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George
June 15th 04, 07:23 PM
Suddenly I cannot use my CDRom. All I get is a message
saying "J:\is not accessible. The device is not ready".
Device Manager says it is working properly but it isn't? I
cannot load any new software now so I am really stuck.
Anyone got any suggestions please?

Jeff Richards
June 16th 04, 12:02 AM
It is not unknown for a CD-ROM drive to simply fail. Check that the drive
cables are properly connected. Boot to safe mode and remove all CD-ROM drive
devices that you find. Re-boot to safe mode and see if Windows installs
replacement drivers. Get a startup disk at www.bootdisk.com and boot with
it - is the CD-ROM drive detected and useable? Install the drive in another
machine and confirm that it works OK there, and install a known-good drive
in this machine and ensure that it works OK.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (DTS)
"George" > wrote in message
...
> Suddenly I cannot use my CDRom. All I get is a message
> saying "J:\is not accessible. The device is not ready".
> Device Manager says it is working properly but it isn't? I
> cannot load any new software now so I am really stuck.
> Anyone got any suggestions please?

George
June 16th 04, 06:43 PM
Jeff

Thank you for your suggestions which have given the
following (mixed) results.

Cables ok. Removed CD Rom devices in safe mode and re-
booted in safe mode but Windows did not recognise the
device.

Tried booting with a startup disk from bootdisk.com. At
start-up it found the drive and re-assigned another drive
letter to it. However, the although the screen said
Windows 98 was starting, the process stopped at the A:\
prompt.

The good news is that by changing to the newly assigned
drive letter I could get DIR to read the CD in the drive
and hoped that meant the device was OK? I tried repeating
the process a few times. Mostly, but not always, I could
read the CD - but sometimes the system would hang for a
few seconds then I would get "not ready - abort, retry or
fail". Perhaps an transient mechanical failure?

The bad news is that I could not get windows to start at
all to test it properly. When I changed to the C:\ drive
and the windows directory all I got was a message "A
device or resource required by VFAT is not present or is
unavailable. VFAT cannot continue loading. System halted".
. Is this a
related problem or one for another newsgroup?

I do not have easy access to another PC or drive so I may
not be able to pursue your final suggestion for some time.
Meantime, is there anything you wish to add? Thanks.



>-----Original Message-----
>It is not unknown for a CD-ROM drive to simply fail.
Check that the drive
>cables are properly connected. Boot to safe mode and
remove all CD-ROM drive
>devices that you find. Re-boot to safe mode and see if
Windows installs
>replacement drivers. Get a startup disk at
www.bootdisk.com and boot with
>it - is the CD-ROM drive detected and useable? Install
the drive in another
>machine and confirm that it works OK there, and install a
known-good drive
>in this machine and ensure that it works OK.
>--
>Jeff Richards
>MS MVP (DTS)
>"George" > wrote in
message
...[i]
>> Suddenly I cannot use my CDRom. All I get is a message
>> saying "J:\is not accessible. The device is not ready".
>> Device Manager says it is working properly but it
isn't? I
>> cannot load any new software now so I am really stuck.
>> Anyone got any suggestions please?
>
>
>.
>

Jeff Richards
June 16th 04, 11:47 PM
My original instruction was incorrect - after removing the device in safe
mode, re-boot in _normal_ mode and Windows should install new drivers. You
cannot boot to Windows from a boot floppy - the behaviour you saw was
correct. The testing you did with DOS is useful in indicating that the drive
is probably working, although it's possible that a transient error in DOS is
seen as a permanent error in Windows.

When Windows is running do Start / Run / Regedit. Remove the NOIDE entry
(if it exists) from the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\VxD
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (DTS)
"George" > wrote in message
...
> Jeff
>
> Thank you for your suggestions which have given the
> following (mixed) results.
>
> Cables ok. Removed CD Rom devices in safe mode and re-
> booted in safe mode but Windows did not recognise the
> device.
>
> Tried booting with a startup disk from bootdisk.com. At
> start-up it found the drive and re-assigned another drive
> letter to it. However, the although the screen said
> Windows 98 was starting, the process stopped at the A:\
> prompt.
>
> The good news is that by changing to the newly assigned
> drive letter I could get DIR to read the CD in the drive
> and hoped that meant the device was OK? I tried repeating
> the process a few times. Mostly, but not always, I could
> read the CD - but sometimes the system would hang for a
> few seconds then I would get "not ready - abort, retry or
> fail". Perhaps an transient mechanical failure?
>
> The bad news is that I could not get windows to start at
> all to test it properly. When I changed to the C:\ drive
> and the windows directory all I got was a message "A
> device or resource required by VFAT is not present or is
> unavailable. VFAT cannot continue loading. System halted".
> . Is this a
> related problem or one for another newsgroup?
>
> I do not have easy access to another PC or drive so I may
> not be able to pursue your final suggestion for some time.
> Meantime, is there anything you wish to add? Thanks.
>
>
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>It is not unknown for a CD-ROM drive to simply fail.
> Check that the drive
>>cables are properly connected. Boot to safe mode and
> remove all CD-ROM drive
>>devices that you find. Re-boot to safe mode and see if
> Windows installs
>>replacement drivers. Get a startup disk at
> www.bootdisk.com and boot with
>>it - is the CD-ROM drive detected and useable? Install
> the drive in another
>>machine and confirm that it works OK there, and install a
> known-good drive
>>in this machine and ensure that it works OK.
>>--
>>Jeff Richards
>>MS MVP (DTS)
>>"George" > wrote in
> message
...[i]
>>> Suddenly I cannot use my CDRom. All I get is a message
>>> saying "J:\is not accessible. The device is not ready".
>>> Device Manager says it is working properly but it
> isn't? I
>>> cannot load any new software now so I am really stuck.
>>> Anyone got any suggestions please?
>>
>>
>>.
>>

George
June 17th 04, 03:19 PM
Jeff

Thanks for the explanation about using a boot floppy.

I used Regedit as suggested but do not seem to have
anything called NOIDE.

I shall be away until 20 June so can do no more until then
but if you have any further suggestions, please bear with
me - I am very happy to pursue all avenues. Thanks.

>-----Original Message-----
>My original instruction was incorrect - after removing
the device in safe
>mode, re-boot in _normal_ mode and Windows should install
new drivers. You
>cannot boot to Windows from a boot floppy - the behaviour
you saw was
>correct. The testing you did with DOS is useful in
indicating that the drive
>is probably working, although it's possible that a
transient error in DOS is
>seen as a permanent error in Windows.
>
>When Windows is running do Start / Run / Regedit. Remove
the NOIDE entry
>(if it exists) from the following registry key:
>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\VxD
>--
>Jeff Richards
>MS MVP (DTS)
>"George" > wrote in
message
...
>> Jeff
>>
>> Thank you for your suggestions which have given the
>> following (mixed) results.
>>
>> Cables ok. Removed CD Rom devices in safe mode and re-
>> booted in safe mode but Windows did not recognise the
>> device.
>>
>> Tried booting with a startup disk from bootdisk.com. At
>> start-up it found the drive and re-assigned another
drive
>> letter to it. However, the although the screen said
>> Windows 98 was starting, the process stopped at the A:\
>> prompt.
>>
>> The good news is that by changing to the newly assigned
>> drive letter I could get DIR to read the CD in the drive
>> and hoped that meant the device was OK? I tried
repeating
>> the process a few times. Mostly, but not always, I could
>> read the CD - but sometimes the system would hang for a
>> few seconds then I would get "not ready - abort, retry
or
>> fail". Perhaps an transient mechanical failure?
>>
>> The bad news is that I could not get windows to start at
>> all to test it properly. When I changed to the C:\ drive
>> and the windows directory all I got was a message "A
>> device or resource required by VFAT is not present or is
>> unavailable. VFAT cannot continue loading. System
halted".
>> . Is this a
>> related problem or one for another newsgroup?
>>
>> I do not have easy access to another PC or drive so I
may
>> not be able to pursue your final suggestion for some
time.
>> Meantime, is there anything you wish to add? Thanks.
>>
>>
>>[i]
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>It is not unknown for a CD-ROM drive to simply fail.
>> Check that the drive
>>>cables are properly connected. Boot to safe mode and
>> remove all CD-ROM drive
>>>devices that you find. Re-boot to safe mode and see if
>> Windows installs
>>>replacement drivers. Get a startup disk at
>> www.bootdisk.com and boot with
>>>it - is the CD-ROM drive detected and useable? Install
>> the drive in another
>>>machine and confirm that it works OK there, and install
a
>> known-good drive
>>>in this machine and ensure that it works OK.
>>>--
>>>Jeff Richards
>>>MS MVP (DTS)
>>>"George" > wrote in
>> message
...
>>>> Suddenly I cannot use my CDRom. All I get is a message
>>>> saying "J:\is not accessible. The device is not
ready".
>>>> Device Manager says it is working properly but it
>> isn't? I
>>>> cannot load any new software now so I am really stuck.
>>>> Anyone got any suggestions please?
>>>
>>>
>>>.
>>>
>
>
>.
>