Hi, I think I may need to reinstall the driver on this since it hasn't been reading cds (both cd-rom and audio cds). However the dvd reading works fine. Its strange, occasionally it does read a cd but most of the time it does not. It came stock on my Dell E510 (5150).

Support Information:
Device Type: CD / DVD
Manufacturer: Sony
Model: sony cdrwdvd crx310ee
Interface: IDE
Operating System: Windows XP Professional
Age of Device: < 2 years old
FCCID:

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

Find it on DriverGuide (http://members.driverguide.com/index.php?action=srch&sm=b&aax=&qa6=0&qa5=3&qa7=1500&dp=2&qm0=sony+cdrwdvd+crx310ee&jmd=and&fzz=d) | Find it with Google (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Sony+CD+%2F+DVD+Sony+sony+cdrwdvd+crx310ee+Windo ws+XP+Professional+)

This drive doesn't need any drivers as the replacement drivers will be the same as you currently have. Drivers are provided natively by the OS.

A combo drive has 2 lasers inside, one for CD and one for DVD. Logic would determine that the drive has a defective CD laser.

But this Item is new. I have come across several Sony Combos acting like this

I've seen brand new drives on this model fail within an hour of being put into service. The only way to know for sure is have it tested by a service shop or try it in another pc.

One test you can do yourself is to change the boot order in BIOS setup to "optical drive" as the "first boot drive", then see if it will boot with a Windows XP install disk inserted in the drive. When you see the message "press any key to boot from optical drive" (on the monitor screen), do so. If the drive fails to boot up, then you have a bad drive. If it does boot, then you have problems elsewhere. Let us know how it go with the test.

Guys, I have the same problem - with the same Sony CRX310EE drive - this is a "clean" system load - but it will not install the drivers for this drive - I built the system form this drive so it works fine.
PS mine came in a Dell Dimension 3100

Guys, I have the same problem - with the same Sony CRX310EE drive - this is a "clean" system load - but it will not install the drivers for this drive - I built the system form this drive so it works fine.
PS mine came in a Dell Dimension 3100

Is the drive listed in My Computer and Device Manager?

Does it have any flags present next to the drive in Device Manager?

Sorry if this is a little late.

Could this be the "upper/lower" problem?

Jerry -- you posted earlier at http://forums.driverguide.com/showthread.php?t=30011 that referenced MS Support Article ID: 314060 - "Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs"

(They tell me your memory is the second thing to go and I can't remember what the first one is.)

Hope this helps.