My DELL XPS M1710 CD/DVD Drive has stopped reading discs

*Laptop specs will be at the end*

Hi there. I am having problems with my DVD Reader and Writer drive on my Win 7 laptop. It works mostly when it wants to not when i tell it to. But it rarely wants to start working again.

I have tried a few methods trying to get the DVD driver working again by:

- Using Microsoft Fix it (No problems found)
- Deleting the Upper and Lower filters (Still wont show the DVD icon - Unread disc)
- Troubleshooting (No help at all)

Please can someone help me with this problem that will be great thanks.

Laptop Specs -

DELL XPS M1710
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7400 @ 2.16GHz
Ram: 2GB
System type: Windows 7 Professional 32bit (SP 1)
DVD: DELL reader/writer

You have not actually said what the problem with the drive is - is it not showing as an icon in the OS, does it not read discs, does it not burn discs ?. If it is not being recognized by the OS then a re-install of the the latest driver from the manufacturer's website, not from windows, may help get it back onto the my computer screen and usable again.

Sorry yes they are both the problem my laptop won't read discs so the icon won't come up for me to open the disc. Ive reied forbhours looking for the drives but cannot find a replacement. Is there any other way of getting the drive working again?

On the assumption the drive used to work (?) and now it doesn't, I would always ask what has changed - have you installed anything, renewed software that may have an effact on the drive working. Before suspecting the drive is knackered I'd first rule out if its a driver issue by getting the latest level of driver and firmware from the manufacture's website (not by letting windows detect and install it) and uninstalling and re-installing this. I'd also look at device manager for any conflcts or yellow triangles against the drive.

These are just suggestions which you may have already thought of - let us know how you get on.

Yeah that was the problem and yes i have tried these technique just again to find out if it will fix my driver start working again. (yes it did work but now its stopped for no reason :/) i'm thinking it might be the laser on the disc drive might have stopped working. So sadly i'm thinking of the worst. I'll just buy a new drive and save the rest of the hassle.

Thanks for your help :)

Here's a thought, depending on where you get the new drive, they may allow you to try the drive in your laptop and return it in case it does not solve the problem - I am always a believer in the hardware being the last to go wrong given the other things that it could be, even if you could borrow one to convince youself that it is the drive itself that has gone.

Just a suggestion.