Windows Doesn't Recognize Media Correctly

[Guest JuliusPIV]

I have a situation where a Windows XP SP3 machine will not correctly

 

recognize or rather, correctly acknowledge that media has been inserted.

 

When I say 'burn' or talk about writing to a CD, I'm using the built-in

 

burning features/capabilities of Windows XP, not a third party

 

application/tool.

 

 

 

If I boot the machine without a CD in it and check My Computer, the CD drive

 

icon looks like a normal drive without any media inserted.

 

If I insert a blank cd-r/rw, the drive icon doesn't change, and when I

 

attempt to burn, Windows believes the drive is empty. Although the 'Write

 

these files to CD' option is present, when we try to complete the process,

 

Windows belives the drive doesn't contain a writable CD/DVD.

 

If I insert a music CD, the drive icon doesn't change either. I can double

 

click the CD drive but this shows me music files instead of playing the audio

 

CD with Media Player. When I right click on the drive, there's no Play

 

option.

 

If I boot the machine with a blank CD in it and check My Computer, the CD

 

drive icon correctly changes to the CD-R/CD-RW drive icon. From there I can

 

burn.

 

If I boot the machine with a music CD in it and check My Computer, the CD

 

drive icon correctly changes to the audio CD drive icon. From there I can

 

play music.

 

 

 

When we disable the CD drive & re-enable it on Device Manager, the CD drive

 

icon correctly 'refreshes', shows the appropriate drive icon & from there we

 

can play the audio CD's or burn

 

 

 

So we're not confusing anyone: The drive has no problem reading CD's. This

 

is not a situation where the drive is not 'seeing' any CD's (or DVD's) we

 

insert. If we place an audio or data CD then explore the drive, we can see &

 

access files. Its almost as if windows simply doesn't detect that a specific

 

type of CD has been inserted and thus doesn't act accordingly.

 

 

 

We've swapped CD drives & SATA cables, removed the upper & lower filters,

 

disabled, re-enabled the drive in device manager & uninstalled it completely

 

letting Windows re-detect it with no change.

 

 

 

We'd hate to have to reimage this machine - Any ideas?

 

 

 

--

 

Julius G. Perkins, IV

 

Enterprise Systems

 

Workstation Architect