Computer related help.
Apr. 23rd, 2009 06:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pecuniumA little while ago my DVD/CD drive died. It doesn't think it's dead, but it never recognises anything I put into it.
This is really annoying because I have a couple of pieces of software I'd like to install, and one which I can't activate (I used the online trial version to set it up, but it turns out I can't use the code to activate it... one wonders why they have the code).
It occured to me that something might have been confused (and perhaps I might have screwed up by installing/using a registry correcting program; perhaps the files got screwed up). I did some poking about the web and this is a possibilty. But I am a trifle leery of just mucking about with things. Aware, but not super aware, is my level of use. The real nuts and bolts of things are a trifle opaque to me.
The fora I looked at seem to think this is, actually, the problem (though usually when someone installs burning software).
The recommended fix seems to be:
It is a Windows thing, losing drives when installing/un-installing burning software…
If the drives are still listed in the Device Manager, delete them then, carefully follow this fix:
"Upper/Lower Filters:
a. Click on Start --> Run --> and type in 'regedt32' followed by the enter key
b. Expand the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" key (looks like a folder) by double clicking it (or clicking the "+" next to it.)
c. Expand the "SYSTEM" Key
d. Expand the "CurrentControlSet" Key
e. Expand the "Control" Key
f. Expand the "Class" Key
g. Look for a key containing the following string of letter and numbers:
{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
h. Highlight this key by left clicking once on it
i. On the right hand side you are looking for "UpperFilters" and "LowerFilters" under the "Name" column, once you find these delete them by right clicking on them and choosing "delete"
j. Exit the registry by clicking on the "X" in the top right hand corner of the screen.
Which gives me some questions.
1: Why delete the device from the device manager.
2: I have a lot of folders with that name in the regedit directory. (24). Four of them have, "Upper Filters", none have lower. I didn't look at any of the sub-directories.
3: If I try this, am I risking a further mucking up of the system?
4: If I do this, and it doesn't work, will replacing the drive be worth it? The computer is probably being replaced in the next year or so anyway, so spending a whole lot on an internal device seems a bit silly, if an $80-100 external will suffice. I'd rather not have one more piece of hardware to haul around, but there are some games I'd like to play; games which want the disk.
Ideas?
This is really annoying because I have a couple of pieces of software I'd like to install, and one which I can't activate (I used the online trial version to set it up, but it turns out I can't use the code to activate it... one wonders why they have the code).
It occured to me that something might have been confused (and perhaps I might have screwed up by installing/using a registry correcting program; perhaps the files got screwed up). I did some poking about the web and this is a possibilty. But I am a trifle leery of just mucking about with things. Aware, but not super aware, is my level of use. The real nuts and bolts of things are a trifle opaque to me.
The fora I looked at seem to think this is, actually, the problem (though usually when someone installs burning software).
The recommended fix seems to be:
It is a Windows thing, losing drives when installing/un-installing burning software…
If the drives are still listed in the Device Manager, delete them then, carefully follow this fix:
"Upper/Lower Filters:
a. Click on Start --> Run --> and type in 'regedt32' followed by the enter key
b. Expand the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" key (looks like a folder) by double clicking it (or clicking the "+" next to it.)
c. Expand the "SYSTEM" Key
d. Expand the "CurrentControlSet" Key
e. Expand the "Control" Key
f. Expand the "Class" Key
g. Look for a key containing the following string of letter and numbers:
{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
h. Highlight this key by left clicking once on it
i. On the right hand side you are looking for "UpperFilters" and "LowerFilters" under the "Name" column, once you find these delete them by right clicking on them and choosing "delete"
j. Exit the registry by clicking on the "X" in the top right hand corner of the screen.
Which gives me some questions.
1: Why delete the device from the device manager.
2: I have a lot of folders with that name in the regedit directory. (24). Four of them have, "Upper Filters", none have lower. I didn't look at any of the sub-directories.
3: If I try this, am I risking a further mucking up of the system?
4: If I do this, and it doesn't work, will replacing the drive be worth it? The computer is probably being replaced in the next year or so anyway, so spending a whole lot on an internal device seems a bit silly, if an $80-100 external will suffice. I'd rather not have one more piece of hardware to haul around, but there are some games I'd like to play; games which want the disk.
Ideas?
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-25 12:52 am (UTC)"Last Known Good Config," sadly, has a ridiculously limited set of uses, usually when you end up blowing something away that you didn't mean to. Frankly, I often despair of ever using it--until given the opportunity on a golden platter.
The scenario is actually not surprising or impossible--games often do funky things with the registry when it comes to the optical drive, be it making sure the second disk is requested and recognized, or checking for the disk in the drive before allowing the game to run. So it could very well have jacked shit up in that way.
So long as it's a hologrammed Windows CD, go ahead and throw it in and reboot, see if you get the option to boot to it. Those "upgrade" CDs are, in reality, full versions of Windows, and should work as bootable CDs.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-25 12:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-25 01:25 am (UTC)Okay, well give it a shot when you have a chance, if you can wait that long. Just replacing it probably won't be cheap, as you'll need to get a replacement drive from HP (they can be proprietary like that on laptops).
As a point of note, and for dealing with HP if you need to, DV8000 is your model number for the whole shebang.
Hmm, in fact, here's another idea (looking at pics of your model of lappy online): Shut the lappy down all the way and flip it over--there should be a way to unlock the optical drive. You may have to take the battery out and look under it to find an unlock/eject switch. It may also be right near the Windows COA label.
Remove the drive from the machine, boot into Windows. Shut down, re-seat the drive, and boot it up again. That could clear the registry of its memory of the drive and force Windows to reload the drivers.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-25 01:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-25 01:43 am (UTC)Let me know if/how that works.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-25 01:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-25 01:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-26 12:04 am (UTC)Still fails to recognise disks.