PC doesn't recognise my external CD drive

[piccadilly]

I have been putting my CD collection onto Sonos using an external CD Drive purchased from ebay for £15 – this has done the job for most of the CD’s.

However, suddenly, the computer fails to recognise the CD Drive and looking into “device manager” the following message is indicated :-

“Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19)”

I have clicked on “Uninstall” and rebooted the machine but the computer still doesn’t recognise the CD Drive.

Any help or suggestions would be welcome.

Kind Regards,

 

[next010]

Does it work if you try plugging it into any other computer ? (friend/neighbors)

If you don't have access to another computer, you could try booting into a Linux OS to see if it recognizes the USB CD drive in its live demo environment.

Get this, feed it ubuntu 20.10 iso image, boot from USB into the demo mode and see if it can read the USB CD drive (unsure if your PC bios supports booting from USB CD).

 

[piccadilly]

Thank you for your prompt reply.

I have tried the CD drive in another PC and that also does not recognise it.

I can't understand why it has suddenly stopped working.

I will attempt to apply your suggestion above but it may be far beyond my technical capabilities!

The Device Manager indicates that "the best drivers for your device are already installed":-

C:\WINDOWS\system 32\DRIVERS\cdrom.sys

I will report back!

Regards

 

[EndlessWaves]

I can't understand why it has suddenly stopped working.

Because it was a cheap and cheerful ebay purchase.

If it doesn't work on multiple computers then the drive has just failed. It might be the USB enclosure rather than the drive itself, which might be slightly cheaper to replace.

 

[piccadilly]

Thank you.

Can anybody recommend an external cd drive that I could buy - maybe a brand name?

 

[Freelander2020]

I bought a LiteOn eTAU108 in 2011....still going strong. Writes CD's & DVD's - even RW's. There are a few for sale on Fleabay even today.