CD Drive not recognised

so after sorting out the transferring files problem (with the help of an 80gb external hard drive) i've now got a new problem.

Media Player doesn't seem to recognise my CD drive. it did before though, because i ripped a CD with media player yesterday. but now it says "A CD drive is needed in order to rip music from CDs."

any ideas on how to rectify this?

1-Does it show up in My Computer?
2-If not, check and see that the device is still installed in the Device Manager
3-Does a CD device show up in the BIOS
4-Have you opened the case to check the IDE cable and power connections?
5-If all else fails, CDROMs are like $16 bucks, CDRWs are like 23-25, and DVD+-RW are around $40. Consider an upgrade :).

EDIT----
I noticed you used an external drive for backup, your drive letter assignments may have somehow gotten off, there should be a setting in WMP to change things around if that is the case, I can especially see something like that happening in Vista.

1-Does it show up in My Computer?
2-If not, check and see that the device is still installed in the Device Manager

doesn't show up in My Computer. can't see it in device manager either.

5-If all else fails, CDROMs are like $16 bucks, CDRWs are like 23-25, and DVD+-RW are around $40. Consider an upgrade :).

it's a brand new $3,350 computer, i'm not going to pay for the problem to be rectified.

EDIT----
I noticed you used an external drive for backup, your drive letter assignments may have somehow gotten off, there should be a setting in WMP to change things around if that is the case, I can especially see something like that happening in Vista.

stopped recognising the CD drive before i used the external hard drive.

i looked at manually installing the CD drive, but it asked what model it was. any way to find out?

or any other ideas on how to make it realise it's there?

EDIT - for some reason, when i just tried putting a CD in the drive is now recognised. it's there in My Computer and in Device Manager.

However, Media Player still doesn't recognise it. i've tried refreshing the Devices list in Media Player Options, but nothing. still doesn't recognise it.

Hooray for 2.2!

i thought maybe Media Player wouldn't recognise it until i closed it. so i did. and nothing happened. so i used task manager to close it completely.

stuck in the CD and it started ripping! and it now recognises the drive too.

it's a brand new $3,350 computer, i'm not going to pay for the problem to be rectified.

Damn what are the specs on that thing? Must be nice, I paid $420 for my machine:

1GB PC4200RAM
3 Firewire
16x DVD+-RW with Lightscribe
160GB SATA HD
some other dinky crap too, I've got a 250GB External, and a Vid. Camera I got for christmas I use as a webcam :).

i'm curious as well....
i mean, it costs more than mine and mine isn't exactly well, off the shelf.

http://vaio.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProduct.action?product=VGN-TX5XN%2FB&site=voe_en_GB_cons&category=VN+TX+Series

i think the cost is party because it's so small. 1.25kg or 2.75lb.
11.1" screen. it's very very small.

oh... carbon fibre bodied vaio.
explains it.
have you upgraded the ram?

nope, probably just going to stick with the 1gb.

don't really need any more, at least not right now. i might upgrade it to 1536mb (~1.5gb) sometime, as that's the maximum it can take.

http://vaio.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProduct.action?product=VGN-TX5XN%2FB&site=voe_en_GB_cons&category=VN+TX+Series

i think the cost is party because it's so small. 1.25kg or 2.75lb.
11.1" screen. it's very very small.


Eh?
That lap top is like a 1300cc Honda Civic with a body kit, 20 inch chrome wheels, pretty paint job and a fancy exhaust.
It might look pretty parked in the street, but it gets smoked by Ford Transits at the lights.

Eh?
That lap top is like a 1300cc Honda Civic with a body kit, 20 inch chrome wheels, pretty paint job and a fancy exhaust.
It might look pretty parked in the street, but it gets smoked by Ford Transits at the lights.

That laptop is meant for mobility and battery life. Compare it to something more like a Prius with a completely different shell and vastly improved feature set. It dosn't want to launch off the line and dosn't care that you want to race, it knows you will be at the pump 3 times before it needs a refill.

How about, it's like a Hummer, it has way more features than the rich bastard really needs.