DVD/CD Drive Not Recognized

Okay. First of all is it a cd drive in your computer as opposed to a DVD drive? If you put a dvd into a cd drive it cannot recognize the dvd. A dvd drive can recognize a cd, but a cd drive cannot recognise a dvd.

Does your computer actually recognize the drive as being present?
If the drive isn't recognized by the computer try:

power off the laptop
Physically remove the cd or dvd drive
power -up the laptop without the cd/dvd drive
power off the latop and refit the dvd/cd drive
power it up again and see if the drive is
recognized

If the drive IS recognized by the laptop but won't play any disk it's probably the drive itself at fault. You can try gently cleaning the inside of the drive - the optic that reads the disk. However, the usual cause is failure of that optic which read the disk information. It cannot be repaired.

The alternative to fitting a new drive is to buy a portable dvd drive. They connect via a usb cable. Have a look on Ebay

hi

take your OS CD , insert into CD bay-- when prompted to , select REPAIR
this will correct any corrupted registry errors that my be found in your OS, which is causing the lack of recognition for the CDROM driver

good luck

My thought is that you might have a small piece of dust -dirt which is causing you heart-ache. I would power off the laptop , take the battery out.... turn back over and then press and hold the power button down for about 5-7 seconds to discharge the residual electricity off of the motherboard. then flip it back over on its lid and locate the screw that releases the CD-DVD player and gently pull out the CD-DVD player from the laptop. Next get canned air ( I hate that stuff) or a air compressor set at 85 pounds of pressure. blow into the slot the drive was in. then blow the connectors on the DVD Drive and gently slide it back in place and replace the screw that you took out earlier. Next plug it back in and put the battery back in and fire it up. If that doesnt cure it let me know

does it show up in the my computer? what OS you useing i.e XP / VISTA?
sounds like the drivers are missing.What kind of CD you putting in CD or DVD if it's a DVD try a CD & if it plays then the DVD heads have gone it's common for the DVD heads to go before the CD heads.

hi h0tr0dh00dlu
if dvd's are not recognized
try to see if you dvd drive is shown in your os. double click My Computer to see.
Also checked if your disk drive is capable of playing dvd format.
I checked that Dell Dimension 4500 PC only comes with a bundle of cd-rw so dvd's can't be played
If not the best option is to buy a dvd drive @ http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6463543&Sku=S203-8583%20OEM

Hope it helps, Feedbacks appreciated
Thx
Banaple

Hi,it's obvious from your problem that the particular disc that cannot be viewed on your computer is of a formatt not supported by the windows XP.some DVDs are of low quality which can be viewed practically on any DVD player but as a result of their low quality and the sensitivity of the Windows they are not recognized by your computer. In as much as other DVDS play on your computer,it means there's no problem with your computer,but an unsupported disc formatt is been trying to be viewed and there's nothing you can do to view a DVD formatt not supported by your computer.please don't be bothered.
Thanks and take care

What i did is to get a external cd drive

well you really don't need drivers for xp+ systems. it should automatically be recognized. you just have to get cd/dvd burning software like Nero.
according to this site that drive won't be recognized by vista with out a firmware update
http://www.cdfreaks.com/review/13311-LG-GSA-H42N-Super-Multi-DVD-Writer-Review/

Go to add hardware in control panel and manually install your drive,(follow the procedures), your drive should be configured automatically.
itJSN

Refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891894 and try it out. Hope that solves the problem.