CD-ROM Drivers Page

NOTE: This page is no longer maintained.
It contained a list of links to the driver support page of many manufacturers.
I have removed all those broken/obsolete external links and keeped online the (old) FAQ and some link to drivers hosted by this site.
Some external link is still present but it could be broken.


Hard To Find CD-ROM Drivers
All of the below drivers have been found on the net.
They did not come directly from an official support site.

Good generic ATAPI driver by Acer
Alps 4x4 CD-ROM Changer
(DOS, Win31, Win95)		 CNF CardPORT DVD (PCMCIA) Momitsu CDM-T631 (36x)
>> Driver for Parallel Port CD-ROM Drives <<


Frequently Asked Questions
I'm receiving many requests of help, more than I can handle.
Please read the following FAQ carefully.  This is all the help I can give you.

Q1.  I need a Win95 [or Win98, WinNT, Win2000, WinME] driver for my CD-ROM drive model Xxxxxx manufactured by Yyyyyy, but I haven't found it on the manufacturer's web site.  Can you help me?
A1.  Most of the drivers you can get from the manufacturers' sites are for plain DOS only.  Windows 95/98/NT/2000/ME has a built in generic driver for ATAPI compliant CD-ROM drives.  If you have an ATAPI drive you don't need a driver for Windows.  If you have a SCSI drive, read Q5.  If your drive isn't ATAPI neither SCSI you are out of luck.
If Windows doesn't recognize your ATAPI drive the possible reasons are:

  1. Hardware failure.  Solution: buy a new drive, it doesn't cost so much.
  2. The drive's data cable or power cable (inside the case of your PC) is not well connected.  Solution: open the case and check the cables (you do it at your own risk, of course).
  3. BIOS misconfiguration
  4. Windows misconfiguration (it can happen, for example, if you have just changed the mother board of your PC).  Solution: try to force new hardware recognition from the Control Panel.  If the New Hardware wizard finds some new hardware but not your drive, reboot and run it again until it says that no new hardware has been found.
  5. Windows 95 hasn't recognized your IDE controller.  Solution: Read this document by Intel.

Q2.  I need a DOS driver for my CD-ROM drive model Xxxxxx manufactured by Yyyyyy, but I haven't found it on the manufacturer's web site.  Can you help me?
A2.  Many manufacturers offer a single driver for all ATAPI drives they build.  If this is not your case, try the driver for another ATAPI model of the same manufacturer: they often works.  If your drive is not ATAPI you are out of luck.

Q3.  I need a DOS driver for my CD-ROM drive model Xxxxxx manufactured by Yyyyyy, but the manufacturer is not listed in your page.  Can you help me?
A3.  It could be a new manufacturer or it hasn't a web site.  Try to locate it with a good search engine like Google.  If you find it, let me know its URL so that I can add it to my page; if you don't find it, try a generic ATAPI driver like this one by Acer (it supports up to 8 drives and requires only 5 kB of RAM, so you could decide to use it in any case).  If your drive is not ATAPI you are out of luck.

Q4.  What is ATAPI?
A4.  It's a standard for CD-ROM drives.  All common IDE (i.e. non-SCSI) drives are ATAPI compliant (except some very old model running at 1x or 2x).

Q5.  I have a SCSI CD-ROM drive.  Can you give me a driver for it?
A5.  All the CD-ROM related software I have is listed here.  However, you need a driver for the SCSI interface, not for the drive.  Visit the site of the SCSI card manufacturer.

Q6.  I have a CD recorder.  I can read from it but I cannot write to it.  Need I a driver?
A6.  No, you need a burning software that supports your drive.  The most famous are Easy CD Creator and Nero.

Q7.  How can I know the manufacturer of my CD-ROM drive?
A7.  There are 4 ways:
  1. Recent BIOSes display it at startup.
  2. If Windows 95/98/NT/2000/ME recognizes your drive, right-click on My Computer and choose Properties: the drive is listed among the installed devices.
  3. Use the ATAINF program (see below).
  4. Open the case (you do it at your own risk, of course) and read the label on it.
Q8.  I have a desktop PC [or a laptop] made by Xxxxxx.  Can you give me a driver for its CD-ROM drive?
A8.  All the CD-ROM related software I have is listed here.  However note that the manufacturer reported on the case of the PC is often different from the CD-ROM drive's one.  Try to visit the web site of the PC manufacturer or refer to the other questions above (especially to Q7, Q1 and Q3).

Q9.  I have a CD-ROM drive with no brand name on it.  Can you help me to locate a driver for it?
A9.  To determine the manufacturer of your drive refer to Q7, then refer to the other questions above to locate the driver.  However, if you are searching for a Win9x/NT/2000/Me driver, read Q1; if you are searching for a DOS driver and you didn't success in determine the manufacturer, try this generic ATAPI driver by Acer.
Q10.  What is the firmware?
A10.  It's a special driver installed in the device's own memory (not in the hard disk).  All drives have a firmware and it works in conjunction with the "normal" driver.  CD recorders let you upgrade their firmware; you should upgrade it only if you are experiencing some problem and only after having carefully read the instructions provided by the manufacturer.  While many generic ATAPI drivers are available, no generic firmware exists, so be sure to pick up the right firmware for your model.


CD-ROM Utilities
 
ATAINF - Identify your ATA (hard disks) and ATAPI (CD-ROMs and more) devices. CD-Bench - Small, fast and reliable benchmark for CD-ROM drives.
CD-ROM Cheater - Emulate CD drives on HDD to run CD programs faster and better. CDEMU2 - MSCDEX emulator for networked CD-ROM drives.
READCDA - Extract digitally perfect copies of samples from audio CDs.  Freeware, with C source.
bobmogil@earthlink.net		 Twins - If you have more then one CD-ROM drive, and programs want to run on the first CD-ROM, this program allows you to remap your CD-ROM drives however you like.  Both DOS and Win95 versions.
MacCD - Read MAC file format CDs on a PC CD-ROM drive. CD-R Diagnostic - Check CDs for logical errors.  Useful for people who use CD-R and CD-RW media.


Other Interesting Sites
 
The CD Information Center Andy McFadden's CD-Recordable FAQ CD-DA
CD-ROM Digital Audio
The CD Technology Optical Storage Technology Association CD-ROM Glossary

 

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