I have Windows XP Home SP2 upgrade which has worked OK for the last year. Today the boot up failed to start the CD R(D drive) and CD-RW(E drive) drives. Hardware conflict markers appear against both items in the Device Manager with the information 'Windows cannot locate device driver for this hardware. May be corrupt or missing (Code 39)'. Have tried uninstall/reinstall - no change. Have downloaded CD R driver but seem to have nowhere to put it! Manufacturer suggests reinstalling operating system - how do I do that or is there another way to get them both going again..Thank you

Hi and welcome to D-A-L

you could always try a repair instaltion.

Configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM drive. For more information about how to do this, refer to your computer's documentation or contact your computer manufacturer. Then insert your Windows XP Setup CD, and restart your computer.

1. When the Press any key to boot from CD message is displayed on your screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD.

2. Press ENTER when you see the message To setup Windows XP now, and then press ENTER displayed on the Welcome to Setup screen.

3. Do not choose the option to press R to use the Recovery Console.

4. In the Windows XP Licensing Agreement, press F8 to agree to the license agreement.

5. Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press R to repair Windows XP.

6. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Setup.

Thank you for your welcome, time and interest. Not being the sharpest tool in the shed it took some time for it to dawn on me to visit Microsoft Support and search under 'Code 39' where I found the solution - deleting a couple of Registry entries. Everything back to normal again. No doubt I'll be back...

Glad your sorted