I'm quite confused bout this one. For some reason no matter what CD i put in my drive XP will not open it in a folder view or even let me explore it. It's playing any autoplay cd's fine so its definitly readong them it just wont show me the files. Any ideas!?!?!

Thx in advance

Martin

2 posts I found from the google link below:

"This problem can occur if you are using Folder view in Windows Explorer.
The view may not be automatically refreshed in Folder view in Windows
Explorer.

To work around this problem, use either of the following methods:

Manually refresh Windows Explorer by pressing F5 or by clicking Refresh
on the View menu in Windows Explorer. And/or Do not use Folder view in
Windows Explorer.

Incorrect Contents Are Displayed in Windows Explorer
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;Q314939

You Cannot View the Files on a Disc After You Replace a CD-R or CD-RW
Drive with a DVD or CD-ROM Drive
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q311455

CD's Recorded in Windows XP Is Missing Files or Folders, or Is
Unreadable
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q309691

&

"One aspect to check: Get TweakUI - one of the XP Powertoys from
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p.../powertoys.asp

Once installed (and I suggest you look through the custom install and
only install the toys that look as if they will be useful to you) you
will find it in Start - All Programs - Powertoys for WindowsXP

In its My Computer - Drives section, ensure that the drive letter
concerned is checked to be visible in Explorer (best for most systems
to have *all* letters checked, whether there is a drive or not)

explore contents cd

Thanks for the reply but the problem has still not resolved itself. I have noticed that when i look at the cd's properties through windows explorer it tells me that the cd's are all empty. Even my Vaio recovery CD is apparently blank. It's not a problem with the drive itself because you can navigate the files using command prompt but using anything within windows causes problems. I'm still clueless!

THx Martin

Did you try all the fixes in my last post?

I found a couple more:

Switch the Drive Controller to DMA Mode
Switch the CD-ROM drive or DVD drive to DMA mode from PIO; this may resolve the issue. For additional information about how to switch your computer's drive controller to DMA mode, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Device settings are hard to find in Windows XP

also:

How to Troubleshoot Issues with Reading CD, CD-R, CD-RW, and DVD Discs

tho this is more geared towards a total non-reading of discs there is a condition:
The contents of the disc will not display in Windows Explorer.

The only other reference I've found resolves the problem with a repair install off your XP CD:

"I rung MS Technical support, and the Technician I spoke to
had never seen it. He suggested a couple of quick fixes,
but nothing worked. The last step was to do a repair
using the XP CD. That worked.
You boot from the XP CD and the first prompt says install,
or repair with the recovery console, go to the install,
then it goes through and detects your install and says do
u want to repair. Choose yes. It fixed mine, but I als
could not read from Cd's.
2 caveats. 1)Backup all your data, even though you should
not lose any data, you always should backup. 2)Have
drivers handy, it resets the OS back in Service packs and
Security patches."

Hope this helps.