Support Information:
Device Type: CD / DVD
Manufacturer: Advent
Model: 8109
Interface: PCMCIA
Operating System: Windows XP Professional
Age of Device: < 1 year old
FCCID:

Type of drive: cd-rw, dvd (rewriter &amp; dvd rom combo)
Location: internal
What recording software are you using?: Other

Find it on DriverGuide (http://members.driverguide.com/index.php?action=srch&sm=b&aax=&qa6=1838&qa5=3&qa7=1500&dp=1&qm0=8109&jmd=and&fzz=d) | Find it with Google (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Advent+CD+%2F+DVD++8109+Windows+XP+Professional+ ) | Research manufacturer Advent (http://members.driverguide.com/index.php?action=getinfo&companyid=1838)

PCMCIA drives have never been supported by the manufacturer in Windows XP. Production of these obsolete drives were stopped long before the introduction of Windows XP. An XP support will have to come from the OS as the manufacturers do not offer any drivers or support in Windows XP.

First thing required is Card Services (provided by Microsoft and included with the os).
2nd requirement is a driver for the actual pcmcia card. Again the manufacturer does not provide any XP support so your left with trying to get the OS to load a generic driver. You just have to look the list over and see if there is a driver included with the os. If not, your out of luck trying to use this device in Windows XP. No driver is required for the actual drive. Once the other 2 requirements are met, the OS will automatically detect and install the drive with it's native support. But until those requirements are met, the OS can never see the drive.

One other solution is to buy a USB enclosure (either IDE to USB or SCSI to USB depending on what the actual drive interface happens to be), remove the drive from the pcmcia enclosure and install it in the new usb enclosure. Also, cable kits are available that will allow use of the drive without using an actual enclosure. They are a bit cheaper than usb enclosures. A typcial cable kit that will do this is the 2020-OTB adapter kit from Geeks that sells for about $13.00. USB enclosures are available from the same vendor for anywhere from $20.00 up to $50.00.