My CD drive no longer recognises CDs

Question

I have two problems:

Whenever I go onto the internet my computer crashes, why?
My CD DVD drive is no longer working properly, when I place a CD in the PC the CD is not recognised i.e when I try and open the CD in my computer the cd looks as if it is empty even though it is not.

I have a dell laptop with windows xp home, a smart PC 250N

sabe002 · Answer

Mine is doing that too. Try to reseat the drive(take it out and put it back in) I am sure there is a link to those instructions on here. That helped most of my problem. Not it will not read a few. I contacted support, and they gave me a ton of stuff to do. That is the only thing that helped!

LiLAnGeL29 · Answer

I've been having the same problem lately. I cant install any software from CDs because my CD drive wont read CDs anymore. When I try to bring it up from My Computer the folder is empty, but I know there is stuff on the CD because it works on other computers in my house. I can burn CDs though which is weird because you'd think the whole CD Drive wouldnt work. I just cant bring anything up thats on CDs. I dont know whats wrong with it. Does anyone know if this is fixable or do I need to get a new CD Drive? If so, how much do they usually cost and where can I get one? Thanks! :) Message Edited by LiLAnGeL29 on 11-30-2004 08:35 PM

sabe002 · Answer

Did you reseat the drive?

LiLAnGeL29 · Answer

Yeah I tried that a couple times but it didnt work :smileysad:

xdanx · Answer

I'm having the same issues. it just recently started and I can't figure it out. I've tried uninstalling/installing, etc. and everytime it says that the drive is all good, yet it won't read any CD's. Heeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllp!!!!

Koojo · Answer

Have you called dell yet? I got a new free drive, no questions asked, for this same problem.  Give it a try

Koojo · Answer

My warranty actually expired like a week or so before this problem occured, so I wasn't under warranty.  The tech never asked, so I never bothered mentioning it :)

LiLAnGeL29 · Answer

Nope I havent tired calling them yet. I thought they'd just tell me I'd have to get a new one cuz my warranty already expired. Was yours still under warranty?

LiLAnGeL29 · Answer

Yeah mine does.. it makes a lot more noise and its louder than it was before for some reason :smileysad:

Koojo · Answer

When you put a cd in, does the drive make any funny clicking type noises in the biginning that weren't there before?

LiLAnGeL29 · Answer

thanks I hope so too  :smileyhappy:

Koojo · Answer

Ya stuff pops up everytime after a warranty expires, go figure.  But goodluck with the problem, hopefully you get a new drive for free

LiLAnGeL29 · Answer

LOL haha thats great :smileywink: I've had my laptop for almost 2 yrs and I just started havin that problem. Weird how things start actin up after the warranty expires :smileymad: thanks for the info tho I'll call them tomorrow and see what they say. :smileyhappy:

isc · Answer

If Dell refuse to replace your (or anyones) SmartPC 250N CD Drive, sticking the drive on with carpet tape tends to work...doesn't look great though. If you place the tape on the underside of the chassis, where the drive meets the case, it tends to make them work again.

LiLAnGeL29 · Answer

I called Dell and someone helped me reinstall Windows XP and all the drives. We tried a couple other things but nothing else worked. Reinstalling Windows XP erased everything on my computer, but luckily it made my CD drive work again. Thanks for replying back though. :) Have a great day!

Storage, Drives & Media

My CD drive no longer recognises CDs

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