after i believed my old dvd writer had died i went and bought a new one... however when i insert a disc it vanishes off the listed drives... and off the hardware list in device manager... etc...

when i take the disc out it appears back on the device manager list after scanning for new hardware... im baffled... tried rebooting/checked for updates (which there arent any new ones apparently)....

any ideas?

Virus / Spy ware playing tricks??

Just check the cable is firm at both ends and the jumpers are
correct, you may have dislodged something fitting it

it shows in the devices list tho and the drive opens and closes - as for virus/spyware, comp is checked regularly and havent been infected for god knows how long lol

cheers tho

I'm thinking the motion of the drive opening and closing
could be causing a cable to come loose.

Daft as it sounds but the cable is the right way around?

Can you play a CD from it (Hear Audio)

yep... the cable is also connected to the dvd drive above so it isnt long enough for it to be twisted the wrong way round and made sure both that and the other cable were both pushed in proply... secured the screws reasonably tightly too... seems odd

Can i ask i know it sounds stupid.. But do you have 2 DVD drives connected to each other ?? If you do it causes confusion when your trying to burn on the fly etc.. Maybe its causing the same issue where youve got 2 drvies on the one IDE cable as its not good.. Try disconnecting one drive and having one drive connected if it works theres the problem if its still doing it change the IDE cable it might have a loose wire as this is prone to happen if you stretch the cable thats if you have hope that helps...

i have 1 ide cable (if thats the thing that looks like the old printer cables) with 2 "sockets"... one going to a dvd player drive and the other to a writer - if that makes sense... u know how much 2 seperate wires would cost roughly? or would i be fine to just buy one cable and leave one of the sockets on the other cable lying spare?

sorry, bit drunk but makes sense to me lol

right just realised, the ide cable was connected to a dvd writer initially so shouldnt be any different to how it is now, should it? may be a case that i just have a knackered ide cable but im still confused

thats pc's

think if can it will glad its sorted.

The underlined bit answers the question.. If you put the writer drive on the same cable as your Hardrive and just have the Player on its own things should work smoothly.. Never ever have 2 DVD or CD players connected to the one socket cause when you come to Burning on the fly you will always have loads of useless dvds and cds i.e. they burn out which means it never works properly.. But it does sound like you do have a IDE cable issue though which if you go to pc world or theres a Shop in town called katech they should be able to sort you out with one.. Hope this has helped you out..

It would help if he didn't live in scotland lol

lmao true!!

i will take a pic for u 2moro soundlad... as im not sure wot u mean or if ure sure wot i mean... lol