Please could you find me a driver to make the above named cd rom drive work on my vaio notebook.
Thank you!

Support Information:
Device Type: CD / DVD
Manufacturer: Sony Electronics
Model: PCGA-CRWD1 CD-RW/DVD ROM DRIVE
Interface: Other
Operating System: Windows XP Professional
Age of Device: Not specified
FCCID:

Type of drive: cd-rw, dvd (rewriter & dvd rom combo)
Location: external
What recording software are you using?: Nero/version

Find it on DriverGuide (http://members.driverguide.com/index.php?action=srch&sm=b&aax=&qa6=965&qa5=3&qa7=1500&dp=3&qm0=PCGA-CRWD1+CD-RW%2FDVD+ROM+DRIVE&jmd=and&fzz=d) | Find it with Google (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Sony+Electronics+CD+%2F+DVD++PCGA-CRWD1+CD-RW%2FDVD+ROM+DRIVE+Windows+XP+Professional+) | Research manufacturer Sony Electronics (http://members.driverguide.com/index.php?action=getinfo&companyid=965)

Optical drives do not require any driver when used in Windows XP so please.... take the time to state what the problem is and include some details.

Basically the notebook does not recognise that the drive is plugged in (its external) and although power goes to the drive and it responds to any disc inserted, the notebook does recognise that there is a disc inserted. I've tried using device manager but the drive is not listed.
Thank you for any help you can offer.

If the drive is not listed in My Computer or Device Manager, that's called non-detection. If you have an External drive, then it most likely plug's via USB, right? (that's the reason why our request forum has the INTERFACE box... so we don't have to guess)... I'm assuming you've checked in Device Manager to insure the usb port(s) is/are working ok?

This problem of the "notebook not recognising a disk is inserted"... are you talking about a disk containing data or a blank disk? ie: what's not recognising the disk... Windows or recording software?

With the vague data I'm having to work with, I can only assume you either have a usb port problem or a defective drive.

No its not via USB - that's why I chose "other" in the interface section. It's a strange looking 2 pin type plug that I haven't seen on any other device! It's all sony and came with the notebook.
Nothing recognises any disc. I cannot get any type of disc (data, blank, dvd, cd etc etc) to play via any program.
Thank you for your help.

The only interface left is SATA. SATA drives require a working and properly installed SATA driver. It should be listed in Device Manager under ATA/ATAPI Controllers.

SATA drives are no different than ATA (IDE) drives in the fact that both must be properly installed and working. If and when this SATA controller is in a working state, the optical drive will be detected automatically by the system.

Not all manufacturers SATA controllers are supported by a retail Windows XP installation disk, however, if you system has a recovery process (either by using data on a hidden partition on the hard drive or by recovery cd disks), that driver will be included.

Thanks for all your help with this.:)
Using device manager the only ATA/ATAPI controllers listed are
Intel (r) 82801BA Bus Master IDE Controller
and Primary IDE channel.
According to device manager these are both working correctly.
I'm lost now!! :hdspin:
I'm unable to use the recovery discs since the drive doesn't work.
Help!!!

Your drive interface is iLink... Sony's own proprieatary interface. It should look like this:

(private connector cable)
http://vcl.vaio.sony.co.jp/products/common/images/i_dc_01.jpg

(computer part connector)
http://vcl.vaio.sony.co.jp/products/common/images/i_dc_02.jpg

Is the drive listed in My Computer or Device Manager?
Has it ever worked?

This being a Japanese market product, I cannot find any recovery instructions in English. However, I would suggest you consult your pc documentation for instructions to do a "recovery" process.

http://vcl.vaio.sony.co.jp/support/acc/pcga-crwd1.html (Japanese support link)

That's it! Told you it wasn't USB!
It used to work - for several years without trouble!
No it is not listed on my computer or under device manager.
Thanks again for all your help.

hi..i seem to be having the exact problem...did you find the driver? if so can you please share the download link?....thank you so much