When I start up my computer Windows XP sees my DVD drive, but as time goes on, at some point, it no longer detects the drive. If I reboot my machine, then my drive is detected again for some amount of time until it disappears again.
What could be the culprit here? How do I fix it?
Oh yes, and if it makes a difference the drive is an internal SATA drive.
EDIT: Another thing, the DVD drive still has power, I can open and close the drive, but it just isn’t recognized.
EDIT: As per David Spillett’s suggestion I have checked the error log, and I found an event saying: The device (my DVD drive) disappeared from the system without first being prepared for removal. Which seems to indicate that it might be a loose cable, When I have a chance, I will open up the computer and check the cables.
Solution:
Do you see any warning or error messages in the system logs? (right-click “my computer”, select “manage”, and in the utility that loads look in the “Event View” section under “System”).
Unless there is some sort of message there that gives more clues, the only thing I can think of is that you hare a dodgey or lose power or data cable and at some point there is a disconnect which Windows sees as an attempt to hot-unplug the device. If the device doesn’t support hot-plug then it will not reconnect properly until you restart your machine.
So check that all the cables for the drive are securely attached to the drive and the motherboard and power supply. Also, try swapping the cables for others (SATA data cables are easy to come by, and your power supply probably has spare SATA power connectors perhaps even on a separate line).