Out of the blue my first cd drive (out of two) stopped working as it should. When I insert a CD-ROM disc, the light (that indicates the cd-drive reading a disc) lights up as usual, but nothing happens and eventually the light just goes out and the cd-drive stops reading. An inserted disc can't be found and it doesn't start up when using autoplay.
The device manager said everythings fine, but it doesnt read cd's and it says the device isnt ready (even when a disc is inserted), what can i do?! Please offer a desperate guy som help so I can solve the mystery with my cd-drive....
May be useful info:
I run Win 98, I haven't been "fiddling" around inside the computer...
Please Help. CD-drive problem...?!?
Please Help. CD-drive problem...?!?
“Child abuse doesn’t have to mean broken bones and black marks. Young growing tissues are far more vulnerable to carcinogens than those of adults.
Knowingly subjecting children to it is child abuse.”
Knowingly subjecting children to it is child abuse.”
If you listen close is it making a light tapping noise after you have put the CD in?
I would suggest that perhaps your CD-Rom is malfunctioning, there isn't a lot you can do about it and they are fairly cheap now, just buy a new one.
One thing you could check, go to device manager (in system, in control panel) click on your cd rom device, click properties go to the tab marked settings and check if disconnect is ticked or not.
Has anything in your system changed recently, installed any new programs? Have you checked multiple cds?
I would suggest that perhaps your CD-Rom is malfunctioning, there isn't a lot you can do about it and they are fairly cheap now, just buy a new one.
One thing you could check, go to device manager (in system, in control panel) click on your cd rom device, click properties go to the tab marked settings and check if disconnect is ticked or not.
Has anything in your system changed recently, installed any new programs? Have you checked multiple cds?
I'd have to get drunk every night and talk about virility...And those Pink elephants I'd see.
How old is the CD-Rom, as most pre-built computers come with cheap disc drives which will eventually wear out in time. I have a similar problem, in which its beginning to stop reading CD's. It will show up as working fine in Device Manager, but the thing won't even try to read the disc sometime. Its probably over three years old so it has run past its use by date.
If its old, I say it would be if its still running 98, then shop around for a new one. They are cheaper then you would think, I still have the old one, but use a DVD-Rom drive instead. Planning to replace the old one with a CD-R sometime soon
If its old, I say it would be if its still running 98, then shop around for a new one. They are cheaper then you would think, I still have the old one, but use a DVD-Rom drive instead. Planning to replace the old one with a CD-R sometime soon
!
-
HighLordDave
- Posts: 4062
- Joined: Sun Jan 14, 2001 11:00 pm
- Location: Between Middle-Earth and the Galaxy Far, Far Away
- Contact:
Does it happen with both audio and data CDs?
Try moving the drive to another system and see if the problem follows the drive. If you swap the drive into another system and it still doesn't read, do as KidD01 says and clean it. If it still doesn't read, throw it away and buy a new one. If you just want a CD-ROM drive they run about $20 (USD), or you can shell out $50-70 (USD) for a 48X24x48 CD-RW (I picked up a CD-RW at Best Buy for $70 with $50 in rebates).
The things that are going to fail first are the things with the most moving parts: your hard drive and your optical disk drives. The average life expectancy for both is about four years (this is dropping as prices drop). If the drive is older than that, you've gotten your money's worth.
Try moving the drive to another system and see if the problem follows the drive. If you swap the drive into another system and it still doesn't read, do as KidD01 says and clean it. If it still doesn't read, throw it away and buy a new one. If you just want a CD-ROM drive they run about $20 (USD), or you can shell out $50-70 (USD) for a 48X24x48 CD-RW (I picked up a CD-RW at Best Buy for $70 with $50 in rebates).
The things that are going to fail first are the things with the most moving parts: your hard drive and your optical disk drives. The average life expectancy for both is about four years (this is dropping as prices drop). If the drive is older than that, you've gotten your money's worth.
Jesus saves! And takes half damage!
If brute force doesn't work, you're not using enough.
If brute force doesn't work, you're not using enough.
@all: Thanks for the swift reply! Highly appreciated.
Well actually it's a DVD-drive (sort of the same thing as a CD-drive in my "not a lot of computer-knowledge" eyes), but that shouldn't make any difference when trying to solve the problem should it?!? I'd say the drive is a couple of years old and it has seen plenty of "game-time".... Still there's never been any problem with it until yesterday....I was in the middle of a game of "Startopia" when the computer suddenly froze and the drive stopped reading...it doesn't even make that "spinning" noice when it starts reading a disc anymore....just one or two small clicks and then nothing happens....
What makes it even more tricky is that the BIOS reports that there is no problem with the drive...
You're all probably right about the suggestion that it is "broken"...even so I'll give it a "lens-cleaning" as KidD01 suggested...if it's still not working I'll give it the good old "technical tap", (i.e "bashing"), and if it still doesn't work I'll just get rid of it....
@Mr Sleep: Well yes it makes some type of noice when I insert a disc, but it isn't the usual sound.
Yup, checked it in the "device manager" and it seems alright.... Any recent change to the comp is "installation of the game "Startopia" and a lot more use of the USB....
Also I have checked multiple CDs and not a single one works in the "giving me a headache"-drive but they all work in my second drive...
@Tamerlane: The drive in question is around three years old so I guess it has seen its best years gone by... Still it hasn't been getting gradually worse as your drive...it just stopped reading suddenly....
@HighLordDave: Happens with every single disc I've tried so far...(both audio and data CDs)...
Does this mean that I should start to worry about my hard-drive as well?!?
Well actually it's a DVD-drive (sort of the same thing as a CD-drive in my "not a lot of computer-knowledge" eyes), but that shouldn't make any difference when trying to solve the problem should it?!? I'd say the drive is a couple of years old and it has seen plenty of "game-time".... Still there's never been any problem with it until yesterday....I was in the middle of a game of "Startopia" when the computer suddenly froze and the drive stopped reading...it doesn't even make that "spinning" noice when it starts reading a disc anymore....just one or two small clicks and then nothing happens....
What makes it even more tricky is that the BIOS reports that there is no problem with the drive...
You're all probably right about the suggestion that it is "broken"...even so I'll give it a "lens-cleaning" as KidD01 suggested...if it's still not working I'll give it the good old "technical tap", (i.e "bashing"), and if it still doesn't work I'll just get rid of it....
@Mr Sleep: Well yes it makes some type of noice when I insert a disc, but it isn't the usual sound.
Yup, checked it in the "device manager" and it seems alright.... Any recent change to the comp is "installation of the game "Startopia" and a lot more use of the USB....
Also I have checked multiple CDs and not a single one works in the "giving me a headache"-drive but they all work in my second drive...
@Tamerlane: The drive in question is around three years old so I guess it has seen its best years gone by... Still it hasn't been getting gradually worse as your drive...it just stopped reading suddenly....
@HighLordDave: Happens with every single disc I've tried so far...(both audio and data CDs)...
Does this mean that I should start to worry about my hard-drive as well?!?
“Child abuse doesn’t have to mean broken bones and black marks. Young growing tissues are far more vulnerable to carcinogens than those of adults.
Knowingly subjecting children to it is child abuse.”
Knowingly subjecting children to it is child abuse.”
-
KidD01
- Posts: 5699
- Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2000 10:00 pm
- Location: In the bunker underneath your house
- Contact:
Originally posted by Karembeu
Does this mean that I should start to worry about my hard-drive as well?!?
I think what HLD means from his post is every component has it's life time. As for dying HDD, I think the most apparent symptom will be a rough unpleasant sound when it's motor spinning while HDD heads try to read data in HDD (this symptom generally appears on Seagate HDD)
<EDIT>BTW I own Conner 40MB and 80MB which still works. I guess that's a real bargain !
I'm not dead yet
I have never had a lens cleaner succeed in doing anything. Ever. So Good luck with one of those, it is worth a try but I find those things kill more cd-roms than they fix.
Well by the sound of it a part of it has probably dislodged or broken inside, it could be any part and the drives are not really made to be fixed (I have tried in the past) so I think your only choice is a new one...which is a shame.
Well by the sound of it a part of it has probably dislodged or broken inside, it could be any part and the drives are not really made to be fixed (I have tried in the past) so I think your only choice is a new one...which is a shame.
I'd have to get drunk every night and talk about virility...And those Pink elephants I'd see.