lokokkee

Have a couple of gremlins that need sorting:
1. Just changed from a Creative DVD-RW drive (laser pickup not reading) to a Liteon DL one. WinXP Explorer recognises the drive, but when I put a blank disk in, it shows drive no disk/not accessible. Put a recorded one in, it works fine. Can't do drag and burn in Explorer, but works fine with Nero etc.
2. I had a Palm Vx PDA cradle connected to one of the Com port. Worked fine previously, but now says Com port busy, will connect when next available, when nothing else is running. Checked all other Com ports, all indicated busy as well, including those on a PCI Com port card. This happened after a thunder storm, but I had lightning isolators on power and phone lines in. Everything else works fine.
3. My Palm Vx keeps losing track of the stylus position after a couple of days from a new setup. First, it is off to the adjacent line, then slowly, it deviates more and more, until it is no longer usable and a new setup is needed.
Any suggestions before I call the GhostBusters? Thanks.

jpor

iTrader: (1)

I would consider a re-install of XP. Sounds like you have some corrupted programs and drivers.
Or try a SP2 re-install to see if it fixes the problem.

lokokkee

I would dread to do a reinstall of WinXP as I have problems with SPII updating. Took me a number of tries to get it to work. Would suspect a hardware failure for the Com port problem, but the DVD gave no indication of any problem with hardware or drivers, so probably corrupted software.

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

XP's internal burning is crap, hence why it works ok in Nero. XP probably isn't recognising the newer Liteon drive correctly. I don't know why anyone would want to use XP's CD burning ability, just turn it off.

jpor

iTrader: (1)

If the COM port is coming up as busy. Then it maybe busy with another device it thinks is connected (I.e MODEM). Not necessarily hardware failure. For the DVD, have you checked MS Updates website for any updates to the built in XP burner?

mykp

Give this a try.

You'll need the XP CD

http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

lokokkee

I am on auto-update, so any hardware or software updates available should be automatically downloaded instead of me having to look for new drivers etc. I suspect maybe the WinXP built-in CD burner may not work with a dual-layer burner, hence not recognising the presence of an empty single layer disk, whereas the bundled Nero program does.
I have got 4 Com-ports indicating they are busy at the same time, and other than the Palm cradle, there are no other devices attached. I am on DSL broadband on a network card, so this is very strange to me. The only other device previously connected to a Com-port is a dial-up modem which I kept as a backup, and the power was not connected. The phone line is taken out from a fax machine, which is protected by a lightning surge isolator, both for the power and the phone line in. During the thunderstorm, there was a crackling sound from among the equipment, but everything else work fine. Upon double checking, the modem is now giving errors when downloading, so it must have been fried by the lightning surge and maybe affected the connected Com-port on the mother board, but I have got another 2 ports on a PCI card also showing busy, maybe the circuits merge somewhere.

Beefy

I would make sure that you check the Custom option of Windows Update and ensure you have everything. AFAIK the auto update only installs critical updates, security fixes and things like office service packs and bug fixes.

lokokkee

Beefy, it is automatic download of all updates, including optional items like hardware drivers. Liteon is a pretty established brand, so just thought any software support required should be easily accessible. The included installation disk does not include any special drivers, just burning and editing softwares, so just thought unlikely to be software, unless I got a corrupted WinXP.

jpor

iTrader: (1)

This may help:

http://support.microsoft.com/search/...de=r&cus=False

swaussie

XP's built in burning software only works for CD's not DVD's (disks not burners).

lokokkee

I was only trying to burn a CD, not DVD, so this doesn't explain my problem. Thanks anyway. This is neither the first nor the last time my PC acts funny.
http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthrea...okkee+computer