CD/DVD Dive down

SylkRode · 14 Aug 2015

The upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 knocked my CD/DVD Lightscribe drive out. At the moment it isn't a problem, as these days most everything can be run without a CD, but long-term it will cause me some measure of inconvenience. I've checked with the manufacturer, I've ran Windows update several times, but it continues to be conspicuously absent from my "This PC" directory. The tray works, but putting a disk in does nothing. This is something I really need to deal with - this is the final kink standing between me and a permanent future with Windows 10.
My computer is an old HP Pavilion p6614f from around 2009. Mostly stock, short of a new hard drive.

Antilope · 15 Aug 2015

Check on the HP or Intel website to see if there is a chipset driver update for your motherboard. It doesn't necessarily have to be a Windows 10 update. Even a newer driver than 2009 for Windows 7 may work. It's probably a disk controller driver problem rather than a CD drive problem if it worked okay before the Windows 10 upgrade. The drive controller is probably built into the motherboard, unless you have an IDE or SATA card in an accessory slot. In that case, try to get a newer driver for the accessory card.

Here's a link to the HP driver page for your model. It looks like there is a DVD driver update for Windows 7, also.
HP Software and Driver Downloads for HP Printers, Laptops, Desktops and More | HPÂ® Customer Support

SylkRode · 15 Aug 2015

You mean HP MediaSmart DVD Application Update? It says it is not trusted and will not run. It says contact administrator - which is me. I click run as administrator, and it still says it is not trusted. I even tried extracting it as an archive, and it still didn't work. I've tried this with every item that looks potentially relevant, but either nothing happens, or it says I have the wrong OS. The only one that seems to be a safe bet is something that needs to run....... from a CD. Which may yet be possible, actually; the computer itself seems to see the disk drive (it occasionally spins up on boot), a file in the root directory is labeled something like "bootmgr" - suggesting it runs separate from the OS, and I do have access to other computers - but, somehow, I doubt that will work, either.

On the initial bootup screen, there is a diagnostic action keyed to F9. Maybe that is something to try??

As for the motherboard route, I have no idea where to look or what to look for. If all else fails, maybe I'll have to ring up HP and shout at them. I have found several log files in a directory in the C drive labeled "intel" - perhaps an answer can be found there?

If I don't get this fixed by next week, I'll have to roll back to Windows 7. I'm not going to risk shooting for the month long deadline and wind up missing it. And, despite the crashes and features lost from Seven (most notably the highly jackdaw-friendly Aero effect) I would rather not have to do that.

SylkRode · 16 Aug 2015

Well, I weighed the pros and cons, and decided I wasn't gaining enough with 10 to justify all the issues. Plus, I missed 7's simplicity. It's clear-cut and I know it like the back of my hand. I wasn't using the shiny new things that 10 offered, coupled with all of the hardware issues. I've waffled on it for days, but I'm done now. I'm sticking with the OS that will probably go down in the company's history as one of its greatest accomplishments.

Sorry for wasting your time.