Disc there but ME wont open it!!!!!

[andypat]

Using a Microsoft Word 2000 "Step by Step Courseware" disc on a friends pc it wouldnt load. It tried to Autoplay the disc but the intro page didnt come up, in My Computer it says the disc is there but it wont open it or explore it. I have tried the disc on my pc with Windows XP on and on my sons ME operating system pc and both open the disc up to the intro page no problem.
The cdrom drive on my friends pc works ok as we installed a game without any problem so I wonder if there is a setting I am missing somewhere?

Regards

Andypat

[jubei]

Are you able to view the contents of the CD? If so, go to Start>Run then type in the path/filename and hit enter. It could be that the disk is scratched or the lazer on your friends computer is dirty or damaged. The drive will locate the disk's label and display it under My Computer, but it's my guess that the area where the file was burned is scratched or your friends CD drive is faulty or weak. Try buying a lens cleaner or some CD cleaner.

[andypat]

The contents of this cd wont open in my friends cd drive but it does in the 2 pcs I have at home.
Would it be a reasonable assumption to put a new cd drive in their pc to test if thats the case as it should open it up regardless wether it would install or not.

Regards


Andypat

[jubei]

Ok, this is what needs to be found out:

When you put the disk in, go to my computer. Does it show a CD label for the drive? If it does, can you open the drive and view the contents of the CD? If so, what happens when you try to run an app from the CD? Does it attempt to load, or does it do nothing? A quick test I always use to see if it's a software problem or a hardware problem is this: Create a new folder somewhere on your hard drive. Copy the file(s) you are trying to view/run from your CD to the new folder. If the contents wont copy (given that copyright protection doesn't stop you from copying the file(s)) then it is a problem with your hardware. If they do copy and wont run, it's time to look into software conflicts.

I don't suggest running out and getting a new drive just yet. If you have a spare drive and the time to set it up, it would be a good idea. Or if you have an external drive just laying around, that's even better...but don't go out and dump money on something if it isn't necessary.

[andypat]

In My Computer and Windows Xplorer it showed that the disc had 3.55mb on it with the circular diagram but nothing appeared at the right hand side of the window and I am sure a label didnt come up it just said 'drive d'.
I will try to send it to a new file to see what happens and I have a spare cdrom drive that I can try but I cant understand why its just this one disc it doesnt see as I loaded a game in for them yesterday without any problems.


Cheers

Andypat

[jubei]

Hrm, looks like the drive is just not reading the files. I had a similar problem with a burning data CD's for backup purposes. For some reason the space would be taken up, but the files would not show up. I ended up having to buy nero and remove the crap roxio from my computer. That seemed to work.

Anyway, it does seem to be your drive. There's no reason ME would not display the files on the disk. The drive could probably only read where the session was ended on the CD itself and then displayed the amount of storage that would have been used because of it. I'd suggest trying out your spare CD drive or having a tech look at the one you're trying to use.

One question though. Was the CD you're trying to use a store-bought CD or a burnt CD?

[andypat]

Its a Microsoft origional cdrom which makes the problem more of a myster6y really.
I will try thr new drive though as soon as time allows

Cheers

Andypat