My biyfriend decided the easy way to clean off the kuldge on the HD from the previous owner was to reformat using my copy of XP Pro , thereby loosing all the drivers . HP no longer supports this device and I need a driver for it , otherwise I'll have to buy and install a new DVD writer . Please help , Thanks , Paula Barefoot

Support Information:
Device Type: CD / DVD
Manufacturer: Hewlett Packard (HP)
Model: DVD writer 400c
Interface: IDE
Operating System: Windows XP Professional
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: infra recorder)

Find it on DriverGuide (http://members.driverguide.com/index.php?action=srch&sm=b&aax=&qa6=456&qa5=3&qa7=1500&dp=2&qm0=DVD+writer+400c&jmd=and&fzz=d) | Find it with Google (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Hewlett+Packard+%28HP%29+CD+%2F+DVD++DVD+writer+ 400c+Windows+XP+Professional+) | Research manufacturer Hewlett Packard (HP) (http://members.driverguide.com/index.php?action=getinfo&companyid=456)

Optical drives never require a driver when used in any Windows os from Win95 up. Windows XP and Windows Vista both provide native support that allows an optical drive to read a data or music disk and to burn a cd-r disk. No support for playing dvd disks, avi or mpeg video files, or for burning cd-rw disks. For those tasks, compatible 3rd. party recording & dvd decoding software is required.

You are not limited to using HP provided software, even though it's free on their website. Any dvd decoding software, like WinDVD or PowerDVD, can be used as well as Nero or Roxio's burning software.