cd-rw recognization problem

[rrcn]

When I boot up my computer, sometimes it recognizes the cd-rw but most of the time it doesnt. And every once in a while the computer would pass the post beep and the screen would get to the loading windows screen, but it would lock up with the loading bar still moving. The burner used to work fine on the old system I had but the system was getting really old so I decided to upgrade.

New computer:

AMD Athlon XP 2600+ w/400MHz FSB
Gigabyte K7 Triton Series GA-7VT600-L
512MB PC2700DDR
(a temporary 4GB HD)
nVidia GeForce TNT2 32MB

Running Windows XP Pro

Any and all help is much appreciated

[Bovon]

If the loading bar is still moving..how can the system be locked?.. not saying it can't be or was not locked..just seems too far fetched to me. When a system is locked, everything stops.

About the CD drive, the first thing I would try is a new IDE cable.. those flat ribbon cables are notorious for failing..especially after being installed, then removed a couple of times. There is no hard connection between the sockets and the wires in the ribbon cable...the socket has these needle like prongs that pierce the wires to make connection.. I have even got them new right out of the box that one of the drives would not work.. a new cable fixed it.

[Dax_Brandy]

make sure the IDE cable and the power supply connector are properly fitted in their terminals. sometimes a loose cable brings about intermittent failure. good luck.

[Dax_Brandy]

make sure the IDE cable and the power supply connector are properly fitted in their terminals. sometimes a loose cable brings about intermittent failure. good luck.

[rrcn]

i'm sure that the computer was locked because i tried pushing the num lock key and the light wouldnt turn off and the caps lock wouldnt turn on. i dont know why this IDE cable doesnt work, its brand new, but anyway i'll get another one and try it again. I'll let you know.

[rrcn]

well, I replaced the IDE cable with another one and it still wouldn't recognize. I then found a HD IDE cable laying around, plugged it in and now it works fine.

thanks all for your time and comments.