CD/DVD Drive Ejects Discs

I have a new Toshiba laptop (L505D, 64-bit Windows 7). The CD/DVD drive will not read a CD software disc that I need to use to install a program. Roxio Burn pops up when I load a disc, and when I exit that and go to Windows Explorer to view the files on the disc and run the .exe program, I get this message when I click on the "d:" (CD/DVD) drive: "Insert a Disc" and below that "Please insert a disc into drive D:".

This drive worked yesterday but not today. The same thing happened five days ago when I bought the laptop. To fix it, I ran a MS File Checker program (got it from MS support site). That program fixed the problem but a few hours later stuff was so bizarre on my laptop that I had to reimage it. Those issues may have been caused by the Brother printer drivers I installed once I got the d: drive working (had to go to Brother site to get 64-bit drivers), but I'm not sure and I'm gunshy about running the File Checker program. Plus, I'm not confident that will provide a permanent solution. It's almost as if once the DVD drive hits a point where it only wants blank discs to burn and will not function as a drive to run programs from.

Please, any help is appreciated. This is extremely frustrating!

Thanks,

Chris

Use system restore and select a restore point from yesterday. What software do you want to install?

You could try copying it off the disc into a folder and running it of there or imaging a disc and mounting it - just watch what app you choose to do the mounting.

I'm installing MS Office 2003.

If I do a system restore to yesterday, will it impact anything I've done today (set up new folders, brought files onto hard drive, etc.)?

And will a system restore permanently fix the issue? I really want to figure out the root cause and fix it so I don't face this every time I need to install programs from a CD (which should be infrequent from here on, but still...).

Thanks,
Chris

No, user files are untouched. Why are you using 2003, you should at least install 2007 - there may be compatiblity issues with Outlook?

Don't own 2007. Already own and have paid for 2003. Plus, my work uses 2003 so it's fully compatible.

I ran Toshiba Assist diagnostics on the CD/DVD drive. It took about 1 second and returned "FAIL". No reason, cause, error message, advice, no nothing. Just "FAIL." What do I do with that valuable information?

Hmmm...saved the results, opened them as a text file, read them. Not much more info there, but preceding the test results, it says

[QFE Information]
Windows Hotfix "KB975469"

That's a fix from Nov '09 for WPD devices crashing intermittently. I'm assuming this was picked up by the program as having been applied, since it does not appear to be a recommended solution. Can't find much info on that hotfix so far. Do you think it's a fix I should d/l and run, or has already been applied?

Thanks,

Chris

2007 is compatible but you may as well wait for 2010. As for the hotfix it applies to portable systems. I would try deleting the upper/lower filters in the registry. Look to here:

Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs

As a first step.

Guess what! Found a solution on another forum. Ran compmgmt.msc, clicked on the DVD drive, and voila, it ran autoplay that let me select among exploring the folder, runnint the .exe file, etc.

So I ran the .exe file. You will love this. The window is 90% off the left side of the screen. I can't hit "install" or "continue" or even read what the window says so I can react to it! Can't get ahold of the top title bar (mouse will go there but won't grab it), can't grab an edge to resize the window, can't do nothing! (Bad English intended).

Do you have a solution for this?

Ensure the windows title bar - what you can see - is in focus (colour) then press the Windows Key+ Up at the same time or right click the icon in the taskbar to try and shift it.

Thanks, I appreciate your help. I actually was able to click "cancel", so did that and started over, and it ran fine. Very odd. Installed amazingly fast, too, like 3-4 minutes.

If this continues, you can replace the DVD drive. Its not too difficult. Anyway, Office 2003 runs fine? Any other issues?