Why does the DVD drive not work on a Windows 7 laptop and what to do in such cases?
After experimenting with the drive, I identified the five most common reasons why the DVD drive does not work on a Windows 7 (XP, 8) laptop.
What to do to correct it is described under each of the reasons below; of course, others are not excluded, but these are individual problems.
Reason one
On an asus laptop or any other computer in Windows 8 or Windows 7 (no difference), the disk drive does not work because its earthly journey has ended (this happens too).
This is a rather extensive answer, but it happens and so you cannot do without a replacement. It's good if you can remove it and try it on another computer.
What to do? Buy a new one and replace it, they are not expensive today, about 15 dollars. There are no difficulties in replacing it, you can do it yourself.
Remove a few screws and disconnect the two cords. That's it.
Reason two
The disk drive on an asus or acer laptop stopped working (it doesn’t depend on the name, I write this out of habit, I have three of my own asus and one acer) - through the BIOS.The drive itself is quite good, but Windows does not see it. It's just blatantly disabled in the BIOS. It happened to me once, on a new one I just bought.
What to do? Enter the BIOS and turn on the DVD drive. Usually it is there opposite the CD-ROM line. ENABLED - ENABLED.
Third reason
If the disk drive stops working, the reason may be Windows itself. The system simply doesn't see it.
This is usually driver related. You can see them in the device manager. How to fix it?
Install new (correct) drivers in Device Manager and update the configuration.
Fourth reason
The disk drive will not work if the laser window () is clogged. The reason for this is excess dust in the work area.How to fix it? Open the drive and clean it with ordinary cotton wool (wound on a match).
Fifth reason
The laser head has failed. There are many reasons why this happened.
What to do? Replace, although it is better to replace the drive completely - the laser head is expensive (80% of the cost of the drive)
Of course, the five reasons described in this article are not all possible options Why is the disk drive not working?
This could be a lack of power supply, bad contacts on the cables, and much more.
It is very easy to fix these problems if you have another drive - a working one (you can remove it from a friend’s computer).
Then it is much easier to check which element affected the performance of the drive.
As an option, remember that you can always use an external drive or flash drive - today they are quite capacious and allow you to easily install even operating systems.
Only if the content is on DVD, then you won’t be able to do without a disk drive. Good luck.
Let's talk to you about why the DVD drive doesn't read discs. Problems with reading drives DVDs- this is something that almost every user encounters at some point. In this article, we will figure out what could be the reasons why a DVD drive does not read discs and what to do in such a situation.If your DVD drive doesn't read discs, don't rush to buy a new one! Discs may not play back according to the most various reasons. The problem may not be a faulty drive at all.
If the DVD drive fails, there are many ways to restore it to functionality. Below we will look at these methods, and also tell you how you can reproduce scratched discs.
Determining the nature of the problem.
First of all, you need to determine the nature of the malfunction. The DVD drive may not read all discs at all, or only some. Check it out. If some disks are still readable, then the problem is in the hardware. I will tell you how to solve it below.
First of all, we will talk about the disks themselves, or more precisely about the condition of the surface of the disks. And then we will try to return the drive to its former agility by removing software restrictions. In case of malfunctions operating system The drive may not read anything at all. By the way, there may or may not be the same problems with recording discs.
Damage to the disc surface.
In most cases, the reason when a DVD drive does not read discs lies in their problematic surface. That's where we'll start. If the CD/DVD media is very important to you, you can try restoring it. To do this, let's look at several ways.
Try wiping the disc gently with a dry, soft cloth. It is very important that you need to wipe across the paths, from the center to the edges. Under no circumstances should you wipe the disc in circles! In this way, we clean the disk from dirt. If it is not badly scratched, this will be enough to transfer files to your computer.
If the drive still does not read it, we try to polish it. To do this, apply a polish containing wax to the scratches and rub well with a soft cloth. At least we will be able to open the disk once to extract information from it onto the computer.
Then we install a special program on the computer with which you can read the damaged disk, for example, free utility Unstoppable Copier. When copying, this program tries to count several times bad sectors and if it doesn’t work, he skips them. Thus, you can copy from a disk to a computer, although not all the information, but most of it.
It is also possible that a problem occurred while writing the DVD RW, as a result of which the device does not read it. Most often, this situation can arise when incorrect installation recording parameters in the Alcohol 120% program. Try re-recording it or using another DVD media.
Remember what programs you installed recently, what games your children installed? Managers are often the cause of the problem. virtual disks, such as Alcohol 120% And Daemon Tools. Games can install virtual disks for their own needs, and they can conflict with each other. In some cases, the DVD drive does not read discs after installing a disc burning program Nero.
To make sure that this is the problem, the advice is simple - demolish these programs and look at the result. But deleting may not bring results unless you roll back to an earlier state of the system when everything was still working.
If everything works, then we dig into the problem in this direction: we try other analogues, other versions, leaving only what is necessary.
In the case of “alcohol”, try unchecking the program settings "Force other programs to detect disks as CD-ROM or DVD-ROM".
The second cause of the problem may be a driver glitch. To solve the problem we need "Device Manager".
To access Device Manager, go to “Control Panel -> System” or press hotkeys "Win + Pause" and on the left select "Device Manager".
After removing the above-mentioned software, virtual disk drives may still be present in the device manager in the section "DVD and CD-ROM drives". Delete them via the right-click menu, restart your computer and look at the result.
The following is what you can do:
- Go to the menu "View" and select "Show hidden devices".
- Find the driver in the device tree "SPTD" in the thread "Non-plug and play device drivers".
- Uninstall the driver and restart your computer.
This is all an inheritance from virtual disks odov.
If it doesn't help, move on. In the section "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" Among two or four channels of the controller, you need to find the one to which the DVD drive is connected. These four channels may be called by different names, for example "Primary IDE channel" And "Secondary IDE channel", or "ATA Channel 0" And "ATA Channel 1" like in the picture above. We open each channel in turn and look at "Device type".
We need to find a channel with a device type "ATAPI CD drive" or something like that.
- Look at the check mark "Enable DMA". We remove it if there is one, or check it if there is no checkmark.
- Reboot the computer and look at the result.
- If it works with the option disabled, check the box again. Reboot and check.
- We leave the working option, but it is desirable that the function "Enable DMA" was turned on.
In some cases, this is the only way to get the DVD-ROM to work in Windows.
Another loophole to straighten the drive’s brains is to change the region in the settings. To do this, open your DVD drive in the device manager and on the tab "DVD Region" look at the current region.
If it is written "Current region: Not selected", then we don’t touch anything. And if some left one is selected, then we try to change it to our own. The number of attempts to change the region is only 5! If you are completely desperate, you can try to change the region from the state "Not selected" to some other one. But you can reset it back only by flashing it.
What to do if the hardware is faulty?
First of all, I advise you to replace the cable with a known working one and change the power plug to another one. This could be the end of all repairs.
During operation, the DVD drive collects dust, which partially settles on the laser head. Due to dust, the DVD drive does not read discs, or reads them, but not all of them. It would be good to disassemble the drive and VERY CAUTION Clean the laser eye from dust using an ear stick slightly moistened with water or purified gasoline.
But not all users can disassemble a DVD drive. In this case, special cleaning discs can help, i.e. CDs with brushes glued on. When the drive tries to recognize the disk, it spins it and the brushes brush dust off the laser head.
Due to excessively hard brushes, there have been cases of damage to the laser head. The brushes must be flexible and come complete with lubricant. So be careful with these cleaning discs!
You can also blow out the insides of the drive through the open tray using a can of compressed air, as an option.
Sometimes updating the drive firmware helps. You need to look for new firmware on the manufacturer’s website and strictly follow the instructions for installing it.
“Dying laser” is a common occurrence if a DVD drive does not read discs. Due to a jammed laser, CD discs may be poorly readable, but DVDs can be read perfectly and vice versa, since each type of disc has its own laser.
The drive has probably done its job if none of the above helped. Don’t worry and buy a new one, since today they are inexpensive.
How can you read a bad disk?
To read a bad disc there are special programs, for example paid Bad Copy or free Unstoppable Copier. Programs try to read several times with different parameters bad sector, and if nothing works out, they simply skip it and move on. In this way you can save everything you can. As a rule, for audio and video the loss is not noticeable.
Today you learned what you can do when a DVD drive does not read discs. I hope the information above will help you save money on purchasing a new drive or finding a solution to your DVD drive not recognizing discs.
That's all for now! I hope that you found something useful and interesting for yourself in this post.
There are many reasons why drives may not work: applications do not match each other, problems with drivers, drive failures. To decide what to do if the disk drive on your laptop does not work, you need to identify the cause of the damage.
1. The problem is in the storage medium
If the storage medium is not detected by the drive, and there is damage on the surface of the drive, then the storage medium may be the cause of the malfunction. Also, difficulty in reading information from disks may be due to the nuances of some manufacturers. For example, not every drive is capable of reading information from L-PRO products.
2. The disk drive does not see the disk on the laptop
You can identify problems with the laser emitter if the information reader does not detect disks. In this case, the device can be disassembled and the laser head can be cleaned of dust by wiping it with a cotton swab.
To analyze the operation of the drive elements and determine why the drive on the laptop does not work, and which of the elements is faulty, you can also try connecting the drive to another PC.
To process the data, the drive uses various modes. In case one of them does not function due to lack of power or insufficient power, then the disks are partially identified or not identified at all. For example, a disk drive can open and read information from a DVD, but at the same time completely ignore the existence of a CD.
As a rule, the main cause of product malfunction is wear and incorrect operation of the laser head. In this case, there is only one way out - replace the product.
3. The laptop drive does not see the disk. What to do?
In addition to failure of device parts, problems related to the OS may occur. In the case where the reading device identifies data disks as disks that do not contain any information, you first need to update the drivers. To perform this procedure: go to Device Manager, remove the controllers and restart the computer. After the reboot, the computer device will independently install the program and restart its work.
If these actions do not lead to desired result, you will have to download the drivers to an external storage device from the website of the developer of this technology.
You should remember that programs such as alcohol or daemon tools can suppress the normal functioning of the drive. The optimal solution will delete them along with the device controlling the data reader.
4. The drive is working, but disabled in BIOS
In this case, just enter the BIOS and activate the drive by selecting the line “CD-ROM. ENABLED" and "DVD-ROM. ENABLED".
5. Laptop drive cannot be read
All of the above did not bring a positive result, and you are still wondering: why did the disk drive on the laptop stop working? In addition, the drive is not even detected by the laptop. This may indicate that the drive itself or the controller is damaged. In this case, the drive must be replaced.
6. No access to recorded files on the disk
This is a systemic issue. In this case, the drive operates normally, since the program opens and operates the files.
You need to reinstall the program or update to latest version Nero and Roxy applications responsible for recording data by contacting the official website of the program developers.
Note
If your computer already has utilities that read disk data, similar to NERO StartSmart, Roxio InCD, you need to remove applications and the disk drive from Device Manager.
When the disk starts, a window appears on the desktop with suggested options for action or programs for reading information. However, a situation may arise when the disk does not open or nothing happens. In this case, you need to right-click on the disk device icon. If “Autorun” is first in the list, this is a signal that there is a malicious object on the PC.
There are several options for solving the problem.
The first is cleaning the system from viruses. Download the healing utility “Dr.Web” or install and update antivirus program. After checking the PC, run next steps.
Select "Disk". Right click "Explorer".
A window will open. Go to the “View” tab, where in the existing list you need to uncheck the boxes next to the items “Hide protected system files”, “Hide extensions for registered file types”. At the same time, check the “Show hidden files and folders” box.
Now open Explorer and delete the Autorun.inf file.
The second option to solve the problem is to display it through Group Policy.
Click “Start”, “Run” and enter “gpedit.msc” into the command line.
Here we click on the policy “Local Computer”, “User Configuration”, “Administrative Templates”, “Windows Components”, “Explorer”.
Find “Prohibit access to drives through My Computer”
Double click on the parameter. A window will open where we put a check mark next to the “Not specified” command and confirm “OK”.
Reboot the computer.
SoftikBox.com
Hello, dear readers of the blog Help for a novice computer user. Agree, a situation often occurs when you insert a disk into the drive, but it either does not open at all, or you cannot copy information from it (some of it can be copied, but then an error occurs). Today we will talk about what to do with a disc (CD, DVD) that the drive cannot read.
There are several ways to fix this problem. They do not guarantee a 100% result, but nevertheless increase the likelihood of a positive outcome.
Before you begin the process of “rescuing” the disk, you must be sure that the drive you are using supports the type of disk (CD, DVD) that you want to open. There are also cases where some (mostly older) drives fail to open the disks they are supposed to open.
Methods for solving this problem are divided into two categories: software and mechanical (using your hands). You need to start with software methods, and only if they do not help, you need to use the rest.
And we'll start with the software.
There are many programs (for example, BadCopy, Recovery Toolbox for CD, CD Data Rescue, DeadDiscDoctor) that can be used to download information from damaged disks. They (programs) simply skip (after several reading attempts) bad sectors of the disk (information that could not be read is replaced with zeros). Agree that such a solution will be useful if you copy music or video onto a screw (mostly these defects go unnoticed during playback). But in the case of copying programs or other files (that are not related to audio and video), these programs are not always useful.
I once read an article that you can try to create an image of an unreadable disk using virtual machines (programs like Alcohol 120% and others - there are many of them on the Internet). I haven’t tried it myself, so I can’t say whether it works or not. Check.
You can also try copying information from the disk at different speeds (Nero Drive Speed programs are suitable...)
If all of the above turned out to be useless and the disk is not readable by the drive anyway, you need to move on to more “heavy” methods (after each step, check the readability of the disk with the drive):
1.Clean the disc from dirt using a dry soft cloth.
Note. When cleaning a disc, hand movements must be made from the center of the disc to the edges (not in a circle).
2.Try to polish the disc (very gently). Silk is suitable for this. Make movements as in point 1.
3.Wipe the disc with antistatic wipes.
4.You can try to fill the unevenness of the readable surface of the disc with polish. After applying to the surface, rub with a cloth.
It must be remembered that if the above instructions are not followed correctly, the likelihood of restoring disk readability will noticeably drop.
xiod.ru
The disk drive on the computer does not open, what should I do?
Despite the fact that the presence of a disk drive on a PC now looks a little archaic, millions of users still have such drives, and some still use them regularly. However, the practicality of these devices is far from ideal. The mechanics wear out, the laser head reads data worse and worse, and there are cases when the disk gets stuck in the drive, and the latter refuses to open at all. Dedicated to the last incident this material, in which I will tell you what to do if the disk drive on your computer does not open, and what methods will help you fix it.
What to do if the disk drive on your PC does not open
Why won't the disk drive open on my PC?
So, you inserted the disk into your drive, its lid slammed shut, and data reading seemed to begin. But the disc was never read (you may even have heard some crunching sounds from the drive), and you decide to remove the disc from the optical drive. But that was not the case, the disk drive does not want to open, and pressing the disk eject button does not give any result. Next, I will tell you what could be the reason for this.
What to do if the disk drive on your computer does not open
Conclusion
If you can’t open the disk drive on your computer, I recommend using the entire set of tips I listed above. The most effective of all the techniques seems to be the method using a wire - it helps to open even disks that are “tightly stuck” in the optical drive. If none of what I described helped, then you should contact service center– your drive may need major repairs.
CD/DVD drives are practically no longer used in everyday life but in some situations you cannot do without them. Due to infrequent use, some users encounter a problem when the drive does not read discs. What to do when this happens on Windows 7, as well as prevention methods, is described in this article.
Causes of malfunction
The disk reading problem has several solutions, but first let’s look at possible reasons malfunctions:
- damaged disk;
- physical failure of the drive;
- driver problem;
- OS malfunction.
Advice! Before carrying out further manipulations, check the functionality of the disk itself. Perhaps that is where the problem lies.
Solution options
There are several ways to fix the problem. Let's look at them in order of frequency of occurrence.
Pay attention! All actions are described for the operating room Windows systems 7. In Windows 8 and later, the program interface in question may differ.
Hardware check
Problems with iron most often occur in two cases:
- poor disk drive connection (applies to PC);
- internal damage to the device.
In the first case, the power cable (on the left in the photo) and/or data transmission (on the right) may not be inserted completely or may be physically damaged. The latter applies mainly only to the data transmission loop. This manifests itself, first of all, as a quiet crackling sound when bending this cable, which indicates the need to replace it.
In the second case, the drive cannot read data from the disk due to accumulated dust that has settled on the lens, or due to the burnout of the reading laser chip. If such situations arise, it is better to buy a new drive, because repairing it is more expensive.
Turning on the drive
There is a possibility that the drive has turned off at the software level. This happens due to a system failure or unintentional user influence.
- Click Start menu → Control Panel.
- Go to System and Security.
- Open "Device Manager" → click on "DVD and CD-ROM drives".
If there are no drives in the drop-down list, do the following: Pay attention! The absence of the “DVD and CD-ROM drives” item in the list means that the computer does not detect the device at the hardware level, as described above.
- After this, disk reading should work.
Reinstalling the driver
The need to reinstall the software responsible for the operability of the drive occurs when there are system failures (less often due to viruses) or an OS update.
Removing software
The problem of using the drive sometimes occurs due to installed multimedia programs that create virtual devices. The most famous of them: “Nero”, “Daemon Tools”, “CDBurnerXP”.
To remove such software, it is better to use a third-party utility (for example, “Uninstall Tool”), rather than the built-in Windows tool.
- Launch "Uninstall Tool".
- Select the program for creating virtual drives → “Uninstall”.
- The deletion will start. Confirm your choice.
- A search will be made for the remaining files and registry entries about the software being removed. If you find such elements, remove them.
- After completing the uninstallation procedure, close the notification window and the utility itself.
- Restart your computer.
System Restore
Performing the previous steps does not guarantee that the situation will be corrected, as Windows may have critical errors. The built-in system recovery tool will help you eliminate them.
Important! This procedure is only possible if there is already a previously created restore point on the PC.
- Open in “Start” → “All Programs”.
- Go to the “Standard” → “Service” folder.
- Run System Restore.
- In the window that appears, click “Next”.
- Select the latest one from the list of restore points → “Next”.
- When the process is complete, click “Done.”
After this, the computer will restart and the drive should work again.
Important! If there is no restore point on the PC, then a complete system reinstallation is necessary. How to do this is discussed in the article “”.
Conclusions
This article discussed several ways to solve the problem associated with reading discs with a CD/DVD drive. The offered options are suitable for PCs and laptops. You should check the physical condition of the drive, and then proceed to the software procedures.
