I figured I would ask here before I call the support # because half the time you can understand them. My problem is I bougtht a external dvd rewritable drive but it does not work. It says it is made for windows xp which I do have. It says all I have to do is plug it in and the computer will wright a drive for it. The problem is when I plugged it in it said that there was a problem with the install and it may not work. Now after unpluging it and plugging it in many times it now does nothing when I plug in it. Also I cant find the drive anywhere on the computer it doesnt show it in device manager or anywhere else. Any ideas?

First, reboot your machine.  Once it is booted, try plugging the drive in once.  Close any open programs before trying.

Second, did you install the software that came with the external drive?

I tried several external DVD-R/RW drives when they hit the market several years ago.  I could never get them to work in a manner that was acceptable to me.  IMO if it is your computer you are much better off buying and installing an internal drive.  Less chance for screwups and more reliable than using a USB connection.

thanks for your reply. I did reboot and I tried the drive on 3 computers and the same thing happens I even returned it and got a new one and the new one does the same.

What brand is the drive?

you might need to find the drivers manually.

Its made by iomagic

Just and FYI. If you end up going through tech support you can do tech support chat instead of over the phone. I did it recently and found it much easier than talking over the phone. And the wait time was less.

use the googles to search for drivers for your drive by the exact model number, install them and reboot. if this does not work make sure it is not USB2 only and if it is make sure you have a USB2 drive. If you get fed up and buy an internal i suggest a plextor from newegg.com

Drake pretty much nailed it.

If it don't work after that, pitch up against the side of a wall a few times, then jump up and down on it.  That'll fixer good.......(stinkin' computers)   >

Its made by iomagic

I would go to their website and take a look around in the FAQ or help section.  They may have something already posted about how to fix it.

Its made by iomagic

Iomega?

If so, throw it in the trash.  I tried three of their external drives before giving up and going with an internal drive.

The only luck I've had with an external Iomega is with their external ZIP drives.

thanks guys.

Maybe I am onto something as someone already pointed out I read you need a 2.0 port, how do I find out if I have a 2.0 port?

to find out when you start your computer look for it scanning each drive, if you are lucky and see one usb that says usb 2.0 then you are in luck! if you dont see anything i think you can go to startup utilities or something like that by pressing f2 on startup. It should tell you what to press when you boot it up. then you can see what you are using. if it is a dell or gateway you can call them and read them the serial number located somewhere on your comp or possibly enter it into thier website and it will list your pc specs!