replacing CD player

[rhodeye]

I have an HP Pavillion computer. I think it only plays CDs. On another computer which I have but is not functioning at the moment there is a CD\DVD player that can also burn discs. If I replace the present CD player in my pavillion computer with the one that plays and burns CDs and DVDs will the pavillion automatically recognize it so I can use it? If so will the pavillion give me instructions on how to use it? How would I access it? Thank you.

[rhodeye]

Hi, If I don't get an answer I might just try putting the CD DVD player burner in and see what happens but that would take quite a bit of time and if it doesn't work I might have to put the original one back in again and that would take more time. Can't my Pavillion computer handle a CD\DVD player and\or burner? Would I have to have some software for the one I install and if so is it available to download online. thank you

[photolady]

Actually if you're talking about hardware you might have gotten a faster answer had you posted this in that forum instead of ME.

To answer your question, No, if you buy a new drive, it will not be automatically recognized by your computer. You need to change somethings, mainly the jumper on the back of the drive. If you have only one drive, change it to make it Master. If you have two drives, you need to check where the jumpers are set to on that one.

And no, your computer won't tell you how to use it. The software you buy or get with the drive will tell you how to do that. Retail cdrw's/dvdrw's come with software. OEM drives, meaning just the drive, no box, will need a program, either bought or one of the free ones compatible with ME.

It would be more cost effective to buy a DVDRW instead of a CDRW now. And a DVDRW will burn dvds, cds, and read both.

[rhodeye]

Thanks for answering Photolady but I don't understand what you are saying. I'm going to study it sometime then I'll get back to this thread. should I ask the same question on the hardware forum? Maybe I'll get more understandable replies.I have a floppy (A) , HP Pavillion (C), and a compact disk (M) drive. What is a jumper and if I put the other player\burner in how do I make it the Master? Is the drive the actual CD]DVD itself and isn't it just a matter of attaching the some connecting wire from the old CD player to the other one I put in it? Again , Should I copy these replies and post them on the hardware forum?

[photolady]

I don't know what you want me to tell you. I'm the moderator for the Hardware forum, and my reply is the same I would have given you if you had posted there instead of in the ME forum. No, don't post over there either.

[photolady]

A jumper is a small piece of plastic that fits over two pins on the back of your drives. These are on both optictal (cd/dvd) and harddrives. Their function is to designate which drive should be Master and which should be Slave. These jumpers allow your computer to see and recognize there are drives installed.

And no, it's not just connecting a wire from your old drive to the new drive, that's what the jumpers are used for also.

Here is a photo of the jumpers. They will look just like these on your new drive:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/photolady/08-optical-jumper.jpg

[GretaP]

These might help:

HP Upgrading and Servicing Guide (http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00311110.pdf) (requires Adobe Reader to view)
See the section on Removing and Replacing Drives

Mounting Drives (http://biorobots.cwru.edu/server/howto/buildcomp/mountdrive/)
Yes, it talks about drives other than just CD/DVD, but I thought the pictorials it includes might be helpful