I have lost the "D" drive and therefore can't open my dvd drive at all. In "My Computer" it just shows 3 1/2 Floppy---Local disk C and Control Panel.

I'm running Windows Me

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thank you in advance

Hi Lady in Red,

As a first thought, have you tried a system restore to a date just before it vanished ?

Can you check inside your computer, the power and data cables, in case there is some of them loose ?

Chris

Go into the bios on startup. If the drive is not listed, it may be dead. Check the cables. Try different cables if possible. If not, it is dead and you will need a new cd drive. They are very cheap and easy to install.

If it is listed in the bios, it is a windows issue. There is no system restore in WinME. You can try a registry restore by starting with a boot disk, typing "scanreg" without quotes at the A:\ prompt and select "restore." Choose a date prior to the d: drive disappearing.

It was pointed out to me that ME does have a system restore (Sorry Chris). Windows ME does have a system restore, but it is not very reliable. Restoring the registry does work reliably (if it is a windows and not a hardware problem).

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I determined it wasn't the cables so decided to use my trusty Adaptec Go-Back. I know it is an older version but works great for me. Has saved my bacon more than once.
Anyway, went back several hours and everything looks good now. Am wondering if it could have been RegCleaner or SpyBot or Ad-aware that I had run just prior to having problems. Anyway...so far everything is back to normal
I had to work at it but I did put System Restore on my Windows Me several years ago. It is there but is hidden. I did it as a challenge but have never used it.
Sometimes I think probably it just slows things up. If anyone has what I should do to delete some of the restore points would appreciate it.
Anyway..I appreciate the help and know I can always come here for good dependable advice.

Lady in Red. (Bev)

Take a look here: http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgen...001012513122239
Disabling system restore will erase all old restore points. Enable it again later, as it is a very handy feature, although I personally had some problems with it on ME (never had problems on XP though).

Thanks for the feedback. You are always welcome.

Chris

Oh No!!! I lost that "D" drive again.
The sequence goes like this"
My computer has an error and freezes. I shut down by holding the switch on my CPU. Wrong way to do this I know but know of no other way.
Start it up again and scan disc tries to start with no luck.
Shut down again and start in Safe Mode.
Run scan disk successfully
Restart and everything looks normal but "D" drive is gone again.
Try Go-Back to an earlier time and still no "D" drive.
Computer seems to be running OK but the loss of drive bothers me especially for making backups or if I have a crash.
I don't know how to start in BIOS in safe mode as efabes told me to do.
Could you please explain how to do that.
I will keep working on this problem as there has to be a solution.

Thanks
Bev

QUOTE

I don't know how to start in BIOS in safe mode as efabes told me to do. Could you please explain how to do that.

You are mixing two different things. BIOS is one, Windows safe mode is another.

To access BIOS, depending on your system make/model, you have to hit the [Del] key during boot (POST screen). Some systems requires the [f2] or [f10] key to be pressed during boot.

The other thing he adviced was:

QUOTE

You can try a registry restore by starting with a boot disk, typing "scanreg" without quotes at the A:\ prompt and select "restore." Choose a date prior to the d: drive disappearing.

It is also possible that your optical drive is on its way to die.

Chris

I have determined that I lose "D" drive when i put my computer into safe mode to do the scan disk.

Must be something going on here but am not sure what it is.
Anyway I am operable again and have my fingers crossed it doesn't happen again for a while.

Thanks for all you considerations Efabes and Ironbender

Bev

I finally think I have the answer to my problem of losing my "D" drive.

I got busy deleting items from my start menu (to clean things up) and deleted a button that is the adaptec direct CD wizard. I think that has something to do with my D drive . When I put it back in my start menu everything is working great.
I did go into Safe Mode to get my Scan Disk to run properly and thats when I re-booted I lost the drive.

Hope this is the solution. So far ....so good

Glad there was a solution for it. Appears to have had most of us stumped.

And we had one like that a while back. Should have remembered to ask about adaptec!

I've lost the D drive again. Also in my task bar the Adaptec Direct CD Wizard icon have a red circle around it.
This time I haven't fooled at all with the start up menu.

efabes...you're last comment was

QUOTE

And we had one like that a while back. Should have remembered to ask about adaptec!

Could you possibly remember what the solution to the problem was then.
Would sure appreciate it. It has me baffled again.

Lady in Red (Bev)

Adaptec could have damaged a Windows file, so if you want Adaptec to work you'll probably have to reinstall it. If you don't care to have Adaptec you should completely remove the program (including using something like RegCleaner) and then repair install Windows.