I have an external Philips Cd-rewriter with usb cable that I can't get to work. I have internal CD drive also. Everything shows up in control panel o.k. No yellow exclamation marks. When I try to read or use the CDrw I get "device not ready" message. Help!

Can you Eject the CD-RW tray by A. Pressing the Eject button or B. By Right-click your Philips CD-RW> Eject in My Computer without getting the Device not ready" Error message? If so hardware and CD-RW drivers are most likely OK [Except for dust or something obscuring its optical Lens] but you may need to Uninstall & Reinstall the Recording Software that came with your CD-RW Also make sure you have tried a couple of other data or music DISCS to rule out problem with a 'dirty' or 'damaged' Disc.

No, can't eject either way. Have tried reinstalling everything. Also tried different discs. Thanks

If you have other USB devices attached to this machine , you may be having a problem with power supply to the Device. You may try to attach a Powered USB Hub and install the device to it. In some PCs with AMD CPU and A VIA Technologies USB controller, USB device malfunction occurs and MicroSoft has a software. You may check Download 240075up.exe now For a MSKB article on USB issues check General USB Troubleshooting in Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Me