This applies to Windows 98.

First verify that you have problems with Hard disk controller, there should be a yellow exclamation mark under Hard disk controller.

Right-click on My Computer  | Properties | Select the Device Manager tab.

Select "View Devices by type"  If you see a conflict (yellow exclamation mark) Close out and follow directions below.

Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | System Information.

In System Information, click the Tools menu, and then click Update Wizard Uninstall.

Click on "Intel Corporation Storage"  Select "Un-install."
Reboot your system. If the "Intel Corporation is listed more than once, repeat the steps above until all references are removed.

1-0-10: How do I troubleshoot my CD or DVD drive using the Microsoft® Windows® XP troubleshooters? (DN RA1055963)

How do I troubleshoot my CD or DVD drive using the Microsoft® Windows® XP troubleshooters?

This article is a little too big for me to post here, please follow the link below.

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1055963&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19

1-0-11: Reinstalling Drivers (Dell`s Knowledge Base)

Reinstalling Drivers
NOTICE: The Dell support website, http://support.dell.com, and the Dell Dimension ResourceCD provide approved drivers for Dell™ computers. If you install drivers obtained from other sources, your computer might not work correctly.

A driver is a software program that allows a hardware controller to function properly and to communicate with the computer. Dell installed the following drivers on your computer:

Intel® Chip Set Update Utility Driver — Installs the Microsoft Windows operating system device installation files (.inf) that tell the operating system how certain chip set components should be configured for proper operation.

ADI AC-97 Audio Codec Driver — Enables the optional built-in sound controller to produce sound.

Yamaha Wavetable Driver — Enables the optional built-in sound controller to produce sound.

Intel Ultra ATA Storage Driver — Improves your computer's performance by transferring certain functions from the microprocessor during data transfers from storage devices.

Other Drivers — Control the devices such as the modem and network cards that might be installed in your computer. For information on other drivers on computers running Windows XP, click the Start button, click Help and Support, click User and system guides, and then click Device guides. Click the appropriate guide from the list. For information on other drivers on computers running Windows 2000, click the Start button, point to Programs—> User's Guides, and click the appropriate guide from the list.

Sometimes you can fix a device problem by reinstalling its driver:

From the Windows desktop, insert the Dell Dimension ResourceCD into the CD or DVD drive.

If this is your first time to use the ResourceCD, go to step 2. If not, go to step 5.

When the ResourceCD Installation program starts, follow the prompts on the screen.

When the InstallShield Wizard Complete window appears, remove the ResourceCD and click Finish to restart the computer.

When you see the Windows desktop, reinsert the ResourceCD into the CD or DVD drive.

At the Welcome Dell System Owner screen, click Next.

HINT: The ResourceCD displays drivers only for hardware that Dell installed at the time of purchase. If you installed any additional hardware, those drivers may not be displayed by the ResourceCD. If those drivers are not displayed, exit the ResourceCD program and refer to the documentation and drivers that came with that product.

A message appears that says the ResourceCD is detecting hardware in your computer.

The drivers that are used by your computer are automatically displayed in the My Drivers—The ResourceCD has identified these components in your system window.

Click the driver that you want to reinstall and follow the instructions on the screen.

If a particular driver is not listed, then that driver is not required by your operating system.

To view other contents on the ResourceCD:

Verify that your computer is selected in the System Model list.

Verify that your operating system is selected in the Operating System list.

Select the type of device in the Device Type list.

NOTICE: The ResourceCD contains drivers for devices that are not part of your computer. Only reinstall the specific drivers for hardware included in your computer. Otherwise, your computer might not work correctly.

Select a topic in the Topic list.

If you select Drivers in the Topic list and a particular driver is not listed, then that driver is not required by your operating system.

1-0-12: CD/DVD not recognized, Audio Problems (Author ~ Osprey)

Ok, after some additional digging, I was able to solve this. The solution was to delete the CD device, then delete the secondary IDE channel, then click Scan for new hardware, whereupon both devices were reinstalled, although the secondary channel was now set to PIO mode. I set it to DMA if available, closed and rebooted and now the secondary IDE channel was UDMA Mode 2.

Hope this helps someone else.

Osprey

1-0-13: Utility to set Secondary IDE controller CD devices to DMA mode. (Dell article care of  The_Namek)

Here is the direct link: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?releaseid=r53986&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19

Select a download format

1-0-14: Instructions for enabling DMA in Windows XP (Care of ~ micmaxe)

(1)

Instructions for enabling DMA in Windows XP.


1. Go to the Device Manager. For that, "Click Start, and then click Control Panel. Click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System."



Then, in the Control Panel, double-click System.



Alternatively - right-click the My Computer icon on the desktop and then click Properties.



In the System Properties window, select the Hardware tab and then click the Device Manager button.



2. In the Device Manager, expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers entry, either by double-clicking IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers or by clicking on the + next to it.



3. Select the appropriate IDE channel (Primary or Secondary). To get to the IDE Channel Properties window, either right-click the channel and then click Properties, or select the channel and click Action -> Properties in the menubar.


4. In the Primary/Secondary IDE Channel Properties window, select the Advanced Settings tab.



5. Choose either the Device 0 frame for the master device on the channel or the Device 1 frame for the slave device on the channel, depending on whether the drive for which you are trying to enable DMA is master or slave. Click the Transfer Mode pull-down menu. Select DMA if available. Then click OK.




6. To verify that DMA was indeed enabled for the drive, again select the appropriate IDE channel (as in step 3), open the IDE Channel Properties window and select the Advanced Settings tab (as in step 4). The Current Transfer Mode box should display Ultra DMA Mode 2 if the drive can handle this, or Multi-Word DMA Mode 2 if the drive does not support UDMA. If DMA was not enabled, it will say PIO Mode.

Here is an example of how the IDE Channel Properties window should look like. In this example, two optical drives are connected to the secondary IDE channel. The master drive supports UDMA33 and thus is in Ultra DMA Mode 2, the slave does not support UDMA, only PIO and DMA modes, so it is in Multi-Word DMA Mode 2.




Note: With some IDE drivers/Busmastering drivers, DMA cannot be enabled through the device manager, but only through the driver settings. An example of this is the Intel Application Accelerator.

(2)

If deleting the IDE channel and your burner from Device Manager doesn't help, open the Registry (Start -> Run -> Regedit) and open the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Class \ {4D36E96A-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Within this key you will find several subkeys. Most likely you will see the following:

0000 (for the IDE controller)
0001 (for the Primary IDE channel)
0002 (for the Secondary IDE channel)

Each of these subkeys has a named valued called "DriverDesc" that will make it clear to you to which component they correspond. Open the subkey corresponding to the channel on which your troublesome drive is located. Then, if the troublesome drive is the master, delete the "MasterIdDataChecksum" named value. Or, if the troublesome drive is the slave, delete the "SlaveIdDataChecksum" named value.

Reboot. The OS will redetect the device DMA capabilities after reboot.

Note that for many older CD-ROM drives DMA can not be enabled in Windows 2000/XP, so be sure to check the capabilities of your particular drive if you continue to have problems.

1-0-15: Article for detecting which filters are specific for your system (Care of Micmaxe ~ Roger)

A simple utility which should come in very handy, Thanks Roger !

http://www.bustrace.com/products/devfilter.htm

1-0-16: Dell`s guide to Trouble Shoot your Optical drives

1. Step 1: Reboot system and attempted to read media again.
2. Step 2: Clean the CD/DVD disk.
3. Step 3: Check for drive indexing on removable media drive.
   - Right-click on My Computer.
   - From the pop-up menu, choose "manage".
   - Click on the plus sign next to "Services and Applications".
   - Click on the plus sign next to "Indexing Service".
   - Click on the plus sign next to "System".
   - Click on the folder labelled "Directories".
   - In the right hand window, check for an entry for "D:\".
   - If the entry exists, delete it.
   - Close the Computer Management window and reboot the system
4. Step 4: Remove all third-party hardware from the system.
5. Step 5: Try multiple types of media.If cannot read or intermittently
   cannot read any media.
6. Step 6: Determined if there have been any recent hardware, software,
   or configuration changes.
7. Step 7: Reset System Setup (BIOS) defaults.
   - Restart your computer
   - At the first text on the screen or at the Dell logo, press
   the F2 key every three seconds until the message Entering Setup
   appears
   - The System Setup screen appears
   - Press the F9 key, to Restore Default.
   - Press the Esc key, and then press the Enter key to save the
   changes and reboot the system.
8. Step 8: Remove the UpperFilters and LowerFilters values with Registry
   Editor.
   - Click the Start button, click Run, and then type regedit in
   the Open box. 
   - Click OK.
   The Registry Editor window appears.
   - Click the plus (+) sign next to each of the following keys:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
   SYSTEM
   CurrentControlSet
   Control
   Class
   NOTE: When you click on the plus sign more folders will expand
   out below it follow the expande set each time to find the next
   folder listed.
   - Click {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
   - On the right hand side of the window, click UpperFilters.
   
   - Click Edit on the menu bar.
   - Click Delete.
   - Click OK.
   - On the right hand side of the window, click LowerFilters.
   
   - Click Edit on the menu bar.
   - Click Delete.
   - Click OK.
   - Click Registry.
   - Click Exit.
   - Restart the computer normally.
9. Step 8: Look for a drive letter in My Computer.
10. Step 10: If drive does not have drive letter in My Computer.
    Make sure that the drive is detected in the System Setup.
    - Restart your computer
    - At the first text on the screen or at the Dell logo, press
    the F2 key every three seconds until the message Entering Setup
    appears
    - The System Setup screen appears
    - Press the Down Arrow key on your keyboard to highlight Advance
    - [Press Enter] to display the available IDE Configuration
    - Check what it is showing next to Secondary Drive 0 and Secondary
    Drive 1
    
    If drive does not have drive letter in My Computer.
    Confirm CDROM failure outside of the operating system.
    - Insert DELL Diminsion Resource CD in the drive.
    - Restart the computer. At the blue Dell screen, rapidly tap
    the F12 key (do not hold it down)
    - At some point, the Advanced Boot Options menu will appear,
    select IDE CDROM device and hit Enter.
    - Go for boot the CDROM
    
    *** Is the system is booting from Dell Diminsion Resource CD?
    ***
11. Step 11: Verify the drive is listed in the System Setup program
    (BIOS).
    
    - Turn on (or restart) your computer
    - At the first text on the screen, or the Dell logo, press the
    Delete or F2 key every three seconds until the message, Entering
    Setup appears
    - Using arrow keys from the keyboard highlight Advance tab, using
    arrow keys from the keyboard highlight IDE Configuration [press
    Enter]
    - Check your drive is listed next to Secondary Drive 0 or Secondary
    Drive 1
    - To close the System Setup program (BIOS), hit F10 to save changes
    and exit.
    
    *** Is the drive listed in System Setup screen? ***
    
    *** Is there any recent hardware, software, or configuration changes? ***
12. Step 12: Reseat the CD-rom drive. 
    - Go here:
    https://support.dell.com/register.aspx
    to set your Service Tag HOME Page
    - If listed, click Home and Home Office
    - Under "Product Selection", type in your Service Tag number
    [press Enter]
    - On the left, click Product Manual
    - Click Adding Parts or Tech Notes, look for "opening the computer
    cover" or "Removing and Replacing Parts", review this procedure
    - Open the case
    - Disconnect the IDE cable(ribbon cable) and Power cable( connector
    with 4 different colore wires) from the back of the drive. Checked
    the cabling for damage and reseated the cables firmly.
    - Replace the cover
    
    - To set your Dell home page, go here:
    https://support.dell.com/register.aspx
    - If listed, click Home and Home Office
    - Under "Product Selection", type in your Service Tag number
    [press Enter]
    http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1014125&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19
    
13. Step 13: Reset BIOS defaults.
    
    - Turn on (or restart) your computer
    - At the first text on the screen, or the Dell logo, press the
    Delete or F2 key every three seconds until the message, Entering
    Setup appears
    - When the System Setup screen appears, press the F9 key
    - Press the Enter key to confirm that you would like to load
    the defaults
    - Press the F10 key and then press the Enter key to save your
    changes and exit
    - The system will reboot
    Reconnect the IDE devices one at a time.
14. Step 14: Swap IDE cable with a known good cable.
    - Go here:
    https://support.dell.com/register.aspx
    to set your Service Tag HOME Page
    - If listed, click Home and Home Office
    - Under "Product Selection", type in your Service Tag number
    [press Enter]
    - On the left, click Product Manual
    - Click Adding Parts or Tech Notes, look for "opening the computer
    cover" or "Removing and Replacing Parts", review this procedure
    - Open the case
    - Disconnect the ribbon cable from the back of the Hard Drive
    and connect it to the back of the CDROM drive.
15. Step 15: Verify the drive is listed in the System Setup program
    (BIOS).
    
    - Turn on (or restart) your computer
    - At the first text on the screen, or the Dell logo, press the
    Delete or F2 key every three seconds until the message, Entering
    Setup appears
    - Using arrow keys from the keyboard highlight Advance tab, using
    arrow keys from the keyboard highlight IDE Configuration [press
    Enter]
    - Check your drive is listed next to Secondary Drive 0 or Secondary
    Drive 1
    - To close the System Setup program (BIOS), hit F10 to save changes
    and exit.
    
    *** Is the drive listed in System Setup screen? ***
16. Step 16: Connect all the cables back the way it was.

1-0-17: DMA reverts to PIO Mode (Care of John ~ Osprey)

Currently I do not have permission to post the text, however I can provide you with the link.

http://www.michna.com/kb/WxDMA.htm

Best Regards,

Predator

1-0-18: Unknown Device PATA-1 message with two DVD/RW on the same  IDE channel. (Dell Tech-Andrew)

Here is supposely a work around from Dell Tech~Andrew:

Enter the BIOS

There you would see

Drive- 0 if the Sata Drive is there then enable it.

Drive- 1 if the Sata Drive is there then enable it or else disable

Drive- 2 Pata Drive is there then enable it or else disable

Drive-3 Pata Drive is there then enable it or else disable

Drive- 4 if it is DVD Drive there then enable it or else disable

Drive- 5 Disable it

Press Esc it would ask if you want to make change press Yes and reboot the system.

1-0-19: Editing the Lower Filters to add Sonic`s PxHelp20 filter for HLDS GWA-4164B drive (Care of Diane)

Rather than going into every thread regarding HLDS GWA-4164B, I thought I would just post the fix here.
My problem was that media center, Roxio, Napster, Music Match, were not seeing my DVD/CD recorder. I spent all day on the phone with techs and other support personnel without anything being resolved.
I called back tonight to see if I could get them to send me a new one (again) and the tech I was lucky enough to speak to fixed the problem. He gave me permission to forward it to this forum and emailed me exactly what he did. Wonderful man!!! I am a very happy camper. I just burnt a CD using media center so here is what he did. Hope it is okay to post here...

Diane
1: Click the Start button.
2: The Start Menu appears.
3: Click Run in the Start Menu.
      The Run dialogue box appears.
      In the Open box, type Regedit, and then click OK.
      The Registry Editor window appears.
4: Click the plus sign (+) next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
5: Click the plus sign (+) next to SYSTEM.
6: Click the plus sign (+) next to CurrentControlSet.
7: Click the plus sign (+) next to Control.
8: Click the plus sign (+) next to Class.
9: Click {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.

NOTE: It is possible to have more than one entry for {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}. After clicking this registry key, look at the top line entry in the right window pane. It should be default with a data value of DVD/CD-ROM drives. If it’s anything else, you have the wrong key and you need to check the next entry. Typically the optical drive is the first registry key.

10: On the right side of the window, right-click LowerFilters and choose modify data from the pop-up window.

11. Add Sonic's filter by typing PxHelp20 into the dialogue box and clicking OK.

12. Close the Registry Editor by clicking the red X in the top right corner of the window and restart the system.

1-0-20:  DMA reverts to PIO, one click solution

See if the information in this link will help:

http://winhlp.com/node/10