Hp 550 laptop windows vista won't read blank cds

Is your cd drive listed as a device in My Computer? Click Start/My Computer and see if the CD Drive is listed along with the hard drives. If not that's your problem. To solve it you can remove the power cord, remove the battery, turn the laptop over and remove the one screw on the bottom that holds the cd drive then pull the drive out and put it back in (this is called reseating). Boot the laptop and see if the drive is now listed in My Computer.

If the drive is not listed then you will need to remove Upper and Lower Filters.
Windows 7
To resolve this problem on a computer that is runningWindows 7, use the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter. For more informationabout how to open this troubleshooter in Windows 7, visit the followingMicrosoft Web site:http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Open-the-Hardware-and-Devices-troubleshooterBack to the topWindows Vista

1. Click Start

1. Click Accessories, and then click Run.
2. Type regedit, and then click OK.

1. In the navigation pane, locate and then click the following registry subkey:

1. In the right pane, click UpperFilters.
   
   Note You may also see an UpperFilters.bak registry entry. You do not have to remove that entry. Click UpperFilters only. If you do not see the UpperFilters registry entry, you still might have to remove the LowerFilters registry entry. To do this, go to step 8.
2. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
3. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
4. In the right pane, click LowerFilters.
   
   Note If you do not see the LowerFilters registry entry, unfortunately this content cannot help you any further. Go to the "Next Steps" section for information about how you can find more solutions or more help on the Microsoft Web site.
5. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
6. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
7. Exit Registry Editor.
8. Restart the computer.

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. In the navigation pane, locate and then click the following registry subkey:

1. In the right pane, click UpperFilters.
   
   Note You may also see an UpperFilters.bak registry entry. You do not have to remove that entry. Click UpperFilters only. If you do not see the UpperFilters registry entry, you still might have to remove the LowerFilters registry entry. To do this, go to step 7.
2. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
3. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
4. In the right pane, click LowerFilters.
   
   Note If you do not see the LowerFilters registry entry, unfortunately this content cannot help you any further. Go to the "Next Steps" section for information about how you can find more solutions or more help on the Microsoft Web site.
5. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
6. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
7. Exit Registry Editor.
8. Restart the computer.