How Do I Remove Old Dvd Drive From My Computer?

My Plextor DVD drive stopped working. I removed it and replaced it with a new DVD drive. However, it is still listed, by name, in the "E" position in My Computer. The new drive is listed at "H". (There's another DVD drive at "F" and a storage hard drive at "G".) Neither of the DVD drives will work properly, playing some CDs, but no DVDs. I have removed the old DVD drive in Device Manager. It doesn't show up there even with "Show hidden devices" checked. It doesn't show up in the Disc Management utility. But the letter "E" is not available if you try to re-assign it to one of the drives that are there. It doesn't show up in My Computer when in Safe Mode. It doesn't show up in BIOS. Only the actual DVD drives that are there are displayed in BIOS. How do I convince WindowsXP SP2 that the old Plextor drive is not at "E" anymore?

I'm not convinced that this one is worth chasing.
Of course, that's your decision to make.

Windows "reserves" a few Drive Letter Assignments for the ordinary and expected Drives that a pretty much standard on most machines.

For illustration, if an owner/user has a USB memory stick drive and inserts it, Windows will generally assign it a letter beginning with H:\ or later in the alphabet. (note: it is often best to select a Drive Letter Assignmet in the middle of the alphabet, like M:\ for a Memory Stick, in order to stay well away from the "reserved" Letter Assignment.

I don't know why Windows is now "skipping" E:\, but it probably is because a script for E:\ has previously been used and is now not available.

Is this a problem…. maybe, but probably not, if the machine and all drives are running well.

I'll do some additional research into Drive Letter Assignment, but if it were my machine, I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

Here's the MS Knowledge Based article on assigning and changing Drive Letter Assignments.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307844
I would use these steps to resolve your present concern.

Let us know if those steps don't work for you, or if you have additional concerns.

Regarding your DVD drives properly playing CD's, but not DVD's.
That is ordinary and usual.
XP has the drivers to enable a "optical disk" (CD or DVD) to recognize and play CD, but not DVD format.

To enable DVD recognition and display/play, you will need to install a DVD display software application, like:
PowerDVD
InterVideo
etc.

You probably received a DVD software when you purchased your new DVD Drive, or you have a DVD software from the original machine installation disks, from which you can reinstall it.

Best Regards

I've now got the drives labeled correctly via Disk Managment. Looking in Disc Managment I see: CD-ROM 0, DVD (E), which is the Lite-On, says it's the Lite-On when checked using Properties in Disc Management. However it STILL says "Plextor DVD (E)" in My Computer. CD-ROM 1, DVD (F), which is the Sony, says it's the Sony when checked using Properties in Disc Managment. Even though it still says "Plextor DVD (E)" in My Computer, when I put a disc into the Lite-On it changes the icon at (E), so that's right, at least. Same when putting a disc in the Sony. I guess I can live with the brand name of the player being misidentified in My Computer as long as it is not affecting how it functions. Which brings me to… Before I swapped out the broken Plextor, I could put a DVD into it or the Sony drive and Windows Media Player would launch and start playing the DVD. I could even choose from the DVD's menu with the arrow keys of the keyboard. Now when I put a DVD into either the Lite-On or the Sony, WMP launches but gives the error; " Windows Media Player cannot play DVD video. You might need to adjust your display setting. Open display settings in Control Panel, and then try lowering your screen resolution and color quality settings." Have I changed something about WMP that now makes it unable to perform these functions it previously had? I have removed some software programs while trying to resolve the other issue, but I haven't removed anything about WMP that I am aware of. Also, there is a mysterious CD-ROM 2, DVD (I) listed in Disc Mangement. It's properties reveal it to be; HL7863B VPL445D SCSI CdRom Device. It says, Driver Provider: Microsoft. What is that? Oh, the (H) postion, I can identify as the printer. Thank you for your valuable time and assistance.

a mysterious CD-ROM 2, DVD

do you have Nero InCD burning tools?
Do you have CloneCD or CloneDVD?
Do you have Easy CD Creator's Drag to Disk DirectCD?
(note: If you happen to have more than one of the above installed, they have been known to conflict.)

If you have the above, it is most likely that a virtual driver has been created for use inside of that/those program(s).
It would be used to allow you to view/display the CD/DVD prior to burning it, even without the original CD inserted in the drive bay.

Some games also install a "ghost driver" as part of the software to run the game.

If you remove (a mysterious CD-ROM 2, DVD), the program that it derives from will cease to fully function.
____________

With regard to viewing/displaying CD/DVD media there are a few possible issues.

1. A related Service has gotten turned off
2. The driver itself has become corrupted.
3. A registry issue related to upper/lower filters has become corrupted.
4. The relatively worthless and prone to problem InCD is conflicting with other software.
5. The DVD display/viewing application software needs to be reinstalled. (PowerDVD/InterVideo/etc.

Before any recommendations can be made, answers to the above questions should be answered.

Best Regards

I re-installed Nero and Windows Media Player now functions as it used to, not only playing DVDs, but also allowing me to use the mouse to click on the DVD's menus. (I had incorrectly remembered this was a function I had with the arrow keys in one of my posts above.) I had no idea that Nero provided funtionality to WMP.

I'll just live with the Lite-On "E" drive being incorrectly labeled Plextor in My Computer. It's no big deal as long as everything is working. And we can add "changing the name of a ROM drive in My Computer" to the list of things that Windows just will not do.

Hey, when the Lite-On drive dies, I can always replace it with a Plextor and I'll be back to normal!

Thank you again for your much appreciated help.

I believe that there is a registry-fix to get the correct Drive Brand-Name to display, but as you are sensibly declaring success at this point, I'll step back and applaud with you. Good Work! Doug