[guygee]

Originally Posted by LastHonestFool03

thanks, and I heard I might need to get firmware, and flash it? I have no idea what that means...and also, how would I install it on my laptop?

For your laptop you should get an external DVD with USB 2 or Firewire (IEEE1394) interface. If your laptop doens't support these, you can get a PCMCIA Card to support either. USB 1.x is too slow. The Firewire is slightly faster than USB 2 (I've done the measurements). Most external drives support both.

As for flashing the firmware upgrade, be very careful! (See my post above). Read the manufacturers instructions carefully, and also read the troubleshooting guides before you flash. Usually, you have to disable DMA before you can successfully flash your firmware. This goes like: Contol Panel->System->Hardware->Device Manager->IDE ATI/ATAPI Controllers->open->right click Properties-> (Uncheck "let BIOS select" if needed), then choose PIO mode for both primary and secondary channels. Reboot, flash, then reverse the procedure to turn DMA back on.

The Plextor website didn't mention tunrnng off DMA until after the fact (If you have a problem...then turn off DMA), while the Sony website told me upfront. This is probably the cause of the failure I had with my Plextor drive.

Once you disable your DMA, the procedure is very simple, you just download the firmware upgrade application from the manufacturers support webstire and run it. If you follow the instructions carefully, it should not be difficult.