After having to deal with a virus, I found that my CD-Rom and CD-RW drives had dissapeared from My Computer. When I ran a Hardware Scan for them, I got this message:
Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware but cannot find the hardware device. (Code 41)
I’ve looked online, and tried everything, but nothing’s helped. The only thing I haven’t tried is uninstalling and reinstalling the drives, and I’m freaked out that I might end up losing them forever, since the drives came with the computer and didn’t come with backup discs.
Somebody help me…I’m about to kill myself over this.
Originally posted by Wertigon
[b]Save everything to another computer in the network and do an R&R.
(R&R == Reformat and Reinstall) [/b]
Okay, I’m zipping the files now, since the other computer is losing memory fast because my damn brother is obsessed with The Sims. Damn expansion packs and their memory-hungry ways.
And how do I do this? I know almost nothing about computers, and I’m afraid that I’ll screw up along the way and destroy it forever.
Originally posted by Sorcerer
[b]Reformatting is risky buisness, even if you know what your doing you could still potentially destroy your hard drive.
Search zdnet for reformatting guides, print a few of them out, read them thoroughly and then follow the instructions. [/b]
Formatting is risky buisness? That is the first time I have heard anyone say that.
It’s very difficult to harm hardware through software, which ultimately the format function is. It does of course erase everything on the harddrive, since that is it’s purpose, but it would be very difficult to physically harm the drive through a format - if not impossible.
What operative system is it that you use?
You might want to see if they are present in the bootup routine, if they are, they should on most computers be displayed in a list as you boot. What brand is it?
If it is still protected by some kind of guarntee, I reccomend you make use of that instead of trying to fix it on your own. It’s there to be used in cases like this.
I’m quite sure CD drives don’t require drivers to function. The drivers should be hardwired into the drive. If, in fact, your CD drive isn’t being recognized, it might not be so simple as a reformatting to fix the problem.
They came with the computer. They aren’t attached by wires or cables or any crap like that. I’m pretty sure the warranty has expired. I found my backup discs, but they’re all CDs. I have Windows XP, so I have no clue what the hell’s going on half the time. I now hate computers more than anything.
And excuse my ignorance, but how exactly does reformatting my hard drive count? I assume that Wert knows more about computers than I do (then again, EVERYONE knows more about computers than I do), but I’m a bit skeptical before doing actions that could destroy my $900 computer.
Sorry for the double post. It looks like a problem with the actual hardware; the software part of the drives seems to be working perfectly, at least according to the error message.
I guess I have to get professional help, because there’s no way on God’s green earth that I’m tampering with the hardware. I’d rather get ran over by a truck and dragged twenty blocks into a ditch filled with razor-sharp, poison-tipped spikes, and finally dumped into an incinerator than tamper with the hardware. Thanks for trying to help.
Now wish me luck. I have to tell my dad…cringes in fear