Windows loads up drivers but cannot find dru-500a

hi try here hope it helps..

http://sony.storagesupport.com/node/6719

Hi, click on this link: http://www.fixya.com/support/sony/cd_and_dvd_burners

the problem might be in your dvd writer.

check sonys website for the drivers for it. If not try what you said. Good luck.

i wish i could help you.. but my sony is haven problems too. im running windows xp.. service pack 3.. i've already updated all drivers.. uninstalled it from device manager.. n it still isn't reading any cd-r cd-rw cd's.. my windows does read the device.. n it pops up everytime i load the computer up!

An exclamation point means that there is a problem with the device. Could be as simple as a corrupted driver. Try unistalling the drive from Control Panel>Add/Remove Harware. Reboot; then reinstall drive. Hope this helps.

Hi there,

Cd/dvd drives don't actually require a driver to run. They use "class filter drivers" which are supplied by a burning program like Nero or NTI. These "class filter drivers" only add functionality to the drive. Windows just uses a generic driver "MSCDEX" to run them.

A couple of things to try:

Uninstall the drive. Open Device Manager, click on the + sign next to CD/DVD ROM drives, right click on the drive and select uninstall. Exit and restart your system. When windows loads, it will recognise a hardware change, and will ask if you want to install. Before you click anything, insert the disc that came with the drive (if you have one). This should then install, if not, let windows search. If windows can't find anything, select "I will choose the driver manually" and look for your drive in the list.

Another thing to do, is download the most current Chipset drivers for your motherboard (which I would recommend anyway, even if the above worked).

Update the Firmware version and the internal drivers for your drive. These can be found here: http://sony.storagesupport.com/product/112#drivers

Also, update windows to the latest Service Pack (SP3 for XP and SP1 for Vista) if you haven't got them already.

If you have Vista, did you recently update to SP1 via Windows Update? If the answer is yes, please let me know.

Hope these solve your problem

Regards,
Tim

What do you mean "it just stays there"? Can you be a bit more specific? The writing speed doesn't really mean anything apart from being able to burn quicker.

The "drivers" for the sony dru 710a can be downloaded from here:
http://sony.storagesupport.com/product/112#drivers

I would also update the Firmware version too.

Hope that works

Regards,
Tim

Hi there,

Download the most current drivers for your Chipset. Uninstall the drive via Device Manager, restart your system and let Windows install it. Update to the latest Windows Service Pack. Download the updated Firmware version and internal drivers from here:
http://sony.storagesupport.com/product/125#documents

Hope this solves your problem

Regards,
Tim

INSTALL VISTA ANY WAY the problem is that windows can use the drive..
BOOT OF THE VISTA DISC

enter setup when the system boots up
go to booting options
and select the dvd rom as the first boot device
ensure the vista disc is in the drive
and save and exir setup
it will tell you to pree any key to boot from cd/dvd
and it will install vista without any hassle