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Ok, I bought a new Turbo Tax and a new Norton Anti-Virus program and for some reason, my CD drive wouldnt recognise that the discs were even in there!
I took it up to the Computer shop and they told me, that the new 'technology' has left my old computer behind and I need to buy a new extrernal CD Drive.
Ok, WHATS THE NEW TECHNOLOGY? And, I have been looking at the prices of external CD Drives and even DVD Burners on places like Tiger Direct and NewEgg and they are a lot cheaper than the Computer shop gave me, but, I need to know what to ask for, because I dont want to buy the same old thing I have now, and not have it work!
So, how am I to know if the new External CD or DVD burner is going to have the new technology, if I order it from a catalouge? I dont know, can you ask someone if it has the new technology, and just " what is" the new tecnology, so that I will know what to ask for?
The Computer place wanted 80 bucks for an external CD Disc drive, but, those two places have it cheaper by about 30 bucks with free shipping and handling, so it would be cheaper to get it that way, 'provided' I dont get the same thing I have and have to do a return trip on it.
I think the "new technology" may be a speed thing -- depends on how old your computer is. I've run into the opposite -- some very old games I have on CD don't work in my newer CD drive because the speed of transfer is too fast. Perhaps the speed of your CD drive is too slow to handle the fancyschmancy TurboTax. (I'd not even bother with doing a thing with Norton -- read some of the threads here and you'll understand why.)
(I'd not even bother with doing a thing with Norton -- read some of the threads here and you'll understand why.)
If it's Norton 2009 you'll be fine. The new version of their products (I have the 2009 Internet Suite on my laptops and a desktop) are excellent programs.
This from a tech who warned everyone not to buy Norton for years.
They've really pulled it together with the new version.
I agree with the slow speed assessment.
Why not buy a new internal drive and replace the one in the PC? It's not that hard to do, honest. And if you're concerned there's plenty of people here to help you through it. You'll remove the existing drive and putting the new one in is just a reverse of that procedure.
Requires observation, a little patience, and a Phillips screw driver.
[b](I'd not even bother with doing a thing with Norton -- read some of the threads here and you'll understand why.)
If it's Norton 2009 you'll be fine. The new version of their products (I have the 2009 Internet Suite on my laptops and a desktop) are excellent programs.
This from a tech who warned everyone not to buy Norton for years.
They've really pulled it together with the new version.
My goodness! Well, perhaps Norton finally got the drift that their product was running near dead last!!
I agree with the slow speed assessment.
Why not buy a new internal drive and replace the one in the PC? It's not that hard to do, honest. And if you're concerned there's plenty of people here to help you through it. You'll remove the existing drive and putting the new one in is just a reverse of that procedure.
Yes, indeed, the folks on this forum are fantastic. If it was me, I would replace the internal drive and not attach an external. If replacing a CD drive is as easy as replacing a hard drive, then it is a piece of cake -- I did it without any problems and I'm one who barely knows a thing about computers.
Since external connections are nearly always slower than internal, I'd wonder why you were told you needed an external.
Actually USB the most common 'external' connection at 480 Mbps while the fastest CD drives are 52x or only 64Mbps maximum read rate, and the fastest DVD 20x is only 211 Mbps, thus 480 Mbps USP really isn't the slow down, the actual drive is, internal or external.
I have an external DVD/DL-RW drive that is faster than my internal SATA DVD/DL-RW drive, though they are both 16X DVD drives.
You are right, Asheville. USB is faster that the CD drives, which is the point I lost track of. I don't think (without looking it up) that USB is as fast as IDE or SATA internal connections, but with a CD/DVD drive of any type, it won't make any difference.
When I've seen this type of symptom, it is often because a DVD disk has been inserted in a CD drive.
This was going to my suggestion as well. Many software titles now come on a DVD by default rather than a CD. The discs look the same, but a CD drive cannot read a DVD. You can confirm whether that is indeed the problem by looking for a small DVD logo on the packaging or screenprinted onto the face of the disc. If so, you should be able to get an internal DVD reader pretty cheap and it's an easy install.
The Computer shop that I took it to, "tried" to put a new disc drive in, and said, because I own a Toshiba Sattelite2415-S205..(which is probably 4 or 5 years old now...not really sure anymore), that "this" is the only brand that WONT accept a new disc drive.
Thing is, I am guessing that they purchased or ordered only a certain brand or type of Internal CD Drive and it wouldnt match up with the BIOS...(They actually called me and asked me if the BIOS was password protected!!?? Though, I never heard of such a thing, I simply told them if it was, "I" didnt do that!).
They told me that it wasnt the 'speed' that was the problem, but something in the way a CD is burned, (maybe new software, or something, I dont know, he wasnt specific...but, said that it was a new process that they were using, and thats why it wouldnt accept my CDs as being in there).
Ok, a new process...now what would THAT BE? Blue Ray? Red Ray? (I have heard of these things, but they really mean nothing to me, just words, and if that is the new technology that 'is' being used, how will I know that its in a 'new one' that I buy, and that I am not buying something that I already have, technology wise, and will be useless?).
Being a technological idiot, I am totally lost in the dark on this one, and just dont know where to start to look, or whom to ask the right questions from and about...so, forgive my ignorance
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