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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
CD-ROM Drivers
Last updated: 5/2//07
Q. I reformatted my hard disk drive and now I cannot access my CD-ROM with my Startup floppy to install Windows. What do I do now?
A. Well, you may be in for some noticeable
work. For other readers… always back-up the config.sys, autoexec.bat, C:\windows\command\mscdex.exe
(if you don’t have it on the boot floppy) and CD-ROM drivers, etc. before
formatting a hard disk drive. I also look at both the autoexec.bat and config.sys
files and consider installed hardware before scrubbing a drive, and I usually
back-up the drive.
You are probably going to have configure your boot floppy to load the correct
CD-ROM driver. First, you need to find the driver. Some of the floppies also
have mscdex.exe although the program belongs to Microsoft. See if you/she has
the CD-ROM floppy with the driver. Most of those floppies have instructions
for manually editing the config.sys and autoexec.bat files. Both files have
a line that is required to run the CD-ROM. The config.sys file loads the driver
and the autoexec.bat file loads mscdex.exe. The lines look something like this,
but can vary depending on the CD-ROM drive:
config.sys
device=cdrom.sys /D:mscd001
autoexce.bat
a:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:mscd001
"mscd001" can vary but must be the same in both files. The name of the driver,
"cdrom.sys" in this case, can vary and depends on the drive. There may be additional
flags, but these lines will work in most cases. The autoexec.bat line assumes
mscdex is present in the root directory of the floppy, but it can be elsewhere.
So, you can’t find the floppy… Then you must determine the make and manufacturer
of the drive. In most cases that requires removing the drive from the case.
If you are lucky you will be able to determine that info easily. But when one
forgets to back-up the driver, one is not usually lucky. Many times a CD-ROM
is made by one company and labeled differently by the company that uses the
drive to build a computer (e.g., Packard Bell). Steps to find the driver:
1) Search for the manufacturer on Google
2) Search Google with the info (usually the Model number) on the drive.
3) Look in one of the drivers web sites (see our links
page)
4) Find the manufacture with the FCC number (see How
to Indentify a Motherboard).
And there is the case, with older machines, where you have and old, non-IDE
CD-ROM which is attached to the sound card. In those cases (and others), I
usually install one of my shop CD-ROM’s temporarily to install Windows. Also,
see How to Install
a CD-ROM.
FAQs: CD-ROM, CD-RW, and DVD Drives Index
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