Forgive me, I'm no computer genius, thus I need help. Neither is Gateway support who sent me a new CD drive which is the wrong one for my PC by the way. I don't even know that I need a new drive. First of all, I don't understand Interface Type: I think mine is USB since this is the way we connect to all external elements and it's a 2005 Gateway model #100136909.
This CD drive came in the computer new 3yrs ago and started giving me some trouble 3mos. ago.
This is what it has done and where I am:
Device Manager states is working fine.
I uninstalled and reinstalled drivers.
The system did recognize the new drivers.
The CD drive still did not work correctly.
Gateway support said I needed a whole new unit so I ordered one, got it, it isn't the same one at all, won't fit in my PCU.
After searching for specific drive #GCC-448 1B I found this site and downloaded the R92814.zip which someone said fixed a very similar problem to mine. This helped part of my problem.
What the drive actually did and still does:
It would play audio CD's.
It would open some photo CD's completely and some only partially then the system would freeze up.
When trying to burn photos to CD it would tell me my disk was bad. I could repeat with the same disk and at times it would go ahead with the process. Sometimes it wouldn't do them until another new disk was put in.
It would upload new hardware/software CD's. This changed and it no longer recognizes these CD's for uploads.
Now after the R92814.zip driver has downloaded:
I am able to copy photos to CD again.
Still not able to upload software/hardware. Still doesn't recognize CD.

I ran the Driverguidetoolkit which says I need downloads in several areas and possibly registry booster. The suggested reading had to do with motherboards if this gives you an idea of where they are needed. I have UniBlue registry booster which I ran paid for, used once but every time I run it and try to fix problems it says I have it tells me I have to pay again and my subscription has NOT run out.

Do you need more info to help me?
Thank you for any help you are able to give me and I apologize for my ignorance.
Joan


Support Information:
Device Type: CD / DVD
Manufacturer: Hitachi
Model: HL-DT-ST RW/DVD GCC-448 1B
Interface: USB
Operating System: Windows XP Home
Age of Device: < 2 years old
FCCID:

Type of drive: dvd-r/cd-rw (dvd burner, dvd reader, &amp; cd burner combo)
Location: internal
What recording software are you using?: Other (Other: CD Writing Wizard in Windows)

Find it on DriverGuide (http://members.driverguide.com/index.php?action=srch&sm=b&aax=&qa6=459&qa5=3&qa7=1500&dp=2&qm0=HL-DT-ST+RW%2FDVD+GCC-448+1B&jmd=and&fzz=d) | Find it with Google (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Hitachi+CD+%2F+DVD++HL-DT-ST+RW%2FDVD+GCC-448+1B+Windows+XP+Home+) | Research manufacturer Hitachi (http://members.driverguide.com/index.php?action=getinfo&companyid=459)

First let's establish what kind of drive you have. Is it an internal drive that is mounted in a USB enclosure making it an external USB drive?

Is it factory assembled or home assembled? Did you assemble it or did someone else?

An another note, external USB drives do not require any driver and they do not need to be manually installed using any driver. It's a plug and play device in Windows XP providing it's plugged into a working USB port. Is that port reported ok by Device Manager? Take a look and see.

Also while in Device Manager, take a look in the section named DVD/CD-ROM Drives and see what's listed there. Is there more than one drive listed? Do you have more than one optical drive installed in the system?

You didn't explain what R92814.zip is and what it's purpose is. Is it a driver file or is it a firmware update?

Is the drive listed in My Computer and Device Manager? Any flagged devices in Device Manager?

One of the first things I'd do is uninstall whatever driver you installed since the OS provides all support need to read a data or music disk and to burn a cd-r disk..

The Cd Writing Wizard that comes in Windows XP is only for burning cd-r disks. XP will not burn cd-rw or dvd disks and it won't read dvd disks. For those tasks, 3rd. party software is required, ie: WinDVD or PowerDVD for reading dvd disks and Nero or Easy Cd Creator for burning all types of disks.

Please attempt to answer all questions asked and we will go from there.