J
JohnPierpoint
Guest
I have been using a Dell Inspiron 13 laptop for a couple of years now. It came with Windows 10.
I use a USB Samsung Blu-Ray writer for loading and archiving files. It has always worked on this system.
Today I came to write some files, and noticed that the device did not show in Explorer. I can hear it spin up when I connect it, and if I restart the computer with a bootable disc in the drive, the BIOS recognises it and gives me the option to boot from it.
If I check in Device Manager, I see an error "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware because a previous instance of the device driver is still in memory. (Code 38)"
I've looked for this error on various forums. I tried the suggested fixes of disabling and uninstalling the device, then restarting. No change.
When I check the driver details in Properties, it shows two drivers:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\cdrom.sys
C:\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\PxHlpa64.sys
The first one is from MS, version 10.0.17134.1
The strange thing is that the second driver (version 3.01.01.0) is listed as being from "Corel Corporation". This is bizarre! I don't use any Corel software on this system, and since when have they written drivers for USB optical drives?
I suspect that something has been installed recently that has broken the driver. Using the optioms to reinstall or update it get me nowhere ("best driver is already installed"). The only software that has been installed since the drive last worked is a Dell OS Backup tool (which didn't work, and which I uninstalled prior to attempting the driver reinstall) and Adobe Elements 11, which surely can't be involved.
A USB stick in the same port is recognised, so I don't think it's a general USB drive problem, as has been reported elsewhere.
The next thing for me to try is a System Restore, but if anyone has a better solution, I'd be happy to hear it.
Continue reading...
I use a USB Samsung Blu-Ray writer for loading and archiving files. It has always worked on this system.
Today I came to write some files, and noticed that the device did not show in Explorer. I can hear it spin up when I connect it, and if I restart the computer with a bootable disc in the drive, the BIOS recognises it and gives me the option to boot from it.
If I check in Device Manager, I see an error "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware because a previous instance of the device driver is still in memory. (Code 38)"
I've looked for this error on various forums. I tried the suggested fixes of disabling and uninstalling the device, then restarting. No change.
When I check the driver details in Properties, it shows two drivers:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\cdrom.sys
C:\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\PxHlpa64.sys
The first one is from MS, version 10.0.17134.1
The strange thing is that the second driver (version 3.01.01.0) is listed as being from "Corel Corporation". This is bizarre! I don't use any Corel software on this system, and since when have they written drivers for USB optical drives?
I suspect that something has been installed recently that has broken the driver. Using the optioms to reinstall or update it get me nowhere ("best driver is already installed"). The only software that has been installed since the drive last worked is a Dell OS Backup tool (which didn't work, and which I uninstalled prior to attempting the driver reinstall) and Adobe Elements 11, which surely can't be involved.
A USB stick in the same port is recognised, so I don't think it's a general USB drive problem, as has been reported elsewhere.
The next thing for me to try is a System Restore, but if anyone has a better solution, I'd be happy to hear it.
Continue reading...