CD drive wont let me insert CD

You can flip the laptop over, find the screw(s) holding the drive in the bay, remove the screws and the drive, and then either attempt repairing the drive (highly likely not to be worth the time), or breaking down and buying a replacement that does have a tray. Old laptop parts can be quite expensive, but CD-ROM drives in laptops old and new are often quite widely compatible among many makes and models.

did you try to eject it thru the software ? Go to your (My Computer) and open up to see the Drive. Right Click and Eject. If that don't work you can manually put a paperclip in and Pull out the drive. When all else fails remove the screw that is holding the drive in the laptop and pull it out to inspect it for damage

It may be bad. Has the laptop been damaged? Dropped? Open Device Manager, DVD/CD Rom drives, is it listed? In Start Menu, Computer, Is it listed? Try re installing the DVD rom driver, the MS Vista 32bit drivers can be found here: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/04/Product/vostro-a860

Assuming you did the correct bios update, you may need to remove the CMOS battery for about 30 seconds and then replace it.

It probably would be easier to reformat the hard drive and start with fresh install of windows to get around this problem, only other option is go to www.ebay.com type laptop and password, and narrow it down to hdd password. There are sellers that offer software to deal with this problem, but the disc is only good so long as you can set the boot order first for the cd/dvd driver and the software must match your operational system.

update your system bios

<font size="3"><i><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: #cb0101" lang="EN-US">4400mAh, 11.10V</span></i><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: #333333" lang="EN-US"> Dell Vostro 1710 Battery Replacement<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span></font><span class="redfont1"><b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; FONT-SIZE: 16.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial" lang="EN-US"><font color="#cb0101">$ 72.58</font></span></b></span><br /> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: #333333" lang="EN-US"><font size="3">Dell Vostro 1710 Battery</font></span><br /> <span class="htmlval1"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'" lang="EN-US"><font size="3"><font color="#0000ff">Discount Dell Vostro 1710 Battery 11.1V 4400mAh,fit for Dell Vostro 1710, Dell Vostro 1720 Laptops.Full 1-year warranty and 30-day money back!</font></font></span></span><br /> <b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial" lang="EN-US">ShippingArea:</span></b><b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: #cc0000; FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial" lang="EN-US">We ship all over the world!</span></b><b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial" lang="EN-US"></span></b><br /> <b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial" lang="EN-US">Battery Brand :Dell Vostro 1710</span></b><br /> <b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial" lang="EN-US">Battery Type :Li-ion</span></b><br /> <b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial" lang="EN-US">Battery Voltage :11.10V</span></b><br /> <b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial" lang="EN-US">Battery Capacity : 4400mAh</span></b><br /> <b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial" lang="EN-US">Battery Ltem(Cell):6-cell</span></b><br /> <b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial" lang="EN-US">Battery Color :Black</span></b><br /> <b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial" lang="EN-US">Battery Dimension :270.90 x 50.00 x <st1:chmetcnv w:st="on" tcsc="0" numbertype="1" negative="False" hasspace="False" sourcevalue="20.2" unitname="mm">20.2mm</st1:chmetcnv></span></b><br /> <b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial" lang="EN-US">Battery Weight :<st1:chmetcnv w:st="on" tcsc="0" numbertype="1" negative="False" hasspace="False" sourcevalue="665" unitname="g">665g</st1:chmetcnv></span></b><br /> <b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial" lang="EN-US">Battery SKU :DE017K</span></b><br /> <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.battery-sale.net/dell-vostro-1710-battery.html">http://www.battery-sale.net/dell-vostro-1710-battery.html</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span>

First, try reseating the memory modules in the laptop.

If still nothing, try removing the hard drive, CD/DVD Drive, and memory one at a time (in that order) see if anything makes it boot.

Replace the parts and try booting again.

The error flashing means a processor failure. If you are knowledgeable you can try re-seating the processor.

However, if your unit is in warranty I would call Dell and have them replace the main board and the memory modules as a set. Warning: They will make you go thru these same tests even if you already have.

Cd-rom will need to be extracted from unit the pinhole is lickly on the back of the unit most are. good luck please do leave postive feedback ether way for your free answer today.

Turn the computer off, and then restart it; immediately hold down the ctrl and f11 keys, and it will restore