it doesnt work

 

[karlsnooks]

If you followed, step-by-step, the procedures given by Microsoft in that knowledge base article and you dvd still doesn't work, then I have no further suggestions.

That procedure has never failed for me.

 

[whest]

Nothing worked. I treid it all. I uninstalled the dvd drivers and restarted the laptop so the installed themselves. The external dvd drive then showed up in My Computer. I put a disc in to read and it wouldnt read it and the drive vanished again. Dont know what to do.

my internal dvd drive also doesnt work. It shows up in My Computer but wont read discs. They just spin round and the drive makes an attempt to read them but it doesnt work

If you have an intel chipset you could try this solution :
You need to download and install the latest intel matrix storage manager software/driver because AHCI is enabled in your bios, and what happens during installation of W7 is W7 installs the Intel driver, but for correct functionality you need to install the intel matrix storage manager after installation is complete if you dont it will cause the problem you are having with your DVD DRIVE.

Download : Intel(R) Matrix Storage Manager

Similar thread I was working with :
http://www.sevenforums.com/drivers/53122-dvd-drive-not-showing-after-windows-7-installed.html

 

[CommonTater]

I thought of Control Panel -> Devices and Printers -> Add a Device and see if Windows 7 recognizes it. Or select from the list and then have it download the drivers
Sorry, I am not on my windows 7 computer so I can't give more details. Let me know if you don't know what I am talking about

I know what you mean. I tried this but it just keeps searching and nothing shows up

The others are giving you excellent advice... I'd like to add one more possibility....

Are you sure the USB port you're using is ok?
Do other devices, like memory sticks, work in that port?
Does the DVD drive work if you plug it into a different port?

Also, you could try opening device manager (in control panel) and connecting the drive with it active. See if it's listed there... if it's listed as an unknown device you can right click and have windows search for a driver. Also... If it doesn't show up, at the top of the Device Manager list, you will see your computer's name... If you right click that you will have 2 options "Scan for hardware changes" and "add legacy device"... one of them might just find it for you.

 

[Zepher]

If you have access to a powered USB hub, plug the drive into that and then the laptop into the hub. this is just to test to see if your USB ports on your laptop aren't putting out enough power for the drive.

 

[BckDSmith]

I thought of Control Panel -> Devices and Printers -> Add a Device and see if Windows 7 recognizes it. Or select from the list and then have it download the drivers
Sorry, I am not on my windows 7 computer so I can't give more details. Let me know if you don't know what I am talking about

I know what you mean. I tried this but it just keeps searching and nothing shows up

The others are giving you excellent advice... I'd like to add one more possibility....

Are you sure the USB port you're using is ok?
Do other devices, like memory sticks, work in that port?
Does the DVD drive work if you plug it into a different port?

Also, you could try opening device manager (in control panel) and connecting the drive with it active. See if it's listed there... if it's listed as an unknown device you can right click and have windows search for a driver. Also... If it doesn't show up, at the top of the Device Manager list, you will see your computer's name... If you right click that you will have 2 options "Scan for hardware changes" and "add legacy device"... one of them might just find it for you.

The USB ports worrk fine with everything else. Its just the external dvd drive that isnt working with them. It doesnt work with any ports.

I tried the device manager route and nothing from there works. Nothing is added or recognized

 

[BckDSmith]

If you have access to a powered USB hub, plug the drive into that and then the laptop into the hub. this is just to test to see if your USB ports on your laptop aren't putting out enough power for the drive.

I dont have one of those USB hubs. I know all the USB ports are fine because Ive used external hard drives and speakers through them

 

[karlsnooks]

bckDsmith, Once again-- review the post sent to you by whest. One of his posts was a link to a Microsoft article. In that article, actually under the "Vista" section, there is a discussion showing you how to look for and to delete Upperfilters and Lowerfilters. The specific location in the registry is extremely similar to others so be sure to compare the full and complete length to locate the correct registry area. Go to that place, tell us if you found either or both of Upperfilter and Lowerfilter. Let us know what you did. Feedback to such qualified posts as you received from whest need to be answered fully and completely, mentioning what you found so that we can be assured of your present progress and what has been 100% with all certainty eliminated. Help us to help you.

 

[manhunter2826]

Any update on this, did u get the issue resolved? Was this a clean install of Windows 7? What's the exact name/model of the external drive.