Help! CD/DVD drive doesn't recognize discs

[davidofelston]

Starting a few hours ago my computer (which has WindowsXP Media Center
Edition) stopped recognizing discs which I insert in the CD/DVD drive.
This started after I attempted to copy a DVD which I'd made with my
DVD recorder, and copying stopped because of an unknown error. Now
when I insert any disc my computer acts as if there were no disc in
the drive. WMP doesn't start playing DVDs I insert, and Cyberlink
PowerDVD says there is no disc in the drive. If I try to copy a disc
with Power2Go the tray opens and I'm asked to insert a source disc.
The computer doesn't even recognize software CDs.

Does anyone here have any ideas about the cause or solutions for this
problem? I've only had a PC for a few months and I'm still very much a
beginner, and I'm really out of my depth when things like this happen.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[LVTravel]

Sounds like you have a hardware failure but check a few things.

Right click on my computer and then left click on Manage. When the Computer
Management window opens click on Device Manager. When Device Manager opens
click on the + next to DVD/CD ROM drives. If the DVD/CD ROM line is
there does it show the DVD/CD drive? If DVD/CD ROM drives line is not there,
Windows doesn't see the drive for some reason.

If it does not have the DVD/CD ROM line exit out and then reboot the
computer. Read the bios information scrolling on the screen (you may have
to hit the space bar or another key to see the bios information display.)
See if it is showing a DVD/CD ROM drive. If you can't do this, enter the
Bios (press whatever key is displayed on the initial screens for entering
bios (normally Del, Esc, F2, F1, F12, or some key combination.)

If you get into the bios, look around for anything specifying drive
information. All bios are different so I can't be more specific.

If you can't see the drive in the bios, there is a definite hardware
failure. If you feel comfortable opening your case (if this is a desktop
computer) turn it off and unplug the power from the wall. Reseat all the
wires (wide ribbon cable) going from the motherboard to the back of the CD
drive (careful when pressing on the motherboard connector.) Close it back
up and plug it in. Try again. Still nothing, time to contact service. You
say that the machine is a few months old so I would hope it is under a
warranty. Contact the manufacturer of the system for further support.

 

[Guest]

I had a similar problem a couple months ago. At first the CD/DVD drive could
not read data discs that were burned onto DVD discs. Then the next day the
computer could not recognize the CD/DVD drive. I took it in to Geek Squad and
they loaded a "patch" that allowed Windows to recognize the CD/DVD. The drive
passed a CD write/read to CD disc test. But the drive could still not read
data on DVD's even though data could be written to DVD's. Burn, yes. Read,
no. After more testing, they finally replaced the CD/DVD drive. Problem
fixed. LVTravel gives you good advice and I agree that it most likely is a
bad CD/DVD drive. My computer has gone through two of them in the past 14
months. And I don't do more than 50 burns a year. Some of these CD/DVD drives
are just cheap.

Hope this helps.

Oscar

 

[davidofelston]

I had a similar problem a couple months ago. At first the CD/DVD drive could
not read data discs that were burned onto DVD discs. Then the next day the
computer could not recognize the CD/DVD drive. I took it in to Geek Squad and
they loaded a "patch" that allowed Windows to recognize the CD/DVD. The drive
passed a CD write/read to CD disc test. But the drive could still not read
data on DVD's even though data could be written to DVD's. Burn, yes. Read,
no. After more testing, they finally replaced the CD/DVD drive. Problem
fixed. LVTravel gives you good advice and I agree that it most likely is a
bad CD/DVD drive. My computer has gone through two of them in the past 14
months. And I don't do more than 50 burns a year. Some of these CD/DVD drives
are just cheap.

Hope this helps.

Oscar










- Show quoted text -

Thanks to both of you for your advice. There is a DVD/CD ROM line in
Device Manager. My guess is that the drive isn't recognizing discs
when they're in it. I think I'll need to take the computer to the Geek
Squad like Oscar did.

I've been wondering if my attempts to copy this disc might have
damaged the drive, because I edited the menu on a different model of
Panasonic DVD recorder than the one I used for recording. (I did this
because the one I used for recording is too error-prone in editing,
and the original disc does play alright.) The next day I also found
that the recorder I used for editing can't dub from the HDD at high
speed any longer--it can only dub at 1x speed. I'm really more upset
by that than by the problem with the drive on my computer.

 

[Peter Foldes]

Try this fix from MS

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/929461