First, I like to say hello to all board memebers as a new member.

My DVD ROM driver kept telling me to insert a disk into drive "D" even after I inserted a disk into drive "D" (CD-ROM drive). It did not see video or hear audio at all. I even tried to play DVD manually but nothin happen. Couple months ago my son broke a CD Writer and I had to remove that CD Writer completely from the CPU. Can the DVD ROM drive work without CD writer drive? It is Samsung SD-616E DVD drive. Any help would be appreciated. It has given me big headache. Thank you in advance.

If the CD burner was set to master and the DVD-ROM was set to slave then that could be the cause of your problem.
What you need to do is have a look at the back of your DVD-ROM drive and check out the jumper settings. This should be three settings of Master, slave, and cable select.
If it is on a data cable all by itself then it should really be set to either master or cable select.
If you are not sure about the jumper settings on your DVD-ROM then just Google it is and you will hopefully find more information.

The DVD-ROM will work independantly of a CD Writer.
Did the DVD drive work after you removed the CD drive?? If so, when did the DVD stop recognizing disks?? Did the audio go out at the same time, or at a different time then when the drive no longer recognized a disk?? If the problem started as soon as you removed the CD burner, you may have loosened up the IDE cable (wide, flat ribbon cable) and the audio cable as well.
If the drive worked after removing the CD burner, then I'd say it sounds like the DVD drive died or is in the process. They aren't that expensive anymore, so you should be able to pick a decent one up for between $50-75 (US dollars).

Sorry, I don't remember the last time I used DVD; therefore, I could not answer your questions. However, you sounded very logically and I will try to tight up the IDE cables. Per Rik replied above, I did not know that CD writer and DVD ROM drives are interconnected but I just unhooked the CD writer cable only. I did not touched the DVD Rom drive at all. Does that still affect jumper setting or require resetting the jumper?
I really appreciated your replies. Thank You

It really depends on the motherboard and the kind of BIOS it has, but it is entirely possible that setting the jumper correctly could get it working.
I am not saying that it will get it working, I am just saying it is a possibility that may be worth a try.

Who installed these drives in the first place ?
Did they ever work properly ?
Do they have icons when you open My Computer ?
Are they listed in Device Manager ? Right click My Computer and select propertys,Hardware.
Lets start by being able to read a disk and the results.=============
When you start your computer are they listed as being detected by the bios ?
Watch closely and use the Pause key for more time.
Please comment on all the above.
==============
By the way,this is not a device "driver" problem,probably bad connections.

It was installed manufacturer (Compaq). It worked before but could not recall the last time I used it. It has icon under device manager. It even said "Working properly" when I run trouble shoothing. The drive tray is opened, closed and rejected OK. The light is lit when I tried to access for awhile. I am not sure about being detected by the bios. Thanks

I would follow Rik's earlier advice to make sure the DVD drive jumper was set to the master position and further, make sure the DVD drive was connected to the end connector rather than the middle connector on the cable.

Another solution would be to leave everything as is and replace the broken CD drive. Make sure the jumper on the back of the drive is in the same position as the original CD drive it is replacing.

Thanks
I just ordered a Sony DVD burner (DRU120 BK R). Should I just install that in the old CD burner slot and reuse the existing IDE?

Yes, but be sure to set the jumper on the back of the new drive to the same setting as on the old CD burner. If you no longer have the old one to compare, then look at the existing DVD drive. If it is set to slave, set the new one to master or if it set to master, then set the new one to slave. If it happens to be set to CSL (cable select), then set the new one to CSL too.

Thats what my Sony DRU-820A manual recommends.Thats what i did.
It was automaticly recognized,and useable.

My Sony DVD arrived today and I just got it installed. Now I have 2 DVD drives. The new Sony DVD I just bought and the old DVD ROM. Know what? the new Sony DVD worked like it shoud, but I still have the same problem on the old DVD ROM. I like to keep both so I can burn CD directly between drives. What did I do wrong, please? Thank You

Jumpers set to correct master/slave configuration? If so, then perhaps the DVD-ROM drive is bad too.

Yes, it could be a bad DVD as you said, but I have used it less than ten times. My computer is about 13 months old. Is it possible that I installed it wrong? I set the new DVD burner drive as master and the old DVD ROM as slave. Is that the correct setting? Thanx

Ideally, the optical drive at the end of the cable should be master and the middle connector of the cable should go to the slave device. Is that the order in which you set it?

One more thing to check that I can think of. Go to the Control Panel > System > Device Manager. Then go to the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. Make sure none of the channels that the optical drives are connected to have reverted to the slow PIO mode. They should be on DMA or Ultra DMA mode.

I presume you mean a new DVD-RW burner.
What is "The same problem" mean ?
Why is the topic DVD-ROM Problem ? Is it a burner ?
It's more like what didn't you do right maybe.
Did you think a new DVD would fix your old DVD ?
You only need 1 burner and possibly a DVD Player.
But even 1 will do a disk to disk copy if set right.