my friend's lappy is acting funny so she asked if i could look at it. it is running slow, but i scanned it with AVG free and it found no viruses. i ran spybot and adaware and they found nothing. but for one the lappy doesn't recognize the DVD drive any more. it's not even listed in the device manager. and when you restart it, it gives a screen that says that the HD is in trouble and i should back up all necessary files because a terminal failure is imminent. so i ran a scandisk with Norton and the one that runs from the bios, and they said the hard disk is fine, sectors and all. so i figure i'd back stuff up, and restore. this is one of the new ones that don't have restore dsks. so i did that, and it still has the same problems. so i figured i'd create the rstore disks and reformat the HD. but since this has one HD but recognizes two drives, i was wondering if there something specific i need to do when reformatting so that it doesn;t lose the dual drive thing and the restoring from the HD thing(sorry i don't know he proper lingo - i am not completely illiterate but not a compuwiz either). any and all help is greatly appreciated.
sounds like some crappy software that came with the laptop... i'd say find a full version of xp instad of that modified laptop oem bs
what about the reformat thou? is there something special i need to do when reformatting to ensure that the 2 drives remain, or do the restore disks do that?
i was just thinking the same thing... LOL. i can do it from the HD, but i tried that already to no avail. my first step guess is getting the DVD drive fixed. i looked for steps on removing the drive so i can check the cable and make sure it's connected cause it does get power, and spins the disc, but doesn't read. and the lappy doesn' recognize the drive. help!
If you log into bios does it pick up the DVD drive or not?? try to run a online virus scan that might help.
what button do i hit to get to the bios again? i tried f10 and esc and neither one got me there. and yes, that's what i'm trying to do, but i can't get the instructions to get to the drive.
sorry for being so computarded, first off. i hit f10 and it took me to PhoenixBIOS Setup Utility. there it gives Main, Securtiy, System Configuration, Diagnostics, and Exit. i went into System Configuration and it gives me Language, Embedded WLAN device Radio, SATA Native Support and Boot Options. if i go into Boot Options, and if i go down it gives me boot order and it does list ATAPI CD/DVD ROM Drive. but i don't think that's what you guys are talking about. please advise.
yep thats what were talking about so it shows on the bios but not on windows so the dvd rom is ok whats bad is the windows wich drivers which seem to b corrupt LOOK i just remember this happened to me like 2 months ago with my sony vaio the drive didnt want to show up so i installed nero 7 thats right y? cause nero has its own drivers so u could dl the trial install it and restart pc and c what happens
If your bios recognize your drive then change the boot sequence and put in the Windows XP disc or recovery disc and boot from that and do a repair install and see if that helps.
the ATAPI CD/DVD ROM Drive option is already listed before the Hard Drive, but just to make sure, i made the DVD first and the HD completely last and it still went straight into the HD. the DVD drive was spinning and the light came on, but it didn't load. and i even tried goign to start>run and put "e:" and it doesn't find it. i really think it's the cable that's disconnected. of course my friend says she hasn't dropped it, but who ever tells the truth about that? LOL.
Well then i would then open up the tower and have a look at what it could be in there as in disconnected wires as you said???
that's the problem. it's a notebook. and i opened one panel, but i can't see the cable. i want to get the instructions on how to replace the drive on this notebook(Compaq Presario V5207NR), but i haven't found it.
When you put in the XP CD, and tried to boot, you should have seen a message on the screen to hit any key to boot from the CD Drive. If you didn't do that, when prompted, it will boot to the hard drive. Try it again.
