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CD-ROM not recognized by Win95

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22 replies

by cham

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Safe Mode/Device Manager reads CD-ROM, Primary and Secondary IDE Controllers - Win95 DM doesn't see CD-ROM and shows exclamation points at Primary and Secondary. Can play CD's using computers CD player, but not Real Jukebox.
Booting in Safe Mode brings up warning about virus. Details shows Master Boot Record has been changed.
Have rem'd out CD-ROM from config.sys and autoexec.bat and rebooted, deleted Master controller from Safe Mode/DM and rebooted, run fdisk/mbr in DOS and rebooted, and nothing.
Am desparate!

22 replies

by bill cassada

Have you checked for a virus since the warning is being displayed? I would definitely start here. FDISK was a good shot, but you need to use a boot floppy and scan for viruses in DOS mode (Symantec offers a free scanner I think from their website just for such purposes.) If you don't have virus software find someone who does and get them to make a boot disk for you. Let us know what happens. Even if you fix the virus you may have a badly corrupted copy of Windows and/or corrupted data. DON'T BACK THIS UP until you have scanned it for viruses or you will just be copying it back while still infected later.

by chipx86

I agree with Bill about the virus. You need to be very sure you get a clean boot disk. If you have a win95 start up disk, the one that comes with the program you could use it to boot clean. You may have some luck booting to c:\, holding the F8 keyduring boot up, this allow you to load your rom drivers(if you have them)without a windows enviornment.
GOOD LUCK

by Former member

Get hardware drivers for motherboard.

by sd99

How many times did you run fdisk/mbr?Sometimes you have to run it like a dozen times for it to work.

by xaeryth

Disable the ChipAway virus protection in your BIOS. Boot to Windows (without CDROM) and scan your system with the latest virus def's you can get. Try installing the DOS drivers for a SONY CDROM (not sure why but seems to make all CDROM's I've set upwork). Hope this helps. -Corey Hitchcock

by xaeryth

The ChipAway virus is the most common virus protection in BIOS. Just search for anything in the BIOS that says Virus and make sure it is disabled. Unfortunately, besides the above fix, I've had one computer experiencing a simular problem and it ended up being a gone bad CDROM but most were fixed with the Sony driver. If you want to find out if the CDROM is bad try taking one out of a system that you know is working and plug it into the problem system. If it works than the CDROM is bad but if italso doesn't work than try reinstalling the drivers for your controllers (by removing them and rebooting). An end all would be to reinstall the OS but that should be your last ditch effort (unless you can afford the 3+ hours).

-Corey Hitchcock

by xaeryth

So to clarify something, the CDROM ONLY works with audio CDs and not data. There is no icon in My Computer for the CD drive but there is a "device not working" exclamation in the Device Manager. Removing that device and rebooting to allow Windows toredetect it did not work. Running a virus scanner does not come up with any virus' found. All cables are completely connected to motherboard/device.

Try putting both the CDROM and hard drive on one of your IDE controllers. If they are and both onPrimary try splitting them up or putting both on Secondary.

by xaeryth

Another weird thing to try would be to remove your sound card and see if that is affecting your IDE. It's not common but I have seen it happen once or twice. Really trying to help you out here.

-Corey

by red dragoon

This may sound really simplistic, but this is what I have done when I've had trouble with a CD-ROM.

1. Ensure that all of your connections are secure.
2. Remove the CD-ROM and IDE controllers from Device Manager. Reboot the PC and let Windows detect the hardware.
3. I actually had to do this once. The device driver that came with the CD-ROM wasn't correct. I had to use a floppy drive with sound card drivers.
4. If all else fails, try installing Windows on top of itself.
5. Not to offend my peers, but a master boot record change message doesn't necessarily indicate a virus problem. It might be a registry problem.

Hope this helps.

by tsmulders

The AntiExe virus is a system infector, affecting the master boot record (MBR) on a hard disk and the boot sector on a floppy disk on PCs. While generally harmless, it does cause problems accessing certain EXE files that are 200256 bytes in size.
The virus loads itself into memory and replaces the MBR of the hard disk with its code, hiding the original MBR at another location on the hard disk. Once resident in memory, it infects any non-write-protected floppies or hard disks that might be accessed.
It will stop the loading of some CD Roms.

by blhk

1st, remove CD-ROM in device manager in safe mode and reboot. Or, When CD-ROMs are missing from MY Computer, normally a virus is in your system. NYB, Monkey Virus A or B, AntiExe are sometimes the cause. Some resist on your motherboard. Remove CMOS battery for short time. Use clean boot disk with tap protect in lock. Preform FDISK/MBR.

by grantcom

Your CD Rom is most likely bad. I have encountered this problem twice on a machines. They would play CD Audio but not read data. CD ROMS must use different circuits for data and audio. I would replace the CD with a known working one for diagnostic purposes.

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