CD Rom does not open

[tonyvella]

On my second computer the cd-rom will not open either by pressing its button or by clicking "eject" in Windows Explorer. It does open though when I stick a pin (straightened paperclip) into the little front hole and it plays and burns perfectly. My question is whether it is safe to continue using the straightened paperclip to open it or am I likely to cause some further damage?

Thanks in advance for all advice.

 

[rvcjew]

On my second computer the cd-rom will not open either by pressing its button or by clicking "eject" in Windows Explorer. It does open though when I stick a pin (straightened paperclip) into the little front hole and it plays and burns perfectly. My question is whether it is safe to continue using the straightened paperclip to open it or am I likely to cause some further damage?

Thanks in advance for all advice.

As long as it does not keep spinning when you open it your okay. I would hit eject wait for it to attempt to open (so you know the disk has spun down) then your good.

 

[Boozad]

Buy a new one, they're dirt cheap.

 

[AddRAM]

 

[PSCO2007]

Buy a new one, they're dirt cheap.

Not in my case - spent almost $100 - same intermittent problem.

 

[AddRAM]

Spent $100 on what ?

Christ, you could buy a blu-ray player/burner for that price.

LG Black 16X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner WH16NS40 - Blu-Ray Burners - Newegg.com

or blu-ray player dvd burner

LG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model UH12NS30 - Blu-Ray Drives - Newegg.com

 

[tonyvella]

cd-rom does not open

Thanks for the replies, friends. Some more info: the door will not open and eject when there is no disc. When I burn or play the machine ejects automatically when finished as it should ... does not open only when it's empty, no disc.

Something else. Dirt cheap is a relative term. Here in Ottawa, Canada for a 70-year old man who does not know how to take a CP apart and replace things for himself:

new cheap internal cd-rom = $40.00
minimum charge for installation = $75.00
tax on parts and service (13%) = $14.95
TOTAL: $129.95

and that's for a bottom of the line cheap piece of Chinese sh!t from Best Buy).

That's why I asked if I can keep on using the pin without causing more problems.

 

[Boozad]

Well without all of that pertinent information in the opening post I'm hardly going to guess it. A CD-ROM drive should not be costing $40, but that's beside the point if you're not in a position to buy one anyway.

 

[akjudge]

When I burn or play the machine ejects automatically when finished as it should ... does not open only when it's empty, no disc.

Since the CD will open if software driven, have you tried this:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/196071-eject-close-cd-dvd-tray-add-desktop-context-menu.html

It may not work, but it can't hurt to try it and see if it will solve your problem.

As for the paperclip, I had a Dell that had the same problem. Must have used "the paperclip software" for years on it without any problems.

Jim

 

[PSCO2007]

Spent $100 on what ?

Christ, you could buy a blu-ray player/burner for that price.

LG Black 16X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner WH16NS40 - Blu-Ray Burners - Newegg.com

or blu-ray player dvd burner

LG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model UH12NS30 - Blu-Ray Drives - Newegg.com

If you had checked my specs prior to your rant, you would have seen that is what I paid for.

Maybe I should have spcified it was a BD player, but I assumed that would be obvious by the price.
Amazon.com: Buying Choices: Pioneer Electronics USA 15x SATA Internal BD/DVD/CD Burner with 4 MB Buffer BDR-208DBK

 

[PSCO2007]

Buy a new one, they're dirt cheap.

Not in my case - spent almost $100 - same intermittent problem.

Just called Microcenter when I realized I purchased an extended warranty.

They'll replace it.

 

[AddRAM]

Spent $100 on what ?

Christ, you could buy a blu-ray player/burner for that price.

LG Black 16X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner WH16NS40 - Blu-Ray Burners - Newegg.com

or blu-ray player dvd burner

LG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model UH12NS30 - Blu-Ray Drives - Newegg.com

If you had checked my specs prior to your rant, you would have seen that is what I paid for.

Maybe I should have spcified it was a BD player, but I assumed that would be obvious by the price.
Amazon.com: Buying Choices: Pioneer Electronics USA 15x SATA Internal BD/DVD/CD Burner with 4 MB Buffer BDR-208DBK

It wasn`t a rant, and I wasn`t concerned about your blu ray player, the OP was talking about a CD rom, you should not even have mentioned anything if you weren`t talking about the same thing.

Your exact words "Not in my case - spent almost $100 - same intermittent problem"

Who knows, maybe you had/have some piece of junk optical player and spent $100 getting it fixed.

Why should I/we have to examine your specs for someone else`s problem.

 

[PSCO2007]

Should've known you'd have a sarcastic remark, not unlike a previous one you made to a poster who you were extremely derogatory to after you misread his post and refused to admit you were wrong, but berated him nonetheless.

http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/364142-caps-lock-usb3-gone-lies.html

In the future, skip any of my posts and make us both happy.


BTW- an optical drive is what we were talking about - makes no difference if it a dvd or bd.

I'm unsubscribing from this thread - buh-bye!

 

[Layback Bear]

Tony your question from post # 7

That's why I asked if I can keep on using the pin without causing more problems.

It should not cause problems for you using the pin.

Yes CD rom are cheap except in Ottawa, Canada.


Did you look at the tutorial that akjudge suggested in post # 9?

 

[tonyvella]

cd-rom door will not open

I want to thank everyone who took the time to help me answer my original question about my old Vista desktop. I should have made it clear from the start that I am a 70-year old who knows nothing about computer-repair and must rely on someone else doing the work for me - the same as my car: I can drive it and put gas into it, that's all.

As I mentioned before, the cd-rom plays and burns perfectly and since my burning software is set to "eject disk when finished burning" and works, the only time I face the inconvenience with the door is at the beginning of the burning process when I have to insert a blank disk. So I shall continue using my paperclip until the machine no longer responds to it - I feel assured through these replies that I am not causing additional harm.

Once again, thank you all.

 

[TVeblen]

There is a repair for this. But it involves taking the drive out of the PC and dismantling it a little bit. That does not sound like anything you want to try.

Older optical drives use a small round magnet on the underside of the tray. This magnet pulls the disk tight to the tray to stabilize it while spinning. When the unit gets old this mechanism gets sloppy and the magnet interferes with the tray opening. When there is a disk in the drive there is no interference.
The fix is to apply a couple of layers of duct or electrical tape to the magnet to create a spacer of 1-2 mm. That is usually all it takes to clear the tray.

Stores that sell parts and computers will normally not do this type of repair, but if you can find a small independent shop they could do it in less than an hour. About $75 US.
And about the cost of a brand new top line blue ray burner

It really only makes sense to do if you can do it yourself.

 

[AddRAM]

It wasn`t a sarcastic remark at all, it was a remark on you adding useless information to a thread.

When I`m mean or sarcastic you will surley know it, I won`t do it in the open,I`ll send you a PM and tell you exactly how I feel.

I`m glad you unsubscribed, you weren`t helping at all.


"Not in my case - spent almost $100 - same intermittent problem."

This comment was not explained until later and in no way helped the OP.

So you made a rude comment directed at me.

Please use your own advice and don`t make any comments to me until you know me better and can be more respectful, Thank You

And about the other thread, I wasn`t wrong about anything I said, I said nothing Nasty to him and the guy was being a jerk to me, I don`t care where you`re from, there`s no need for that, get your facts straight, re read the thread.