Solved CDs/DVDs not recognized, is the drive bad?

[bru]

I was doing some converting of DVDs and was having some issues with the software loading one DVD. I walked away and it continued to try to load unsuccesfully. After restarting the computer it no longer reads either CDs or DVDs. I can hear some noise as the drive spins but that's it, never see the disks. No error messages.

The drive shows in My Computer and in Device Manager. I did uninstall it through DevManager and upon reboot drivers reinstalled.

In Event Viewer I see "CdRom0, has a bad block" corresponding to when I was having problems loading the DVD. Nothing since. Also see that error two other times going back two years. Tried Microsoft Fix It but it can't read any media inserted. Ran CheckDisk for the heck of it and nothing found. Also did a System Restore with no joy.

So is the burner bad? If the laser went bad it seems coincidental that it would be both CD and DVD as I understand there are two different lasers. I am not adverse to replacing the drive but am concerned there may be something else causing this. Thoughts?

 

[jumanji]

The easy way to confirm whether the problem is with the internal optical drive or elsewhere is to hook up an external optical drive and check if it works fine.

 

[Roderunner]

Hi bru, will your cd/dvd's play on another pc or your on your tv using a dvd player.

 

[Mark Phelps]

I have had problems where, after a lot of use, the CD/DVD lenses got "dirty" and I was able to "clean" them using a kit that consisted of a CD/DVD disk with little "whiskers" on it. If you used yours a lot recently, that could be the same issue.

As to replacing it, if you can get a replacement for little money, it might be worth simply doing that. I've seen DVD writers, 24x, available around here for under $20.

 

[bru]

Hi bru, will your cd/dvd's play on another pc or your on your tv using a dvd player.

Yes, definitely was not a problem with my media...except of course the DVD that I think may have somehow caused the issue with my old burner.

I have had problems where, after a lot of use, the CD/DVD lenses got "dirty" and I was able to "clean" them using a kit that consisted of a CD/DVD disk with little "whiskers" on it. If you used yours a lot recently, that could be the same issue.

As to replacing it, if you can get a replacement for little money, it might be worth simply doing that. I've seen DVD writers, 24x, available around here for under $20.

I had an old one of those cleaners exactly as you describe and I did run it through but no change. Maybe I should have done it a few times. I even opened up the old burner, although I wasn't really sure what to look for. I had read that a positioner sometimes gets stuck but I think they were referring to a laptop burner. I cleaned things a little but I don't even think I knew what was the lens.

So...a trip to the computer store and $20 (plus tax) later a new drive is in and working fine. I had an old computer with a good drive but I couldn't even figure out how to get it out (plus it was not SATA), this one was simple to remove and swap. So other then being annoyed that the drive only lasted a little over two years I am relieved it was nothing worse.