Is my CD-ROM broken?

[Fantome]

My mother-in-law gave me her old cheap Dell PC and I put it in the basement as a second PC. I just received a PCI card for it today so I can have internet access for it. I got to the point in the instructions booklet that says:

"Insert the Software CD into your CD-ROM drive, and the Setup program should launch automatically. If the Auto-run program does not launch automatically, click Start at the taskbar and select Run... Type E:setup.exe (where E is your CDROM drive) in the Open box and click OK to launch the Setup program manually. The main screen of Setup program will appear as below.

The Auto-run program did not launch automatically, so I selected Run... and typed E:setup.exe and I got the message:

"E:\ refers to a location that is unavailable. It could be on a hard drive on this computer, or on a network. ......."

I also tried going to My Computer and the only drive listed there is C. I tried putting in a music CD and that also did not play automatically although the CD ROM did make noise.

[FNAWright]

Certainly your disk drive could be broken.

Altho your instructions specify "E" drive, on each of the half-dozen or so different Windows based PCs I have used, the disk (CD) drive was identified as the "D" drive.

It's only a coincidence but it's easy to remember: D drive = Disk drive.

Is there a floppy on this unit?

[Duckster]

Originally Posted by Fantome

My mother-in-law gave me her old cheap Dell PC ...

-- snip --

I also tried going to My Computer and the only drive listed there is C.

So what operating system and version?

You have to ensure the basics are working (operating system / hardware) before you can use the computer as it is.

Assuming a Windows machine of unknown vintage, try this.

[Fantome]

I tried replacing the E with A through F when typing E:setup.exe in the run box and I got the same message. No floppy.

[Fantome]

Originally Posted by Duckster

So what operating system and version?

XP with Service pack 3.

[Dag Otto]

If the drive is making noise then it has power so the power cable is ok. Have you checked to see if the data cable is installed?

edit: Also, does the CD-ROM show up in the BIOS?

[IAmNotSpartacus]

Desktop -> Right Click "My Computer" -> Click "Manage" -> Click "Disk Management"

Does the device appear there? It will probably show up as "CD-ROM 0" or the like. Right click, select properties, and verify whether or not Windows thinks the device is working properly.

[Fantome]

Originally Posted by Dag Otto

Have you checked to see if the data cable is installed?

Just checked now and the cable was in tightly on both sides. I disconnected them anyway and put them back in and now everything works. Thanks.