Optical Drives

Troubleshooting CD and DVD rom drives

Cd and DVD drives are optical drives. These drives read the discs by using a tiny beam (or if you prefer it, laser) on the discs, and reading the data reflected back by the discs.

The mechanism operating this, as you might imagine, is sensitive. If the alignment is improper, the drive will not be able to read the disc. The laser might also be damaged, or the disc itself might be damaged beyond repair. In these situations, repair is impossible.

Below, however, are some situations where the drive problems can be rectified.

Drive tray won’t open/eject.

• Firstly, try right-clicking the cd/dvd-rom icon in the window. Select eject. If that doesn’t work:
• Restart your computer. BEFORE windows loads, try ejecting the drive. If it opens, there might be some software or windows itself which may be causing the drive to function improperly. Refer to the CLEAN BOOT section.
• If it still refuses to eject, shut down you PC. Open your case. Check for any improper connections.
• If after rebooting and shutting down, it still does not work, its time for you to replace your drive.
• The last resort method. If you inspect your drive carefully, there should be a tiny hole just below the disc tray. Poke it, and the drive should eject irregardless if it has power or not.

 

Why not repair the drive? Well, the prices of cd/dvd drives are relatively inexpensive. Or, if the warranty on the drive is still active, seek a replacement. Repairing a drive often costs more than a new drive itself, and replacement parts may take time.

 

Windows does not recognise the drive.

If the drive is not listed after you installed the dive, you may have not installed it properly. Check the inner cable connections.

• Check the CPU innards to see if you have connected all the cables properly. A loose connection might have cause Windows to fail in detecting your drive.
• If it’s all properly connected, use the device manager. Go to START, right click MY COMPUTER. Select the HARDWARE tab. You should see the device manager. Click it.
• If the drive isn’t shown, try ADD HARDWARE WIZARD again. Go to Start -> Control Panel. Select the ADD HARDWARE icon and double-click.
• Windows will welcome you on the next screen Click Next.
• Select the YES I HAVE ALREADY CONNECTED THE HARDWARE option on the next screen. Click Next.
• Choose ADD A NEW HARDWARE DEVICE. Click Next.
• Here, windows will ask you What do you want the wizard to do? Select SEARCH FOR AND INSTALL THE HARDWARE AUTOMATICALLY. Click Next. Windows will then proceed to scan your computer.
• If windows still doesn’t recognise your drive, restart your computer. Go to BIOS and check if the drive has been recognise and initialised. If not, shut down and check your initial connections again.

CD/DVD cannot be read by drive.

• Check if the disk is clean. Clean if needed.
• See if Windows has actually read the disc. If your cd/dvd drive icon has been replaced with another icon eg. Office, that means that Windows has actually recognised your disk. If it doesn’t, the disc could be either scratched or dirty.
• There’s also the possibility that the disc is not compatible with your drive. DVD drives (especially older models) aren’t compatible with all DVD’s. Especially since there are many types of DVD’s. Also, CD drives can’t read DVD’s.
• Also, an inexpensive or no-name disc may be hard to read. Your drive manufacturer may specify which types of discs that is compatible with your drive. Stick with those.

 

I can't play my music CD’s.

• Check you volume levels first. à to volume . If your volume levels are okay:
• Open your PC case. Check if the small wire connecting your drive and sound card connects.
• If there is no wire, get a new one. Any computer hardware store should have this.
• Connect one end to your drive.
• The other will connect to your sound card.
• If there is already a wire present, check if the connection is secure. Remove and reconnect again if necessary.

 

Help! My drive vibrates violently!

• This usually happens if the disc is uneven, warped, or labelled unevenly. An unconventional disc shape may also cause the drive to vibrate.
• If you still can read the disc, copy the disc onto another one, or onto you PC.

 

My Drive doesn’t burn at maximum speed.

• Some brands of discs can only be burnt at certain speeds. Check the disc label for the speeds it can be used at.
• Upgrade your firmware. It’s possible that the current firmware doesn’t support high speed burns.

 

I keep getting errors while burning!

• Use a slower speed to burn discs. It may take longer, but fewer errors take place.
• Shut down all unnecessary applications that are running in the background. Anti-virus and such take up system resource. Let your computer focus the task at hand.
• If you’re copying from one disc to another, copy all the data onto you computer first. Create an image of the disc you want to copy, and then burn that image onto another disc.
• Try different disc brands. Some brands work better with your drive than others.
• Also, the burning software you use may not work with a particular drive or PC (I personally use Nero Burning rom àlink)

 

 

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