Failure Symptoms for CD/ROM or DVD Player In Computer

CD and DVD drives are mechanical in nature, so they will eventually fail. Most often without warning or any type of notification. Below is a list of common device failure symptoms.

Disk Drive Failures:

* Loss of Power
* Tray will not eject
* Will not read disc
* Reads discs briefly, quits reading
* (for writers) Failing to write to disc often
* Very loud noises (grinding, excessive vibrations)
* Works for a while, then quits after it is warm

These are the most common failures that I can think of from my experience. The one that falls into most frequent list is where a drive just quits reading and working altogether.

Before thinking your drive is completely dead, it is best to be sure that there isn't any other underlying problems with other or related hardware. Below is another list to check.

Troubleshooting:

* Does drive appear in the system BIOS (CMOS Setup?)
* Does a boot disc work (such as a Windows setup disc) load at system start?
* Have you checked all cables from the back of the disc drive to the motherboard?
* Have you check the power supply lately?

If the drive appears in the system BIOS and boots from a boot disc, then you likely have a problem with a driver in Windows. Uninstall the disc drives software and reinstall it in device manager.

Power supplies can be very finicky and cause all kinds of headaches. If your system is restarting every time you access the CD or DVD drive, then you likely have a bad power supply.

If the device is jammed, look carefully below the tray on the front of the device and you will find a small pin sized hole. This is a manual eject. You can insert a paper clip firmly into this hole and the drive tray will come open. Depending on how badly gears or the disc is stuck, depends on the pressure. Don't worry, there is nothing near this hole that would cause electric shock or any further damage.

Last, but not least loose cables (power or data) can be a very common cause of disc drive failures. If a cable is kinked, try replacing it, otherwise if it is loose, connect it firmly to the appropriate ends.

The good news for you is if you do have a bad CD, DVD, or other disc reader device, they are not too expensive (unless you have a Blue-Ray device.) I recommend buying from places like Amazon or Tiger Direct.com for the best prices versus retail.

When selecting a new disc drive for your computer or device, be sure to match it with the appropriate connections. The two known standards today, are IDE and SATA. See your computer user manual for further details.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope this lens has helped you in someway to figure out your disc reading problems and in someway gave you virtual aspirin.

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