My CD Rom and CD RW will not work (only mechanically) when I switch on the computer. I can only get one or other of them to work if I disable it, restart the computer and then enable it again. I have tried unstalling them and reinstalling but they are still the same and I have also checked for drivers. Device Manager says they are both enabled and working properly. Can anyone help please? Micck R

This sounds like a master/slave issue. Instead of trying to reinstall drivers and redetect the hardware, go into your BIOS and make sure that they are being detected separately as Master and Slave. If you just added a cd-rw after having a cd-rom drive for some time, chances are you didn't make the correct jumper settings for your hardware. Look up your BIOS and see if your cd-rom drives are coming up correctly. :-D Good Luck.

Three devices...HDD, CD, & CDRW? Configure as follows: Primary Master - HDD Primary Slave - CD Secondary Master - CDRW Use master or slave jumper...do NOT use Cable Select

Jam, wouldn't it be better to put the devices as follows Primary Master - HDD Secondary Master - CD Secondary Slave - CDRW Putting the CD and HDD both on the same cable could cause problems as the HDD is much faster than the CD drive And I agree with Jam, DON'T use Cable Select, it can cause problems ________________________ MSI KT8 NEO Athlon 64 3200+ @ 2.0ghz 1.0 GB DDR PC3200 2X 160 GB HDD Hightech Excalibur Radeon 9800 Pro Iceq 128mb ( Core 425 MHz and Memory 380 MHz )

For data transfer purposes (especially when copying CDs), it's always best to have the CD & CDRW on separate channels. 'Independent timing' has been with us for quite a while now...since the Socket 7, I believe? The days of an ATA33 optical drive slowing an ATA100 or ATA133 HDD when sharing the same cable/channel are LONG gone. http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confTiming-c.html

Jam I have checked the BIOS and it shows Pimary Master User Sec. Master DVD-ROM Sec. Slave CDROM I should have said that doth devices had been working OK until recently. I should also say that I am not very computer literate. Micck R