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I have an Acer Aspire 5520 and I think I have a BIOS problem. My computer has stopped detecting my sound card, stopped detecting the CD\DVD driver and one of the USB driver too. What could it be? I can’t do the e-recovery from DOS.

Since your problem can stem from a number of problems, you need to conduct some troubleshooting scenarios to try and fix it. Read through all of the suggestions and then try them in any order one-by-one until the problem is fixed.

Use the Device Manager to Check Device Status

First, let’s check to see if your computer has noticed any problems with your sound card, CD/DVD drive, or USB drives. You will need to access your “Device Manager” to do so. To open the dialog box for “Device Manager” follow these directions (or a variation depending on your version of Windows):

1)   Choose “Start” form the bottom of your screen.

2)   Choose “Control Panel.”

3)   Choose “Performance and Maintenance.”

4)   Choose “System.”

5)   Choose “Hardware.”

6)   Choose “Device Manager.”

Look through the dialog box that pops up and search for mention of any problems with the drive. You might see the word “disabled” or a warning sign. If the “Device Manager” indicates that the drive isn’t working, select “Troubleshoot” and search for a solution. In many cases, this fixes the problem for you.

Reinstalling Device Driver

You can uninstall the device in question directly and then reinstall it. Typically, this fix works quite well. If you want to do this through the “Device Manager,” just uninstall any of the devices that were marked disabled and scan for new hardware changes.

Update Device Driver

If your existing device drivers are too old, you may need to update them. Visit the manufacturer’s website for each device and check to see if any new updates for the drivers are available.

Boot up in Safe Mode

You can always boot up in “Safe Mode” and see if that fixes the problem. Just turn the laptop power on, and hit the “F8,” “F2,” or “F12,” key on the keyboard as soon as it starts to power up. You might need to hit the key more than once. Use your mouse to select “Last Known Good Configuration,” and press enter on the keyboard.

I have an HP SR5223WM desktop with an Asus M2N 68-LA motherboard (Vista 32 Home Basic). My CD and DVD-RW drives stopped reading discs but still show as installed and in device manager. The system will not reinstall their drivers. Any suggestions on how to return them to previously working conditions?

There are a few options we can try including using System Restore, updating the drivers manually, and using a Microsoft “Fix It” tool.

System Restore

First, if your CD and DVD drives just recently stopped reading discs, it could be a problem related to a bad operating system update or file corruption. If so, and if you have a current System Restore point, you can use System Restore to roll back your system to an earlier point in time. Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore and choose a restore point from before the drive issues occurred. System Restore will recommend a restore point, usually the most recent one. If the problem has been going on for some time, you’ll want to click on “Choose a different restore point.” System Restore will then list recent restore points. These may not go back far enough in which case you will need to check the box that says, “Show restore points older than 5 days.”

System Restore has its limitations. First, System Protection must be turned on. If you turned it off, you won’t have a restore point at all. Next, older restore points are eventually overwritten by new ones, so you can’t go too far back in time.

Update Drivers

If System Restore doesn’t do the trick, you can try updating the CD/DVD device drivers again. How did you initially try updating them? Via Windows Update? Device Manager? These methods are only as good as the drivers that Microsoft has on file. Since your system didn’t update the device drivers, it’s possible that Microsoft doesn’t have new drivers on file for your drives. Check with the CD/DVD drives’ manufacturers for updated drivers and then install them following the manufacturer’s instructions.

Another trick that you can try with Device Manager is to “uninstall” the drives. Once uninstalled, reboot Windows. Windows will then detect the “new” hardware and install the most current drivers for your drives. To do this, go into Device Manager, right-click the drive that you want to uninstall, and choose “Uninstall” from the menu.

Microsoft Diagnostic Tool

Finally, Microsoft has a “Fix It” diagnostic tool designed specifically for diagnosing and repairing issues such as CD and DVD drives failing to read discs. You can read more about this particular tool and download it for free at Microsoft’s Help and Support Web site.