Windows 7: Suddenly Can't Play Music CDs!!!

I have two CD/DVD players in my high-end PC (i7 2.6Ghz,16MB RAM), a Pioneer DVD-RW and a TSST Corp CDDVDW. Bot show up in Control Panel/Devices as 'Working properly'.

For some reason today both have decided not to play music CD or recognise blanks to burn!!

(1) If I load a music CD nothing happens. If I go into explorer I can see the list of tracks (shown as .cda files) but if I double click them WMP opens but says it can't play them. But if I open WMP on its own I can navigate to MP3 files on my hard drives so the sound is working.

(2) if I insert a blank disc to burn it doesn't spin up. If I open it a popup says Windows can't read the disk.

This is all very bizarre as the above problems have only started today!!

Has anyone any ideas as to what might have gone wrong?

hi there
here is a link for a "Microsoft fix it" it may help
Your CD or DVD drive can't read or write media Your CD or DVD drive can't read or write media

also follow this tutorial of brinks on How to Repair Windows 7 System Files with System File Checker and run the sfc scan read the pdf file or click here >>> SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker - Windows 7 Forums

Many thanks brianzion.
I ran the MS Fix and now both drives will play audio CDs, but reluctantly. That is, despite being configured to play via WMP automatically, nothing happens when I put an audio disk in a drive. There's no spinning up happening. If I manually open WMP and go to Menu/Play it says there are no disks loaded. But if I then open and shut the tray the track list shows up after about 15 seconds and the disk will play ok. Odd.
Nothing has changed re. burning. Blank disks are still not recognised so I can't burn disks anymore...

I ran the scannow in verify mode and it reported back there were no integrity problems, i.e. as per your screen pic.

I have been in device manager and right clicked on both CDDVD players and tried to update the drivers but in both cases it said the latest ones were installed.

Not sure where to turn now. I have a £1,500 PC that I can't burn disks on and which only plays music CDs if coaxed gently...

Just out of curiosity, can you identify what 3rd-party software you might have installed just recently which coincides with the new failure of "autoplay" for your CD/DVD drive to work? I'm specifically interested in media-centric products, like from CyberLink or RealPlayer or Nero, etc.?

AutoPlay doesn't start when I insert a disc or plug in a device.

There are several reasons for this problem. AutoPlay might be restricted by Group Policy, it could be canceled by a program that is running, or the service that AutoPlay needs to start might not be running.
Here are some things to try:

• Ask your network administrator if AutoPlay is restricted by Group Policy, and if so, what to do instead.
• Close other programs that might be interfering by accessing the device or media directly.
• Follow these steps:
  1. Click the Start button. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
  2. At the command prompt, type net start shellhwdetection, and then press Enter.
  3. Restart your computer.

right ok try this turn pc off unplug mains power unplug actual cable in the pc housing now press the power button for at least 8-10 secs (this will empty power stored inside the machines motherboard) and re-plug all plugs and reboot.

also uninstall the cd/dvd drivers from device manager then re-boot make sure you are connected to the internet as when you have the desktop open windows will automatically download and install the drivers

Hi dsperber.

This is a home computer (music recording studio DAW)and I am the sole user as Administrator.
I haven't installed any software recently, no.
From Googling around I'm pretty sure now that Autoplay has somehow become corrupted, which explains why nothing spins up on its own. The question is, how on earth do I repair it? I can't find any solutions that actually work. I somehow need to do a partial Windows 7 repair.

have a look at this tutorial >>> How to Turn AutoPlay On or Off in Windows 7 >>> AutoPlay - Turn On or Off - Windows 7 Forums

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=P39WRJ8Zdr8

Yes, I tried that a few times and any changes there have no effect.