HELP, my disk drive is not working at all, how do you fix it.

[jillalex1911]

Hi, my disk drive is not working at all now. You can place a cd, game or dvd and it will not open or read any of them. How do I fix this?

[Adam-07]

Ok will it open to place a disc in then not open after you close it? Or not open at all? and if theirs a reading problem either the laser is dirty or gone bad. Sounds like a hardware problem, best solution is get a new drive.

[jillalex1911]

It will open to put a disk in and close, and will reopen to allow you to remove the disk, it just won't read the disk, or allow me to burn any disks. When trying to burn a disk it just keeps saying please insert an empty disk.

[chaisson9088]

have any of the cables been adjusted, has any work been done inside the computer?

[jillalex1911]

None of the cables have been adjusted as far as I know but I have two small children that pull and poke at it, and it has not had any work done to it. It was working fine, and then suddenly not, I was wondering if my daughter had done something to it because she is constantly pretending to type on the keyboard, so maybe she opened a page she shouldn't have.

[Adam-07]

Opening a page or program by mistake would not cause this.
1. Open side panel and check all connections on drive
2. Check Device manager to see if the drivers are installed if not you will see a yellow icon like this: http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b146/wecamewithmurder/jksdjk.jpg
3. If yellow icon is there right click item and delete then reboot the PC and windows will reinstall drivers for you. If yellow icon is not there then your laser has a problem.
4. If problem persists check PC or drive warrenty if you have any and take it in, or a receipt.

From what I can tell either the drivers or laser is gone because its getting power and the motor functions. If any of the above doesnt help it couldnt hurt to wipe the laser with a Q-tip (no liquids).

[jillalex1911]

It says that my drivers are fine, and are the best available for my computer, so how do I clean the laser?

[BHLombardy]

At the risk of cleaning the laser and perhaps doing further damage, it might be more condusive to getting a practised person to look at it -- it could be something simple -- or it may need to be replaced.

I've been doing this type of work for close to 12 years, and I've never seen how cleaning the laser lens has solved a reading problem... unless of course someone has put their greasy finger print on it. -- and unless this is a laptop or a slim CD-drive (like on a small Dell) the likelihood of touching the lens is near impossible.

If it's not a simple wiring/jumper scenario, the drive probably needs to be replaced. (cost of about $50 or less, depending on the drive)

[jillalex1911]

where is the best place to buy a replacement drive?

[BHLombardy]

Check in the Computer/Technology Classifieds sections of this site.

There are people in there all the time posting similar parts... or better yet, post your own ad looking for one.

I get them from time to time, but right now, I'm fresh out of spare parts.