Dear CNET members,

Happy Friday! Week after week, many of you e-mail me to let me know that the font on this newsletter is way too small, so per your request, I've bumped up the text size a notch in hopes that it will be better for your reading pleasure. Now let's shift our eyes to Gary's dilemma of where his computer stopped recognizing both his DVD and CD drives.

As many of you probably are aware, hardware or software issues are difficult to troubleshoot. And with so many possible causes of system problems, member submissions for this week brought a full spectrum of suggestions ranging from drivers going bad; certain installs causing issues; loose cabling; and corrupt Registries. However, from reading our members' answers, while solutions/ideas vary, what was mentioned most as the culprit was a corrupt Registry in Windows, but it may not be limited to that just because it's the most mentioned. There is a fix, but I will let you read about that from our selected member answers in the Q&A section below. However, that's just one of the many possible causes. So, Gary, I would suggest reading through all the answers, and before setting out to do any suggested fixes, I would first recommend that you back up your important data, start with the troubleshooting basics that you can comprehend, and work your way up to the more complicated solutions. It could be just a simple fix. And if you do come across one of the solutions that requires you to dip into the Windows Registry, please take extreme caution--if it is done incorrectly, it can render your system useless. So if you are uncomfortable with it, stay on the sidelines and let an experienced person do it for you. If you think you are up to the challenge, make sure to back up your Registry first. Good luck! If any of you would like to step up to the plate to further assist Gary, please come on in and post. Thanks everyone, and have a wonderful weekend!

Cheers!
- Lee

Got suggestions? Send me an e-mail: messageboards@cnet.com

Featured member solutions
for last week's question:

(WARNING: Some recommendations suggest the task of editing your Windows registry, MAKE SURE you back up your registry in case you do something wrong and need to revert. If you are unfamiliar with this task, keep your hands off and let someone who is experienced in this field perform it. You don't want to accidentally delete/edit a file that is critical to your system--which can/will wreak havoc in your computer. So be cautious and know what you are doing before proceeding! Edit and Delete files in the Windows registry at your own risk. Thank you.)

 "Lost optical drives "
-- Submitted by: Zouch

 "Optical drives not recognized "
-- Submitted by: fdispensiere

 "This should fix the problem "
-- Submitted by: jazacoop

 "PC not recognizing drives "
-- Submitted by: cavalier6

 "Cables and drivers"
-- Submitted by: will_mansfield

 Read all member contributions

 Thanks to all who contributed!