[Rugbymike]

Hello,

For a while now i have not been able to burn or read any cd's, dvd's or anything else from my dvd drives.
It seems that they aren't even being recognised, which is really frustrating.
i tried reinstalling the drives but it doesn't seem to work.
Is there any help you can offer.

Thank in advance

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well if the drives are recognized in the computer but will not read any disk most likely the laser is dirty/bad. If you have more than one drive you could disconnect one and try one at a time... you could also try the drives in a different computer.... another option is if you have a bootable cd such as a windows cd you could put the disk in and see if it will boot off of it.... if it fails that then either the drive is bad, the controller is bad, or the cable is bad.

[shard92]

well if the drives are recognized in the computer but will not read any disk most likely the laser is dirty/bad. If you have more than one drive you could disconnect one and try one at a time... you could also try the drives in a different computer.... another option is if you have a bootable cd such as a windows cd you could put the disk in and see if it will boot off of it.... if it fails that then either the drive is bad, the controller is bad, or the cable is bad.

[Rugbymike]

The computer doesn't recognise any drive. Not even at start up so i can't even try the windows CD.

[PedroDaGR8]

The computer doesn't recognise any drive. Not even at start up so i can't even try the windows CD.

Recognize is different than usable. Do the drives show up in My Computer? If they show up windows recognizes the drives, but it can't use them.

[Rugbymike]

No they do not come up in My Computer.

[Broni]

Try one of these:
1. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060
or...
2. Download, and run Restore Missing CD Drive patch
Double click on downloaded file, and allow registry merge.
or...
3. Go to Device Manager, click a "+" sign next to IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers.
You'll see two items:
- ATA Channel0 (or Primary Channel)
- ATA Channel1 (or Secondary Channel)
Right click on each of them, and click Uninstall. Confirm.
Restart Windows. They'll be automatically reinstalled.

If the above doesn't help, the drive is dead.

[Rugbymike]

Ok cheers i'll give that a try. I hope it works.
But just out of curiosity why would the drives be dead?

[Broni]

I'd call it "natural causes". Everything dies sooner, or later, and the lifespan of optical drives is really unpredictable.

[Rugbymike]

Thanks Guys i just stuck a Cd in the drive and it was found and installed.
Cheers

[Broni]

What happened? Just like that?

[Rugbymike]

i downloaded the Restore Missing CD Drive patch and used it and now it works. Thanks again

[Broni]

Way to go!!