Suddenly Can't Play Music CDs!!!

[SkylineUK]

I have two CD/DVD players in my high-end PC (i7 2.6Ghz,16MB RAM), a Pioneer DVD-RW and a TSST Corp CDDVDW. Bot show up in Control Panel/Devices as 'Working properly'.

For some reason today both have decided not to play music CD or recognise blanks to burn!!

(1) If I load a music CD nothing happens. If I go into explorer I can see the list of tracks (shown as .cda files) but if I double click them WMP opens but says it can't play them. But if I open WMP on its own I can navigate to MP3 files on my hard drives so the sound is working.

(2) if I insert a blank disc to burn it doesn't spin up. If I open it a popup says Windows can't read the disk.

This is all very bizarre as the above problems have only started today!!

Has anyone any ideas as to what might have gone wrong?

 

[brianzion]

hi there
here is a link for a "Microsoft fix it" it may help
Your CD or DVD drive can't read or write media Your CD or DVD drive can't read or write media

What it fixes...
Your CD or DVD Drive does not read or write and is shown as disabled
The media in your CD or DVD drive cannot be read
The media cannot be written to by your CD or DVD drive
You receive one of the following errors:
A class specific or device specific driver is missing or corrupt
A CD or DVD drive cannot be found or is not connected
The CD or DVD drive is experiencing a problem that prevents it from working properly
The CD or DVD drive is not accessible via an assigned drive letter

 

[brianzion]

also follow this tutorial of brinks on How to Repair Windows 7 System Files with System File Checker and run the sfc scan read the pdf file or click here >>> SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker - Windows 7 Forums

 

[SkylineUK]

Many thanks brianzion.
I ran the MS Fix and now both drives will play audio CDs, but reluctantly. That is, despite being configured to play via WMP automatically, nothing happens when I put an audio disk in a drive. There's no spinning up happening. If I manually open WMP and go to Menu/Play it says there are no disks loaded. But if I then open and shut the tray the track list shows up after about 15 seconds and the disk will play ok. Odd.
Nothing has changed re. burning. Blank disks are still not recognised so I can't burn disks anymore...

I ran the scannow in verify mode and it reported back there were no integrity problems, i.e. as per your screen pic.

I have been in device manager and right clicked on both CDDVD players and tried to update the drivers but in both cases it said the latest ones were installed.

Not sure where to turn now. I have a £1,500 PC that I can't burn disks on and which only plays music CDs if coaxed gently...

 

[dsperber]

Just out of curiosity, can you identify what 3rd-party software you might have installed just recently which coincides with the new failure of "autoplay" for your CD/DVD drive to work? I'm specifically interested in media-centric products, like from CyberLink or RealPlayer or Nero, etc.?

AutoPlay doesn't start when I insert a disc or plug in a device.

There are several reasons for this problem. AutoPlay might be restricted by Group Policy, it could be canceled by a program that is running, or the service that AutoPlay needs to start might not be running.
Here are some things to try:

• Ask your network administrator if AutoPlay is restricted by Group Policy, and if so, what to do instead.
• Close other programs that might be interfering by accessing the device or media directly.
• Follow these steps:
  1. Click the Start button. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
  2. At the command prompt, type net start shellhwdetection, and then press Enter.
  3. Restart your computer.

 

[brianzion]

right ok try this turn pc off unplug mains power unplug actual cable in the pc housing now press the power button for at least 8-10 secs (this will empty power stored inside the machines motherboard) and re-plug all plugs and reboot.

 

[brianzion]

also uninstall the cd/dvd drivers from device manager then re-boot make sure you are connected to the internet as when you have the desktop open windows will automatically download and install the drivers

 

[SkylineUK]

Just out of curiosity, can you identify what 3rd-party software you might have installed just recently which coincides with the new failure of "autoplay" for your CD/DVD drive to work? I'm specifically interested in media-centric products, like from CyberLink or RealPlayer or Nero, etc.?

AutoPlay doesn't start when I insert a disc or plug in a device.

There are several reasons for this problem. AutoPlay might be restricted by Group Policy, it could be canceled by a program that is running, or the service that AutoPlay needs to start might not be running.
Here are some things to try:

• Ask your network administrator if AutoPlay is restricted by Group Policy, and if so, what to do instead.
• Close other programs that might be interfering by accessing the device or media directly.
• Follow these steps:
  1. Click the Start button. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
  2. At the command prompt, type net start shellhwdetection, and then press Enter.
  3. Restart your computer.

Hi dsperber.

This is a home computer (music recording studio DAW)and I am the sole user as Administrator.
I haven't installed any software recently, no.
From Googling around I'm pretty sure now that Autoplay has somehow become corrupted, which explains why nothing spins up on its own. The question is, how on earth do I repair it? I can't find any solutions that actually work. I somehow need to do a partial Windows 7 repair.

 

[brianzion]

have a look at this tutorial >>> How to Turn AutoPlay On or Off in Windows 7 >>> AutoPlay - Turn On or Off - Windows 7 Forums

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=P39WRJ8Zdr8

 

[SkylineUK]

Yes, I tried that a few times and any changes there have no effect.

 

[brianzion]

sorry you are having problems i had this trouble with a lg external dvd/cd drive and tried all of my suggestions i have posted and it turned out to be hardware failure and i had to replace with a new one no comfort i now but have you considered this?

 

[brianzion]

how long has this machine been up and running? maybe consider a system restore before the time you had problems? its also good to run the sfc scan several times, also consider opening a new user account with administration rights to see if the problem exists in a new user.

 

[SkylineUK]

Almost a breakthrough:
I was at a friend's house this morning discussing this and his son showed me an 'under the bonnet' configuration screen that shows various Autoplay statuses and I felt sure that this was what I needed! Once home I went to check this and keyed in the relevant command he used: GPEDIT.MSC.
No screen. Apparently (searching this forum for GPEDIT.MSC) this utility is not available in Home Premium...
I understand that the GPEDIT.MSC screen is a front end for the registry and another helpful member here said on the above thread that he would try and help Home Premium users to do what they needed to do in the registry, so I thought I might do a separate thread.
In the meantime, many thanks brianzion!

 

[brianzion]

ok best of luck oh have you checked the cd/dvd manufactures websites for firmware updates?

 

[dsperber]

I was at a friend's house this morning discussing this and his son showed me an 'under the bonnet' configuration screen that shows various Autoplay statuses and I felt sure that this was what I needed! Once home I went to check this and keyed in the relevant command he used: GPEDIT.MSC.
No screen. Apparently (searching this forum for GPEDIT.MSC)

This is the "group policy editor" administration service, which is one of those possible causes (and solutions) for disruption of normal autoplay behavior as mentioned in that Microsoft article I alluded to earlier.

I didn't realize it was not available in Home Premium.

Nevertheless, it is of course possible that it really could be a hardware failure as was suggested. It seems unlikely, though, as you have TWO drives and both of them now fail to do what they both used to do when a disc is inserted. Do you know if they are IDE drives, or SATA drives?


I, too, have lost autoplay in the past. I inevitably decided it was due to Registry corruption, as it usually came 6 months to a year after I'd been happily running the previous install of WinXP (and once, Win7).

I just took it as the motivation and opportunity to do a "fresh install" of Windows. And always, it was that fresh install which magically "brought autoplay back to life" on the very same hardware that had been failing previously with that old Windows.

If you take a "system image"of your current system you can always "instantly restore" your current system if you do try a fresh install and it still doesn't fix things. But if the fresh install DOES fix things, then you just have to assign blame for the current problem to "detritus" in the Registry and move on with completing the reinstall of the rest of your application software.

Anyway, you really don't have much to lose except some time to try out this idea. Take a "system image" for recovery, along with a data backup (so that you can restore your data into the new Windows if you need to) and do a format/install from scratch. Then see if autoplay on both drives now works.

(a) If yes, just learn from the experience and complete the rest of your application software reinstall and restore your data. You've got autoplay back, though you had to reinstall Windows to get it.

(b) If no, restore the "system image" and you're no worse off than when you started.

 

[SkylineUK]

I solved it!

After extensive Googling I came across this article:
Fix Windows 7 AutoPlay Dialog Box Missing or Not Appear, Display and Pop Up « My Digital Life
I wasted a lot of time in the Registry checking and re-checking the AutoRun stuff referred to, but the breakthrough for me was section 2, viz:

"2. Ensure that Shell Hardware Detection service is running
Type service.msc in Start Search to run Services console. Locate Shell Hardware Detection, and ensure that the “Service Status” is Running, and “Startup Type” is Automatic.
Else, start the service and change the Startup Type setting accordingly."

This service "Provides notifications for AutoPlay hardware events".
Mine was set to Manual and not running!! I coudn't have changed this as I didn't know what or where it was, ergo it must have been changed by a software installation, virus or MS update. I got my NOD32 to scan every nook and cranny of my system, nothing was amiss. So I guess this must remain a mystery.

At least we should all be able to help the next poor soul that finds this happening for no apparent reason!

My thanks to all those that chipped in to help.

 

[brianzion]

well done well researched

 

[dsperber]

I solved it!

After extensive Googling I came across this article:
Fix Windows 7 AutoPlay Dialog Box Missing or Not Appear, Display and Pop Up « My Digital Life
I wasted a lot of time in the Registry checking and re-checking the AutoRun stuff referred to, but the breakthrough for me was section 2, viz:

"2. Ensure that Shell Hardware Detection service is running
Type service.msc in Start Search to run Services console. Locate Shell Hardware Detection, and ensure that the “Service Status” is Running, and “Startup Type” is Automatic.
Else, start the service and change the Startup Type setting accordingly."

This service "Provides notifications for AutoPlay hardware events".
Mine was set to Manual and not running!! I couldn't have changed this as I didn't know what or where it was, ergo it must have been changed by a software installation, virus or MS update. I got my NOD32 to scan every nook and cranny of my system, nothing was amiss. So I guess this must remain a mystery.

Excellent work, Dr. Watson!

This mysterious symptom, and resolution, is tied to exactly that subject of AutoPlay I alluded to back in my original post, when I asked if you'd installed any "intrusive" multi-media software product lately that involved CD/DVD, like something from CyberLink or Nero or some other player.

I've had similar loss-of-autoplay symptoms in the past myself, as I described earlier, and a re-install of Windows has always cured it. I attributed that "solution" to overcoming a Registry corruption or takeover associated with some previously installed multi-media product. But in fact it might also be that installation of a multi-media product could have stopped the service (for unknown reason) and it did not get restarted. Certainly it's not "Registry corruption" as such, but it's clearly something "permanent" until you restart the service and reset it to "automatic".

So your factual discovery regarding the "local shell hardware detection" service, and its critical tie-in to autoplay hardware devices... well that now sounds like the real explanation all along (for me, I mean). Don't know why or how it became "stopped" and in manual mode for you, and certainly it's running and automatic for me right now on my own machine, but it's very likely I suppose that in my old situations had I known about this possible explanation I could have easily checked it and activated it (if it had for some reason stopped, as it did for you) if that was the answer.


Anyway, excellent find! Good information to be shared, and stored away in your "bag of tricks".