Hi Everyone,
Two month old Sony Vaio Laptop running Vista Home seems to have lost the CD/DVD drive. If I insert either one of these I can hear it firing up but nothing happens onscreen.
I tried to 'update the driver' online but got a message telling me that its fully updated already.
The Norton 360 program keeps telling me to back-up my files and folders but then refuses to do so telling me 'no back-up sets found'. I've tried clicking on 'My Computer' but the drive seems to be missing - however there is something I've never noticed before called Norton Back-up Drive which does seem to have appeared.
The CD/DVD drive is a Matshita CD/DVD-RAM UJ880AS. I've googled this item, been led to a lot of websites - it seems to be a common problem amongst Sony Vaio laptops. There were links to click on to talk me through rectifying it, and links to click on to get it sorted automatically. I did't want to make any mistakes and download something wrong or unsuitable (or worst still, be sucked into downloading a virus). I only trust the Experts on this website, so here I am in the hopes that someone can please help me with this problem. Is it just that the communication between Windows and the drive has broken down, or is it something more complicated than that ? Will I be able to repair it myself ? Until I get this sorted I'm unable to do quite a lot of stuff on the laptop - most of all, back-up my data using a DVD disc.
Sincerely,

Jaydee

Sounds like the bug carried over from XP where the registry entries for the optical drive become corrupted.

I posted a fix for Wiindows XP for this problem in Hardware Tips, but I haven't had chance to try it out in Vista yet to see if it will work.

You can fix this manually, but you will have to edit the registry. So I should set a system restore point first before you attempt the fix.

Have a look HERE for help. There is a file to download for a automatic fix.

Hi Mart,
Thanks for replying. I clicked on the link, went through the process but at the end it told me that 'no drive was detected' and basically that was it.....end of automatic fix. I've searched the Microsoft website but it just leads me back to the link which you gave me. I've even tried a System Restore to the beginning of September but it told me, after working through it for a while, that the Restore point could not be used and for me to choose another restore point. I'm now at my wits end because I'm getting closer and closer to needing to write a CD on behalf of a committee I'm on, very soon, so I'm getting desperate. Do you have any more advice, or solutions please ? If not, thanks for trying........
Regards,
Jaydee

Is the drive detected in Device Manager. If it is, is there any warning exclamation signs next to the dvd drive?

A side issue but the Norton back up drive that is showing is a virtual drive. It allows you to drag & drop items for back up to it.

The error message is because you haven't set up which items you want to back up.

http://www.symantec.com/norton/support/kb/...;selected_nav=4

Hi Mart - yes it is detected in the Device Manager, but the drive Manufacturers name (Matshita) does have an exclamation mark next to it. No matter what I try I cannot change this. I'e tried the 'disable' option as well as the 'uninstall' option but nothing happens.

Hi Grasshopper, thanks for that. I thought perhaps the Norton drive was throwing another of its tantrums and had somehow 'taken over' what used to be my Cd Drive.....because the CD drive is absent in the 'My Computer' listings but present in the Device Manager but as I said above - it has the exclamation mark on it.

I'll wait to hear from you again about what this mark means and how I can proceed from here.
Many many thanks to you both for your continued advice and support its much appreciated.

Jaydee

Umm, uninstalling the drive and re-booting to get windows to re-install the drivers was the next step.

When you say nothing happens, don't you get a warning message to say you are about to uninstall this device, click OK?

Also, what is the error code when you double click on the drive in device manager?

Hi Mart,
When I first thought that this problem was such a stinker that even you, with your vast knowledge, was not going to be able to help me I emailed Sony explaining about the problem. I had a reply this morning with written instructions about what to do - it involved going into 'regedit' (which I am sure would have been your next suggestion) and following what they'd written. I'm pleased to tell you that it worked a treat and am going to pass on exactly what they said to you, so that if anyone else meets with this problem in the future then it'll be easily solved. I'm sure though that when you read what the Sony people have written that you'll agree that this would have been your next move.
I hope you don't think I've wasted your time Mart, I just desperately needed an answer to this problem because it was holding me up with my work, terribly.
Heres what they wrote:

Start > Run > Regedit

Click continue past the next window

On the left hand window pane follow the path below:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class

Under Class, click {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} and highlight this entry.

In the right pane, right-click Upper Filters, and then click Delete.

Click yes when prompted to delete the registry value.

In the right pane, right-click Lower Filters, and then click Delete.

Click yes when prompted to delete the registry value.

Quit Registry Editor. To do this, click Exit on the File menu.

Restart the computer.

Hope that somewhere along the line this helps anyone with the same problem.
THANKS for your time Mart - and thanks just for 'being there' - it means a lot to know that there is someone out there in times of need by us out here with computer problems.....

Regards,

Jaydee

Glad you got it sorted.

The auto fix on the link I gave you should have done the same job, but I was going to suggest doing it manually, because that fix you were advised to do, was on the link as well.