Hi;

This is my first post. I have Win XP sp2 P4, 2.26Ghz, with two (2) hard drives.
I use a Romtec Trios switcher to switch between the hard drives rather than
dual boot between Windows XP and Linux.
My specific problem occurs in Windows Xp but not in Linux. When I attempt
to access the floppy drive or the CD-ROM I get the following error, 'not accessible'?
I researched on and on but cannot find a soulution. I have replaced the ribbon
cables to both drives, checked that they are secure, etc.; but still the same problem.
The peculiar thing is that they both work fine in Linux. It seems that there is a
switch or setting that is causing this issue with these drives; but I can't find it at
the moment?
Perhaps someone can help solve this head banging issue for me? The last thing
I need right now is for my system to give me problems, because I couldn't
access the cd-rom to restore my image of the drive?
I appreciate all the effort and help that could be extended to resolve this problem.

Oh! I also checked the device manager and everything is fine, no exclamation points
etc..
Thank You
rpiz

I am not acquainted with the Romtec Trios switcher, but can you by-pass that switch, and direct-connect the XP harddrive to the mainboard, boot and see if it recognizes the opticals? Also, you can try a repair install from your XP system disk to reset your system drivers, assuming that you have a standalone XO system disk. This will not work with a restore disk or system-restore partition.

Hi Ranchhand;

Thanks for the response to my post. I haven't followed through with the suggestions listed
in your post as yet; but I wonder if I can remove the driver for the floppy & cd-rom drives in
'safe mode', reboot and then the drivers will be reinstalled?

Further, I have an actual slipstreamed CD of Windows XP and SP2, which should work; but
if I can't access the cd-rom that may be a problem???

Tnx
rpiz

I had an additional thought. I don't believe it would be the Romtec Trios switched, because it works
fine in Linux utilizing the second hard drive.

The Romtec Trios switcher is simple a box that the ribbon cable comes from the motherboard to
the switcher then to one of the drives. Then a second cable goes from the switcher to the other
hard drive.

Tnx

RE: switch box. Don't ever underestimate the evil glitch gremlins that live inside of hardware. Just because the box works with your Linux harddrive, has nothing to do with the XP harddrive. You have to test to see if the harddrive with XP will operate properly with a direct hookup according to Microsoft recommended procedures.

Ok! I disconnected the Romtec Trios switcher entirely and then connected the main
hard drive with Windows XP from the motherboard to the drive. I fired the computer
up and tested the floppy, cd-rom, and DVD; but nothing changed. I still get the
error, 'not accessible' for the floppy and the CD-rom drives; but noting at all for
the DVD drive.

This issue sounds like something has altered the drivers or that it is in Windows somewhere?

I found the following site: 'http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q169620/' that explains how to
resolve an issue regarding Windows NT with the error 'Accessing CD_ROM Drive D:\is not accessible.

I which I could find a comparable 'KB....' for Windows XP sp2.

Hi,

I placed the Windows XP cd in the drive and rebooted, then entered 'repair' afterwards
at the prompt 'chkdsk /r'. This process continued for some time, listing the size etc of
the drive, but no errors.

I attempted to run '(SFC) system file checker" but each time I received the message that
the Windows XP cd wasn't the proper cd? This doesn't make sense because it was the
original Windows XP cd? Perhaps it wasn't recognizing the cd because of the problem
with the cd-rom drive.

I ran numerous antispyware. anti-virus, anti-trojan programs, and even ran
"Hijack This' to remove any suspicious items that appeared.

I disconnected the Romtec Trios switcher and ran the ribbon cable directly from the
motherboard to the main drive, to verify that the switcher wasn't the cause of this
problem.

I changed the ribbon cables to the floppy and cd-rom drives, but no joy.

I shut down as much software as I could to see if one of them was interfering with
the drives; but nothing changed.

I suspect that someone, somewhere has run into this problem and with the information
provided above, maybe a resolution can be found??

I appreciate all the help that I can get to regain the use of my drives.

Thank You

Hey rpiz,

I didn't see if you had done this or not, but how about actually deleting the device from Device Manager, rebooting, and then let windows reinstall it. It should automatically do it after rebooting. I would try the floppy drive first. I had this exact same thing happen once, and this was what solved it for me.

Hi Nexusware00;

I appreciate your response. I failed to mention this in my prior post but yes I did in fact
delete the device for the floppy and rebooted; but no joy. I also did the same for the cd-rom
drive with no luck. I even deleted the secondary IDE, which has the cd-rom and DVD drives
on the same ribbon cable; but again no joy.

Hey rpiz,

Sorry that didn't work. I wonder what would happen if you chose the "Update Driver" feature, and see if it would reinstall a newer driver from Microsoft. Heck you definitely have me stumped on this one. I have seen from time to time where no matter what you do, Windows just will not recognize the drive. Obviously the end all solution would be to reinstall XP...but hopefully it won't come to that.

Have you booted into BIOS and see if the BIOS recognizes it? If it does, Disable it. Then reboot again into BIOS and Enable it again. I don't have a lot of faith in this, but at this point let's try everything.

Next, try to replace the drive with another. I know, this is more easily said than done, but even an old drive pulled out of an old machine will work for our purposes, as long as you know for sure it works. Install the drive, then see if you can start installing XP by booting from the CDrom with the OS disk in it. If the drive sees the disk and starts the installation process (you don't have to finish it if you don't want to of course) then it would appear that you have a glitchy drive. Hope I am clear on this. On the other hand, if even that drive doesn't work, then all I can think of is that there is a peculiarity with the mainboard.

Hi;

I checked BIOS and it does show the drives. Also, I was given incorrect information on how to do
the 'repair' of Windows XP; afterwards I searched out the correct information. I then backup up
my data and then ran the 'repair' of Windows XP. Again, after running the repair I checked the
icons for the floppy and cd-rom drives, only to receive the same messages (A:\not accessible and
D:\not accessible). It is interesting to note that I used the DVD drive to burn the backups of my
data, yet when I click on the icon in Power Desk 6 (similiar to Windows Explorer) I get nothing?

I don't believe that it is a hardware issue, including the motherboard, because I am able to
access both the floppy and cd-rom drives in Linux using the same hardware.

I continue to lean toward a software or setting problem that is causing this issue. I may be
wrong but so far nothing regarding hardware has surfaced???

I appreciate all the help that has been offered so far, and hopefully with more study someone
can arrive at the exact problem??

Tnx

Hi rpiz,

sounds like a Windows conflict issue... have you Roxio, EasyCD Creator or INCD installed ?
There are some known issues involving those softwares. If you have some of them, try uninstalling it.

Chris

Hi Chris;

I also have read at numerous sites that these pieces of software cause problems;
but luckily I do not have them installed. Thanks for the thought, it pays to check
all angles.