Thinkpads Forum

Hello.
I have a Thinkpad 600E.
It runs on Windows 98 SE.

For some reason, the CD ROM-led light is not turning on, and the laptop is not recognizing the Cd ROM at all.

I have opened up the Registry Edit...to try to delete the "NOIDE" - that program is not showing up either!!!

Can someone please help me?!?!

I probably need to upgrade the thinkpad to XP, but if the computer has enough memory for it?!?!

How much RAM does it have?

I was successfully running XP on an old PII 400Mhz Dell with 256 RAM. It wasn't the fastest machine but it was perfectly usable for Internet and Office applications.

- barduck

My husband is trying to use the Thinkpad while he is out-of-town for work. All he needs to do is get on the internet for right now.

He went out to Office Depot and bought a wireless card.
He is attempting to install the driver CD, but the CD rom will not open/ eject. The LED light is not flashing and the laptop is NOT
recognizing the CD rom drive at all.

The Cd-Rom, is also a DVD drive, and it's not the orginal drive.
It was bought about 3 years ago, but the Thinkpad has only been using maybe 5 times since then. So, i don't the hardware is damaged?!?! But, i am not sure?!?!

I think i mention that its currently using Windows 98 SE.

It has a 163 MB of RAM

I would suggest that he remove the entire CD/DVD drive by sliding latch underneath and sliding the drive out towards him...while the machine is off of course. Then reboot without it in place. Then shut down the system, reinsert the drive, and reboot.

If it still isn't working, then it might be dead.

EDIT: Tell him to boot the system while pressing the F1 button to get into the BIOS (EZ Setup). Then go into the test menu and choose the CdRom....it can test it for you to see if there is a problem.

Thanks so MUCH FOR REPLYING TO MY POST.

I will call him, and give those directions to him.

If there is still a problem, i will let you know, ok?!?!?


Thanks again; you ROCK!!!!

You should also open the drive with an un-bent paper clip. See if something is stuck in the drive or sticking the mechanism.