Okay, so a desktop computer I’d given my sisters about 2 years ago has been returned to me for “fixing” (ie: removing spyware, etc). In the process, I notice that Windows no longer is recognizing the DVD-ROM drive. Huh. Weird.
Upon rebooting, I notice that both the CD-RW drive and the DVD-ROM drive are displayed in the BIOS boot up. When Windows loads, though, no DVD-ROM drive. I suspect a faulty IDE cable, so I open the case and swap the two on the cable – the CD-RW drive was the Master, the DVD-ROM drive the Slave. Both jumpers are set to Cable Select, and always have been. Rebooting, the DVD-ROM drive is found.
…wtf? Does anyone know why this might have happened? It seems to be fine now that I’ve swapped the master/slave status of the drives (despite that, for some reason, both are listed as CD-ROM drives in Windows Explorer – though both function as their intended use (CD-RW drive and DVD-ROM drive))… but why? Why did this fix it?