DOS Days

Optical Drive Downloads

This page provides downloads of drivers for use with optical drives, i.e. CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, and writers (burners).

Most of these download files are compressed using ZIP compression, and within them exists either just a single device driver file, or a full installer that runs in DOS or early Windows (3.x, 95 or 98).

CD-ROM Drivers

Two files are needed to get an IDE CD-ROM drive accessible in DOS:

(1) a device driver (.SYS) - one that is compatible with your physical optical drive
(2) MSCDEX.EXE - The Microsoft CD-ROM Extension adds compatibility to DOS for the High Sierra and ISO9660 file systems - something that is not natively supported in DOS. It was provided as part of DOS versions 6.0 and beyond, though theoretically you can have a CD-ROM running on DOS 3.1 and up.

The OAKCDROM.SYS file in the downloads list below is probably the only one you will ever need. Oak manufactured the main interface ICs built into many optical drives in the 90s, so you will likely find this driver will work with almost every IDE drive out there.

Oak CD-ROM Driver
Universal ATAPI IDE Driver
OAKCDROM.SYS

To install, put this line in your CONFIG.SYS file:
DEVICE=OAKCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD001 [/L:xx]
[/L:xx] assigns the drive letter to the drive, e.g. /L:E for Drive E:

Then put this line your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

MSCDEX /D:MSCD001

Acer CD-ROM Driver
Universal ATAPI IDE Driver v2.14
VIDE-CDD.SYS

This is well-liked as an IDE CD-ROM driver as it only uses 6 KB of upper memory.
To install, put this line in your CONFIG.SYS file:
DEVICE=VIDE-CDD.SYS /D:MSCD001 [/P:xxx,yy] [/L:xx]

where [/P:xxx,yy] is the IDE port the drive is on and the interrupt request.
'xxx' is the base address (hexadecimal notation) of IDE port.
xxx = 1f0 (Port 1), 170 (Port 2), 1e8 (Port 3), or 168 (Port 4)

'yy' is the interrupt number (IRQ) of the corresponding IDE port.

[/L:xx] specifies the message language. Available options are:
xx = US : English (the default language)
GR : German
FR : French
SP : Spanish
IT : Italian
JP : Japanese

Then put this line your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

MSCDEX /D:MSCD001

GoldStar (LG) CD-ROM Driver
GSCDROM.SYS

To install, unzip the file to a temporary directory on your hard disk and run INSTALL.EXE.

Adaptec ASPI CD-ROM Driver
ASPICD.SYS

Supports Yamaha, Kodak, HP C4324/c4325, Plextor, Shinaken, Matshita, DEC, IBM, Teac, Compaq, Chinon, Denon, Hitachi, LMS, NEC, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, Texel, JVC, IMS and Pioneer brands.
To install, put this line in your CONFIG.SYS file:
DEVICE=ASPICD.SYS /D:MSCD001

Then put this line your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

MSCDEX /D:MSCD001

Generic ATAPI CD-ROM Driver
ATAPICD.SYS

Supports almost all IDE optical drives.
To install, put this line in your CONFIG.SYS file:
DEVICE=ATAPICD.SYS /D:MSCD001

Then put this line your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

MSCDEX /D:MSCD001

 

Creative Labs CD-ROM Driver
SBIDE.SYS

Suitable for use with Creative's OTI-011 CD-ROM drive.
To install, put this line in your CONFIG.SYS file:
DEVICE=SBIDE.SYS /V /D:MSCD001 /P:1016,10,1022

Then put this line your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

MSCDEX /D:MSCD001

Panasonic USB CD-ROM Driver v1.0
USBCD1.SYS

Supports Panasonic USB CD-ROM drives
To install, put this line in your CONFIG.SYS file:
DEVICE=USBCD1.SYS /d:MSCD000

Then put this line your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

MSCDEX /D:MSCD000

 

TEAC USB CD-ROM Driver
USBCD2.SYS

Supports TEAC USB CD-ROM drives
To install, put this line in your CONFIG.SYS file:
DEVICE=USBCD2.SYS /d:MSCD000

Then put this line your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

MSCDEX /D:MSCD000

Ultra DMA CD/DVD-ROM Driver v3.7
QCDROM.SYS

This driver will work with almost any IDE CD or DVD optical drive if your motherboard has an Intel, VIA, SiS, ALi or similar UDMA controller. It can be made to work in the traditional PIO mode also.
To install, put this line in your CONFIG.SYS file:
DEVICE=QCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD001 /UF /L /X /SM /SS
(see the QCDROM.TXT file for details)

Then put this line your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

MSCDEX /D:MSCD001