Troubleshooting Portable CD-ROM Difficulties in Windows^® 95

This document contains basic troubleshooting steps to resolve the most common portable CD-ROM drive difficulties in Windows 95. This document assumes that the CD-ROM drive letter is D:.
Possible causes

There is no CD disc in the CD-ROM drive.
There is an audio CD disc in the drive when you are trying to access data files; or a data CD disc in the drive when you are trying to play an audio or music CD disc.
The CD disc is dirty or defective.
The CD disc is an Apple or Macintosh format rather than IBM compatible format.
The CD disc is not in the drive with the label side up and the writing on the CD disc visible.
The incorrect CD disc or no CD disc is in the CD-ROM drive.
The program trying to access the CD-ROM drive is corrupt.
The CD-ROM drive is conflicting with newly installed hardware devices.
The real mode drivers for MS-DOS mode are not loaded.
The jumper settings on the external CD-ROM drive are set incorrectly.

Basic CD-ROM Troubleshooting
CD disc checks - Always make sure that the correct type of CD disc is in the drive for the type of program you are attempting to use. If you are trying to play music from your CD-ROM, make sure that an audio CD disc is in the drive. Likewise, if you are trying to listen to MIDI or WAVE files from a CD disc, make sure that the program you are using is designed to play these types of sounds.
CD disc type - All CD-ROM drives will give random errors if a damaged or wrong media type CD disc is placed in the drive. If you are attempting to use a data CD disc, such as the Microsoft^® Office Reference disc or Microsoft Works, make sure the correct disc is in the CD-ROM drive. Many "Help" files read information from these discs. Make sure that there is a data CD disc, such as the Gateway 2000^® System CD, in your CD-ROM drive when you are trying to access the D: drive from a DOS prompt or from within Windows 95. You can not access a directory of an audio CD disc.
CD disc defects - Make sure that the CD disc you are attempting to use is clean and free from scratches. Any nick or fingerprint can cause an error when the CD-ROM drive is trying to access the disc. Try different CD discs to see if the problem is with a specific disc or with any disc that you place in the CD-ROM drive.
CD disc position - In CD-ROM drives that Gateway 2000 sells, the CD disc must be placed in the drive with the label side of the disc facing up so that you can read the writing on the top of the disc.
CD disc format - Make sure that the CD disc you are trying to access is IBM compatible. If you try to read an Apple or Macintosh CD disc, you will receive errors. Locate the pamphlet that came with the CD disc. Inside this pamphlet there should be information concerning the format and compatibility of the CD disc. Contact the manufacturer of the CD disc for further information.
Resolving CD-ROM difficulties
Windows 95 recognizing the CD-ROM drive - If the CD-ROM drive is not recognized or the proper drivers are not installed, audio CDs and data CDs will not play correctly or may not play at all. To make sure the CD-ROM drive is recognized in Windows 95, right click the My Computer icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Click the word Open on the menu that appears. The My Computer window appears on the screen. There should be an icon present for the floppy drive(s), hard drive(s), Control Panel, Printers, and the CD-ROM drive. If there is no icon present for the CD-ROM drive, you will need to let Windows 95 install the drive. Consult the Userís Guide that came with the CD-ROM drive for installation instructions. If the CD-ROM drive icon is present, click the X in the upper right hand corner of the window to return to the Windows 95 desktop.
If Windows 95 does not dectect a disc in the CD-ROM drive, right click the My computer icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen. From the pulldown menu, click the word Properties. At the System Properties screen, click the Device Manager tab. In the upper left hand corner of Device Manager, by default, the View devices by type option is bulleted. From the list of devices previewed in the window, click once on the + symbol beside CDROM. Click the icon labeled as your CD-ROM drive once to highlight it. On the lower bottom left hand corner of this window, click the Properties button. In the CD-ROMís property window, click the Settings tab to preview the information. In the Options section, click the box to the left of Auto insert notification to place a check mark. Click the OK button twice. A System Setting Change window appear prompting you to restart Windows 95. Click the Yes button to restart Windows 95. Once Windows 95 has restarted, any disc placed into the CD-ROM dirve should be reconginized.
Problems Playing Audio CDs - If the audio CD you are trying to play is incorrectly formatted or scratched, you will not be able to play the CD or hear any sound from the CD. Make sure the CD is the correct format. Wipe the CD disc with a clean, dry, lint-free cloth. If the CD disc is badly scratched, it will not play correctly. Try a different audio CD to verify that the problem is not with only one CD disc.
To check the settings for music CDs in Windows 95, click the Start button in the lower left hand corner of the screen. Click the word Settings, then double click the Control Panel to open it. Double click the Multimedia icon to open the Multimedia Properties window. Across the top of the screen are five tabs: Audio, Video, MIDI, CD Music, and Advanced. Click the CD Music tab to open it. Make sure the CD-ROM drive: is set to D: and the Headphone: setting slide bar is set to High. Click the OK button at the bottom of the window. If the CD Player is active, close and restart it for the changes to take effect.

If the CD Music tab is not present, click the Start button in the lower left hand corner of the screen. Click the word Settings, then double click the Control Panel to open it. Double click the Add/Remove Programs icon to open it. Across the top of this window are three tabs: Install/Uninstall, Windows Setup, and Startup Disk. Click the Windows Setup tab to open the screen. Use the scroll bar on the right hand side of the Components: window to find Multimedia. Click once on Multimedia to highlight it. Click on the Details button on the lower right hand side of the screen. The Multimedia window appears. Use the scroll bar to locate CD Player and make sure there is a check beside it. Click OK on this screen. Click OK at the bottom of the Add/Remove Programs Properties window. If prompted for the Windows 95 CD-ROM, insert the Windows 95 CD in the CD-ROM drive and click OK to continue. Follow the above steps to check the CD Music settings again.

Software corruption - If the program trying to access the CD-ROM drive is corrupt, it will not locate the proper files on the CD disc. To make sure the software application is not causing the problem, remove and reinstall the application. To do this, click the Start button in the lower left hand corner of the screen. Click the word Settings that appears on the menu. Double click Control Panel to open it. Double click the Add/Remove Programs icon in the Control Panel. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete this process.
Newly added hardware - If you recently added a new hardware device to the system such as a modem, scanner, etc., remove the new device to see if the CD-ROM functions properly. If the CD-ROM starts working correctly, the new device is conflicting with the CD-ROM. Contact the manufacturer for assistance configuring the device.
Viruses - If the CD-ROM drive is not recognized by Windows 95, a boot sector virus may be present. To see if a boot sector virus is present, click the Start button in the lower left hand corner of the screen. Click the word Programs that appears on the menu, then click the word MS-DOS Prompt to open this window. At the C:WINDOWS\> prompt type:
CHKDSK
and press Enter. Locate the line which reads, Total bytes memory. If the bytes does not equal 655,360, a boot sector virus is present. If you have a virus, you need to obtain a virus utility. Make sure the virus utility is on a Write protected diskette and it recognizes Windows 95 long file names. Once you remove the virus from the computer, reboot the computer and the CD-ROM drive should work.
Real mode drivers for MS-DOS mode support - If the CD-ROM drivers are not loaded as the system boots into MS-DOS mode from Windows 95, the CD-ROM will not function. To check the driver lines, right click the icon you are using to run the MS-DOS application, e.g. Run MS-DOS Applications, Exit to DOS, etc.. Click the word Properties that appears on the menu. Across the top of the window are six tabs: General, Program, Font, Memory, Screen, and Misc. Click the Program tab to view this screen. At the bottom of this screen, click the Advanced button. In the CONFIG.SYS for MS-DOS mode: and AUTOEXEC.BAT for MS-DOS mode: windows confirm that the CD-ROM driver lines are present and correctly identifying the CD-ROM drive. Consult the Userís Guide for the CD-ROM drive for the proper lines. You may also consult FaxBack^® document 3125 if you have a Gateway Solo^TM 2100 Series Portable PC or 3135 if you have a Gateway Solo^TM Portable PC. These documents contain complete instructions for setting up an icon to run applications through MS-DOS mode.
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Troubleshooting Portable CD-ROM Difficulties in Windows® 95

Possible causes

Basic CD-ROM Troubleshooting

Resolving CD-ROM difficulties

Troubleshooting Portable CD-ROM Difficulties in Windows^® 95