Having problems with games on my PC

[Cerek the Barbaric]

I'm running WindowsXP. I have a DVD drive {drive D} and a CD-Writable drive {drive E}. The computer itself is just barely more than a year old. Several months ago, I started having problems with the D-drive reading certain CD's. I learned this was not unusual, so I just started running all the game CD's I have in the E drive. Then I started having a problem with the Desktop Icons. I would click on them and they would arbitrarily look in Drive D. I couldn't find a way to override that. So now I couldn't start many of my games from the Desktop Icon. An annoyance, but no real problem...I just insert the proper CD into Drive E when I want to play.

Now I'm even having problems with that. I have several games I've purchased for my boys that simply will not work because the PC doesn't recognize that the CD is in Drive E. I'll insert the disk, the Start Up Menu appears, I click PLAY, the machine whirs and whirs....then pops up a message to insert the CD in Drive D or Drive E.

Is there a way to overcome this, or do I just need to replace my CD drives?

[IAmThumper]

I once had a problem with two CD rom drives (one a writer) where the drives just wouldn't find a CD. I did a windows update (WinXP) and then everything worked fine. I've used cd rom drives a lot older than 1 year old and have had no problems but it does sound like a hardware problem. I would start by doing the update, then making sure everything in your computer is clean, and all cards and cables are seated correctly. Also make sure there are no IRQ conflicts.
Good luck.

[VulcanRider]

Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric: I'm running WindowsXP. I have a DVD drive {drive D} and a CD-Writable drive {drive E}. The computer itself is just barely more than a year old. Several months ago, I started having problems with the D-drive reading certain CD's. I learned this was not unusual, so I just started running all the game CD's I have in the E drive. Then I started having a problem with the Desktop Icons. I would click on them and they would arbitrarily look in Drive D. I couldn't find a way to override that. So now I couldn't start many of my games from the Desktop Icon. An annoyance, but no real problem...I just insert the proper CD into Drive E when I want to play. Now I'm even having problems with that. I have several games I've purchased for my boys that simply will not work because the PC doesn't recognize that the CD is in Drive E. I'll insert the disk, the Start Up Menu appears, I click PLAY, the machine whirs and whirs....then pops up a message to insert the CD in Drive D or Drive E. Is there a way to overcome this, or do I just need to replace my CD drives?

So you've got 2 problems here -- A) your DVD is slowly losing the ability to read disks (why do you think that's NORMAL?), and 2) your desktop shortcuts, which you want to point to E:, are back on D: ? AFA the first, have you cleaned your drive head lately? Checked your data & power cables for good connections? Sometimes they'll gradually work loose. As for the 2nd, that just sounds like your desktop shortcuts need to be updated to point to the E: drive again. For each shortcut, put the disk you want into E:, then point to the desktop shortcut and right-click, select Properties, and make sure the Target: points to the file on the E: drive. How they got switched in the 1st place? Maybe you've been listening to music by The Police? You've got a Ghost in the Machine...

[Luvian]

Most game memorise from which drive they were installed, and only accept the cd if it is in that drive.

Deus Ex is the case. There are other games, too. Sometimes you can go in the game directory and look around in ini files to fix it. But otherwise, you will have to reinstall them using your E drive.

[ 09-21-2003, 11:08 PM: Message edited by: Luvian ]

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by VulcanRider: So you've got 2 problems here -- A) your DVD is slowly losing the ability to read disks (why do you think that's NORMAL?), and 2) your desktop shortcuts, which you want to point to E:, are back on D: ? AFA the first, have you cleaned your drive head lately? Checked your data & power cables for good connections? Sometimes they'll gradually work loose. As for the 2nd, that just sounds like your desktop shortcuts need to be updated to point to the E: drive again. For each shortcut, put the disk you want into E:, then point to the desktop shortcut and right-click, select Properties, and make sure the Target: points to the file on the E: drive. How they got switched in the 1st place? Maybe you've been listening to music by The Police? You've got a Ghost in the Machine...

Actually, the main problem I have is that - even when I physically put the game into the CD drive and try to start it that way, the PC STILL won't recognize that the CD is present. It will go through the Start-Up Movie and even bring up the Start Menu...but when I click on PLAY, it spins and looks for the CD again without finding it. As I said before, the Desktop Icons are just an annoyance that I could probably fix if I took the time (which I will have plenty of over the next few weeks).

As for the DVD drive, the CD's that it wouldn't read weren't exactly the "original" CD's from the manufacturer (if you know what I mean). Once I got the "official" versions, I had less trouble, but I still occasionally ran into a CD that it just wouldn't read for some reason.

I guess I'll try the WinXP update first. I always have a little box at the bottom of my screen informing me that there are several updates ready to be downloaded. Once again, I've got a lot of extra time now, so this would be the time to do that. After that, I can always try to Un-Install and Re-Install the games that aren't working. Newer games seem to work fine, it is just the older ones that haven't been played in awhile that are having problems. So maybe I will go back and just Re-Install them from Drive E.

Thanks for all the tips and keep'em coming. I'm looking for all the advice I can get.

[Luvian]

Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric: As for the DVD drive, the CD's that it wouldn't read weren't exactly the "original" CD's from the manufacturer (if you know what I mean). Once I got the "official" versions, I had less trouble, but I still occasionally ran into a CD that it just wouldn't read for some reason.

I'm surprised you would use such cds, considering how religious you are... Did you read my post? Games installed from the D drive will often not work if the cd is in a Drive other than the D drive.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Luvian: quote: Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric: As for the DVD drive, the CD's that it wouldn't read weren't exactly the "original" CD's from the manufacturer (if you know what I mean). Once I got the "official" versions, I had less trouble, but I still occasionally ran into a CD that it just wouldn't read for some reason.

I'm surprised you would use such cds, considering how religious you are... Did you read my post? Games installed from the D drive will often not work if the cd is in a Drive other than the D drive. [/QUOTE]Yes, I saw your post Luvian. That was actually my first thought when these games started buggering up on me. I figured I would have to Un-Install and then Re-Install from the new drive. Still may do that if the update doesn't work.

As for my actions vs my religious convictions....we all have our human frailties. I had seen the Baldur's Gate series, but wasn't sure if I wanted them or not (plus I couldn't afford both of them at the time). A friend offered to give me a copy to try and I accepted.

I became hooked instantly (playing far too late on nights when I had to go to work the next day). When I bought my new system and encountered problems, I bought official copies of both games off eBay.

[SpiritWarrior]

Sometimes older CD bays have problems reading new formatting. With IWD2 my original D- drive would not read it, and kept making clunky noises as it spun the cd. When I stuck the same game into my newer CD-R drive it installed fine.

Also on the desktop icons try right-clicking them and changing the target to the new location of the game CD and/or correcting the target location if it is wrong.

[Luvian]

You could fix your games manually.

For example, here's what I have at the top of Bladur's Gate 1 "baldur.ini" file:

[Alias]
HD0:=D:\Program Files\Black Isle\Baldur's Gate\
CD1:=E:\CD1\
CD2:=E:\CD2\
CD3:=E:\CD3\
CD4:=E:\CD4\
CD5:=E:\CD5\
CD6:=E:\CD6\

Replacing the drive letters with the new good one would be a good idea. I'm already using the E drive, but in your case you could switch the D for an E.

You should take a loot at your game's config files before reinstallng them.