hi there,im having problems with my sons win98se desk top,he seems have to deleted the cd rom drive,how i dont know but when we put a disc in nothing happens we cant find it in my computer either.do i need a new cd rom or just drivers.if so how do i install them.was thinking about uninstalling windows altogether and reinstalling how easy is this.and what would i do,please help.

oh forgot to mention how would i reinstall etc if cant find cd rom drive or disc in my computer.

Windows should automatically re-install the CDROM when it boots up and notices that it's not installed. You don't normally get drivers for a CDROM because Windows will always be able to use its own built-in drivers. For this reason, it sounds like your CDROM drive has a hardware problem - either it is faulty or not properly connected.

Switch off the PC and disconnect it from the mains. Open the PC case and check the two cables at the back of the CDROM drive. Unplug them both and reconnect them firmly. One is the "ribbon" cable that transmits the data signal and the other is the connector terminating the power cables. The power connector will probably need a bit of a tug. Whilst doing this, ensure that there isn't a big build-up of dust at the back of the CDROM drive.

Plug everything back in, switch on and see if it made any difference. If it doesn't, we'll talk you through stage 2, which is checking it in the BIOS.

Let us know how you get on

Thread moved to 'General Hardware Issues' board.

hi thankyou for that advice will attempt that.i have noticed in the device manager section there is an exclamation mark by a device port when try to reinstall it .it is a pci which is needed to make hard ware work,however i cant reinstall it as it asks for win98 disc to be inserted could this be the problem.

I wouldn't expect that this is the cause of the problem. What is the name / description of the device with the exclamation mark next to it?

hello the name of the device is pci universal serial bus it has an exclamation mark i tryed to remove it then reboot,it tells me new hardware is found locating but dosent do anything.

hi it seems with the problem i have with cd rom,we disconnected cables tried again but didnt work,went out bought new cd rom,doesnt work either took pc to shop they checked if fitted correctly they fitted it,but said there a problem with pc as doesnt reconizeb any drives,debating if should replace pc now,more expence.

Thanks for the update. If the computer shop actually said to you that it doesn't recognise any drives, this isn't true. It recognises your hard disk (otherwise Windows wouldn't load up). The CDROM drive uses the same connectors on the motherboard inside the PC as the hard disk does. OK, so there are two and your CDROM might be connected to a faulty one whilst the hard disk is connected to the working connector. However, that doesn't rule out the option of plugging both the hard disk and the CDROM drive onto the same cable connected to the same port on the motherboard. Then both drives should work.

Even if it is the case that the computer recognises the hard disk but no other drives, then you don't have to resort to buying a new PC. One option is to replace the motherboard, which will cure the problem. This will be expensive though as it's a big job. However, you could probably get the same result much more cheaply by fitting an IDE controller card into a spare PCI slot inside the PC. Then the ribbon cable to the CDROM drive would plug into the new controller card instead of into the faulty connector on the motherboard.

Hope that helps

Thankyou for your reply, made the computer shop look pretty stupid,they replaced the motherboard few months ago,he did tell me the other day may be that,so just been down shop told them what your email said they were gobsmacked thought r she a women tell her anything,anyway i have decided to buy a second hand pc as its only for my son,to be honest we have had nothing but trouble with it,i thankyou very much for your help.