By: Alan TangMAA1-01, Period 2

Caring for CDs and DVDs

• Damaging the surface of a disc can affect its data. That is why it’s important to handle CDs or DVDs with care. And in order to prevent your CDs from being scratched or cracked, use CD protectors or CD cases. Also, do not bend or flex discs.

Caring for CDs and DVDs (Part 2)

UV rays and heat can damage the contents within a CD. Light can also cause damage to the dye layers of CD-Rs and DVD-Rs.

CDs that have been exposed to sunlight and/or heat.

CD that has been stored in ideal temperature.

How to Clean CDs and DVDs

• It may be necessary to clean discs before storing, recording or to enable playback.

How to Clean CDs and DVDs (Part 2)

• DO NOT use household washing materials such as Windex to clean your discs.

CD Cleaner Anti Static Cloth

Device ManagerTo access Device Manager:

•Right–click My Computer, click Manage, and then click Device Manager. The Device Manager opens as shown below.

If your computer starts to freeze, crash, or if a hardware device stops working, you can troubleshoot the problem with the Device Manager. Device Manager shows you how the hardware on your computer is installed and configured, and how the hardware interacts with your computer's programs.

Device Manager (Part 2)To view the status of a device:

1. Open Device Manager.

2. Double–click the type of device you want to view.

3. Right–click the specific device you want, and then click Properties.

4. On the General tab, under Device status is a description of the device status, as shown below.

Typically, Device Manager is used to check the status of computer hardware and update device drivers on the computer. If you are an advanced user, and you have a thorough understanding of computer hardware, you can use Device Manager's diagnostic features to resolve device conflicts, and change resource settings.

Device Manager (Part 3)

• To install a new driver from Device Manager:• 1.Open Device Manager. • 2.Double-click the type of device you want to update or change. • 3.Right-click the specific device driver you want to update or change. • 4.Click Update Driver to open the Hardware Update Wizard. Follow the wizard

instructions.

• To uninstall a device:• 1.Open Device Manager. • 2.Double–click the type of device that you want to uninstall. • 3.Right–click the specific device you want to uninstall, and then click Uninstall. • 4.In the Confirm Device Removal dialog box, click OK.

Auto Insert Notification, Autorun• How to Disable the Feature That Allows CD-ROMs and Audio CDs to Run Automatically• To disable the feature that allows CD-ROMs and audio CDs to run automatically: • Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click System.• Double-click the CDROM branch on the Device Manager tab, and then double-click the entry for your CD-ROM

drive.• On the Settings tab, click to clear the Auto Insert Notification check box.• Click OK, click Close, and then click Yes when you are prompted to restart your computer.

• How To Enable/Disable Autorun (Windows XP)• Open Windows Explorer by pressing the Windows + "e" key. • Right-click the desired CD-ROM and select Properties from the menu.• Select the AutoPlay tab.• Select each item from the pulldown list and for the Action to perform, select "Take no action" to disable autorun,

or pick the appropriate action to take if enabling autorun.• Select OK.

This is used to disable autorun.

Changing Drive letter of optical media drivesTo change the drive letter:1. Right-click My Computer and choose Properties from the pop-up menu. 2. In the resulting System Properties dialog box, click the Device Manager tab and locate the CDROM listing. 3. Please note that the Device Manager may have a CDROM listing even if you have some other type of optical drive, such as a DVD-ROM or CD-R (CD-recordable) drive. 4. Choose the CDROM or DVDROM listing, whichever is available to you. 5. When you double-click the listing, your optical drive should appear directly beneath it. 6. Highlight your disc drive, and then click the Properties button. 7. In the drive's Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab. 8. Change the Start and End drive letters to I (or some other letter). 9. Click the OK button and restart your PC to register the changes.

Booting to optical media

Drive can't read any disc:• If your drive suddenly can't read any disc, including audio CDs, there's a good chance

the problem lies in the drive's optical assembly. In other words, the drive's internal laser isn't working properly. If the drive's laser isn't working, there's not much you can do to fix it.

Drive can't read CD-R/RW media:

You should be able to read any CD-RW that you burn in your own CD-RW drive, but if you try to read the CD-RW in another drive, especially an older, slower CD-RW drive, it may not work.

Internal IDE drive not detected:

If you install a new drive and your computer doesn't detect it, check the jumper setting on the back of the newly installed drive. Every optical drive has the following three jumper settings: master, slave, or CS (cable select). If you attach your drive to an IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) cable that's connected to another drive that also happens to be set to master, it will create a conflict and your PC won't be able to recognize the drive.

Firmware Updates

• Firmware is at the heart of virtually every popular digital device.

Firmware refers to read-only memory (ROM) chips that store permanent instructions. Firmware boots up computerized or digital devices, as ROM chips are non-volatile, meaning they do not require a power source to hold their contents. Firmware updates became possible with the invention of the flash memory chips.