Microsoft KB Archive/311455

= You Cannot View the Files on a Disc After You Replace a CD-R or CD-RW Drive with a DVD or CD-ROM Drive =

Article ID: 311455

Article Last Modified on 5/15/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
 * Microsoft Windows XP Professional

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This article was previously published under Q311455



SYMPTOMS
On a computer (such as a notebook computer) in which you can replace the CD-R or CD-RW drive with a DVD or CD-ROM drive, you may not be able to gain access to the files that are on the disc that is in the DVD or CD-ROM drive if you replace the CD-R or CD-RW drive with a DVD or CD-ROM drive while the computer is off and then start the computer. When this occurs, you can still gain access to the files by using a command prompt.



CAUSE
This problem occurs if you replace the CD-R or CD-RW drive with a DVD or CD-ROM drive while the computer is off and the same drive letter is assigned to the new drive.

When a writable drive such as CD-R or CD-RW drive is installed, Windows Explorer records its drive letter in the registry. If you replace the CD-R or CD-RW drive while Windows is running (this is known as &quot;hot swapping&quot;), the registry information is automatically updated. However, if you replace the CD-R or CD-RW drive while the computer is off, the registry information is not updated and Windows Explorer tries to treat the new drive as the writable device.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322389 How to Obtain the Latest Windows XP Service Pack

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:   Date        Time   Version     Size       File name -  20-11-2001  20:59  6.0.2600.2  8,220,720  Shell32.dll



WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, follow these steps:
 * 1) If Windows Explorer or My Computer is running it, quit it.
 * 2) Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
 * 3) Click Printers and Other Hardware, and then click System under See Also. (If you use Classic view in Control Panel, double-click System.)
 * 4) On the Hardware tab, click Device Manager.
 * 5) Expand DVD/CD-ROM.
 * 6) Click the appropriate device, and then click Uninstall on the Action menu.
 * 7) When you are prompted to confirm that you want to remove the device, click OK.
 * 8) On the Action menu, click Scan for hardware changes. This causes Windows to recognize new devices.
 * 9) Quit Device Manager and Control Panel.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Windows XP Service Pack 1.

Keywords: kbhotfixserver kbqfe kbbug kbfix kbshell kbwinxpsp1fix KB311455

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