Help! Desperately seeking computer geek.

[Keroin]

iTunes has once again eaten my CD/DVD drive. *Tears out hair in frustration* Since I'm stuck on the rock for another five and half months, my options are limited. If I get rid of iTunes, I lose all my music, (unthinkable), but I need my CD/DVD drive.

In the past, I was lucky to stumble upon some computer savvy folks who fixed it for me. It has something to do with the registry edit (??) but even these guys said it was complicated.

Here's the link with instructions on how to fix this. I've tried on my own but got nowhere and I'm worried about farking up Lappy even more.

I really hope someone out there can help me or point me in the direction of someone who can help me. Thanks all.

 

[00Syd]

Im confused. How would itunes (software) eat your CD/DVD drive (hardware)?

PCs are weird.

 

[PoeticMusings53]

iTunes has once again eaten my CD/DVD drive. *Tears out hair in frustration* Since I'm stuck on the rock for another five and half months, my options are limited. If I get rid of iTunes, I lose all my music, (unthinkable), but I need my CD/DVD drive.

In the past, I was lucky to stumble upon some computer savvy folks who fixed it for me. It has something to do with the registry edit (??) but even these guys said it was complicated.

Here's the link with instructions on how to fix this. I've tried on my own but got nowhere and I'm worried about farking up Lappy even more.

I really hope someone out there can help me or point me in the direction of someone who can help me. Thanks all.

My sound driver has randomly disappeared twice. I just go to update.microsoft.com, or just try HPs automatic updates, and it reinstalls it.

 

[Keroin]

Im confused. How would itunes (software) eat your CD/DVD drive (hardware)?

PCs are weird.

Apparently, despite the assertion that itunes is compatible with PC's, in some computers the program essentially wipes out the CD/DVD drive.

The first time it happened, I spent many frustrating hours trying to contact Apple and the manufacturer of my laptop for tech support - not cheap from my part of the world. They basically blew me off. Then I went searching online and found that I was definitely not alone with this problem. A major glitch. If I had known that beforehand, I would have gone with a different program than itunes. Bastards.

 

[Keroin]

My sound driver has randomly disappeared twice. I just go to update.microsoft.com, or just try HPs automatic updates, and it reinstalls it.

I'll give that a try and see if it helps. However, when I go into "manage devices" and click on the "check for driver updates" box it just tells me that my driver is already updated and working fine.

*Beats head against desk*

Thanks, I'll let you know what happens.

 

[00Syd]

I can't help with this particular problem but I would say that once you've got this fixed you should transfer all of your music files to either a different music program or put all of the original MP3s on an external so that even if itunes craps out you won't lose your music.

 

[Keroin]

Update. Weird. Now it will play DVD's but not CD's. If I rip the CD's to the library, then no problem but if I just pop one in to play it, no dice. So now I'm totally lost.

Oh well, better than nothing I guess.

 

[Homburg]

Update. Weird. Now it will play DVD's but not CD's. If I rip the CD's to the library, then no problem but if I just pop one in to play it, no dice. So now I'm totally lost.

Oh well, better than nothing I guess.

Not that I am a computer geek, but I had a similar problem, and it was in Windows Media Player, not iTunes. You might try updating your WMP.

And iTunes is a wonderful program. It just work better on the platform it was designed for.

 

[Keroin]

Not that I am a computer geek, but I had a similar problem, and it was in Windows Media Player, not iTunes. You might try updating your WMP.

And iTunes is a wonderful program. It just work better on the platform it was designed for.

My next purchase will be a Mac, no question. I'll keep Lappy as a work horse - we've been through too much to just send him off to silicone heaven - but I hear way too many good things from Mac users. And Vista, don't even get me started on that stupid piece of...

 

[midwestyankee]

My next purchase will be a Mac, no question. I'll keep Lappy as a work horse - we've been through too much to just send him off to silicone heaven - but I hear way too many good things from Mac users. And Vista, don't even get me started on that stupid piece of...

Does Lappy have implants? Just wondering, 'cause my computer uses mostly silicon in its chips.

 

[LilyBart]

Can you get your hands easily on a good sized flash drive? So you can back iTunes up to something, at least?

Although, after numerous duets with the devil of the dying PC(s), I have finally paid to subscribe to a back-up service. At $90/year its not too bad, and affords some security in case of fire or flood.

~LB

 

[Keroin]

Can you get your hands easily on a good sized flash drive? So you can back iTunes up to something, at least?

Although, after numerous duets with the devil of the dying PC(s), I have finally paid to subscribe to a back-up service. At $90/year its not too bad, and affords some security in case of fire or flood.

~LB

Probably a wise idea. I could have one sent from NZ. I'm still kicking myself for not picking up an external hard drive when I was home for my visit. Too busy eating, I think.

 

[Keroin]

Does Lappy have implants? Just wondering, 'cause my computer uses mostly silicon in its chips.

Cheeky man.

 

[midwestyankee]

Can you get your hands easily on a good sized flash drive? So you can back iTunes up to something, at least?

Although, after numerous duets with the devil of the dying PC(s), I have finally paid to subscribe to a back-up service. At $90/year its not too bad, and affords some security in case of fire or flood.

~LB

My backup service costs me about $1 per month for about 2 gigs of file transfer.

 

[midwestyankee]

Cheeky man.

I'll have you know that my cheeks are all natural, not a drop of silicone.

 

[LilyBart]

My backup service costs me about $1 per month for about 2 gigs of file transfer.

Braggart.

My service does a whole lot more.

It gives me weekly manicures, bi-monthly pedicures, and cleans the toilets too. Plus it does stuff I really can't mention here...

~LB

(Seriously, for Keroin...there are less expensive back-up services. I just use mine for more things. Even more than toilet cleaning, truth be told...)

 

[midwestyankee]

Braggart.

My service does a whole lot more.

It gives me weekly manicures, bi-monthly pedicures, and cleans the toilets too. Plus it does stuff I really can't mention here...

~LB

(Seriously, for Keroin...there are less expensive back-up services. I just use mine for more things. Even more than toilet cleaning, truth be told...)

What's the service? I like manicures, too, under the right conditions.

 

[LilyBart]

What's the service? I like manicures, too, under the right conditions.

Careful. People might think we are having an affair.

 

[midwestyankee]

Careful. People might think we are having an affair.

We're not? Damn!

 

[LilyBart]

We're not? Damn!

*Peeks under the covers* Nope, it appears we are not. Definitely, there is no one here...



~LB

Um...Keroin, its his fault for the hijack. Not mine.
Really.

p.s. I will pm you later about my backup service, just FYI. I am certain Mr Yanks will too. And I am sure that there are others that you can choose from. But in the meantime, order a flash drive from amazon.

 

[GrimFate]

I'm not a hardware person so I don't know too much about it...but heres a link to an official source, microsoft's support page, that deals with "Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060

Might have something helpful. Good luck.

 

[Homburg]

My next purchase will be a Mac, no question. I'll keep Lappy as a work horse - we've been through too much to just send him off to silicone heaven - but I hear way too many good things from Mac users. And Vista, don't even get me started on that stupid piece of...

I got interested in macs while using MIS' macbook. Her machine recently had a solid price drop when they went to alloy cases for that model. You can now pick up the old polycarb cased model pretty darned cheap. It was the recent upgrade to the mac mini that finally sold me on a mac.

I was in the market for a new box and realised that I could slap another hundred or two to what I was planning ons pending on a PC, and buy the mac mini, get better performance, pre-installed software that I actually liked, etc.

I already had safari on my PC, as well as iTunes, and liked the mail program on MIS" mac and a host of other apps. So now I use a mac and am quite happy with it. There are only a few apps that I really dig on the PC, and could probably find equivalents on the mac if I wanted. And if I reeeeeally needed to, I could Boot Camp my mac and run windows. I'm not going to, because I don't want to waste the space, but I can.

In short, for my level of use, there's no real downside to owning a mac, and some solid upsides.

And I have to agree with others. I'm a big fan of external HDD's for back-up. I've got around 60 gigs worth of music, and it would be a serious hassle to get it all back. So I have the library on my mac, a back-up on my old PC (which is holding on to life by a thread currently) and on my external HDD.