I use one sony cdrw crx195e1, and one HP dvd writer 300i... both are internal... they worked fine until yesterday... now the sony cdrw won't work. the access light is continually on, the drive won't open, (there is no disc in there) I can manually open it by sticking the pin into the hole, but when I reclose it, same thing happens. when I put a disc in it just accesses and hangs my computer... I don't recall making any changes to my computer, but I do remember downloading some new firmware for the HP drive... do you think the problem is related? I tried reinstalling the drivers and everything but it still won't work... Any other tips I can try? Thanks in advance, everyone... =)

Try DEVICE MANAGER. uninstall the offending drive, reboot and let XP reinstall the drivers.

I did that but no-go... The tray won't even open on its own... Access light on constantly... I have to use a pin to open the drive... I hope it's not broken... Anything else I can try? And thanks for reponding so quickly... =)

You can try removing the HP from the IDE cable and in device manager and if the Sony works its a conflict.

You are not going to believe this... this thing was dead, so i opened it again with a pin, played with it a bit, and in frustration I slammed the door shut super-hard... Next thing i know it is opening on it's own again... Works fine now... I can't believe it, all these hours trying to figure out what was going on, rebooted about 100 times, and all the drive needed was a good kick. Per: Thanks for all your help, bro... -Trav

You are welcome. Crap hardware, crap software, will it never stop.?LOL!