Technology - External USB CD/DVD Drive Detected as Mass Storage

Ever had one of those strange problems that is seemingly unexplainable? Well here is a new one for you - External USB CD/DVD Drives being detected as mass storage by Windows (Vista in this case). The solution is even stranger.

If you have an external USB CD/DVD drive, in my case a Freecom FX-50, which is being detected by Windows Vista as 'Mass Storage', there is a simple, but strange way to fix the problem. Follow the steps below and you should be burning disks in no time.

• With the PC on fully unplug the USB and power from the external drive - make sure the drive has no disk in it before doing so.
• Wait 10-15 seconds.
• Plug the USB back into the PC.
• Plug the power back in.
• Sit back and Windows should now detect the drive correctly.
  

Sounds strange, but seems to work.

Thanks to 'jaxmatt' at Club CDFreaks for his post on this issue with another drive.
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