is my cd drive dead???

[david uk]

help help oh geeky rudies....

I have a problem with the CD drive in my laptop tonight- it won't play anything- normally when I insert a cd into the laptop I hear a few beeping sounds and then a "whooosh" kind of sound and thejn get a range of options on what I would like to do with the cd (play/save/record etc ) and a range of programmes to choose ffrom (power cinema/ real player etc)

BUT

tonight when I insert a CD I get the beeping sounds but the "whoosh" is pretty short lived and dies out.... this EVEN happens with Janis ian CDs :eek:

am I in serious trouble here? is there anything I can do? I tried closing down other programmes then rebooting but nothing helped

yours sadly

david x

[RedjackRyan]

Might be dead.. Have you tried data cds as well as audio cd's?

The drive could need cleaning.. or perhaps the cd's aren't sitting all the way on the spindle. Could be a driver issue, is the cd drive showing a problem in the device manger? (assuming you use windows as your operating system)

Are the cd's you are trying to play, clean?

[david uk]

thanks Ben- just tried a CD a have hardly ever played so it must be clean and got the same....

I have a couple of other questions...

how can I clean my CD drive to see if that's the problem?

I cannot afford to buy a new laptop so.... is it feasible/affordable to have the cd drive repaired? or is it a feasible/affordable option to buy and attach an external cd drive to the laptop?

thanks :)

[RedjackRyan]

It may be something that can be fixed, if you have a local shop that does such things i'd try there first. I did a quick glance on tigerdirect for usb cdroms and they aren't cheap.. not as much as a new laptop, but still..

You could check out ebay, you might find the same model drive that your laptop uses at a fair price. In theory you could buy a Full sized CD/rom drive (PC sized) and use an external enclosure with a usb connector but that would be a bit unweildy.

I don't suppose the thing is still under warranty? of course not.. that would be too easy :)

[david uk]

thanks ben- I'll look at available options tomorrow based on what you said an report back.... not keen on giving the laptop up for a few days for repair as it is a lifeline, but well we'll see.....

david x

[DaveM]

Could your Auto-Insert Notification (auto-play) have shut itself off somehow? This just happened to a friend, and for whatever reason, it refuses to come back, though the drive runs fine.

Try inserting a CD, accessing your CD-ROM drive through "My Computer", and see if anything happens. If you can get to your disk that way, you will at least know that the drive is running....but possibly in need of software tweaking.

[Amy in Vermont]

David:

What Make and Model is your laptop?

Most laptop drives these days are easily movable and replaceable.. so it might not be as bad as you think..
A

[david uk]

I did dowload Itunes yesterday and the problem has only existed today- could that have anything to do with it?

david x

[AceOn6]

Yes, iTunes might have changed your autoplay settings. See Dave M's post

[david uk]

Yes, iTunes might have changed your autoplay settings. See Dave M's post

oh ok that's interesting- so I may try removing Itunes....

[Marcia Drummergal]

Wondering out loud....if ITunes changed your settings, would removing ITunes put your settings back the way they were before? Maybe yes, maybe no. You might still have to manually change them back...or find a geeky friend who can do that for ya! ;)

Marcia

[david uk]

well I now removed iTunes but still no joy- I then went to "my computer" and only see the C drive..... then when I went onto Realplayer it said "no CD drive detected"... oh woe is me!:eek:

[Dee]

Oy! What a bummer, David.

[Margay]

My favorite action at times like these is "System Restore"... It may not be the most subtle course of action but it usually gets the job done, unless there is a hardware problem.

Margay

[david uk]

My favorite action at times like these is "System Restore"... It may not be the most subtle course of action but it usually gets the job done, unless there is a hardware problem.

Margay

Margay- what is "system restore"- excuse my techno-retard ignorance lol

[Margay]

Assuming you use Windows:

It returns all your settings to a previous point in time. Beware, you will have to re-install any programs installed AFTER the point of your choice. You will NOT lose any documents you saved.
I've been using Dutch-speaking Windows for too long to remember instantly how to guide you through the English menu. In Dutch you go to:
Programma's> Bureau Accesoire's> Systeemwerkset> System Restore.

Systeemwerkset is probably called System Tools.

The real Geeks might be able to help you better.

Good Luck!
Margay

[david uk]

ok margay- I'll give it a go... thanks!

[John L]

Again assuming XP, AND if it is the autoplay problem, here is the Microsoft KB article on it:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/330135/en-us

This type of issue has several points of Failure: the Hardware (Drive, Cable, IDE controller) and Software (OS/APP) as well as the Media. The trick in troublesshooting is to eliminate half the possibilities in each step. Since you tried multiple pieces of Media, we can disallow that. Next thing is Hardware vs. Software

Best way to test this issue is to try to boot from a CD. Most systems have a "System Disk" that contains the stuff needed to re-image the machine. Put that in and see if it boots from it (You may have to go into the "Boot Options" menu and make sure the CD Drive has priority over the Hard Drive). DON'T re-image, but if it won't boot from it, then it is probably a hardware glitch.

My experience is that Laptop optical drives seem to last about 3 years. Most are easy to change out, and eBay is a good source...

[sandiekid]

have you checked the device in system a yellow mark means driver problem

[invsbl_wife]

Just to be sure... have you run anti-spyware and anti-virus programs to be sure it's not something there that's screwed it up?

[DaveM]

If all else fails, apply the Gates First Commandment: reinstall Windows and spend a week getting your computer to be "yours" again.

[david uk]

Just to be sure... have you run anti-spyware and anti-virus programs to be sure it's not something there that's screwed it up?

well I do run Norton anti virus everyweek and also have their internet security running......

[david uk]

now my computer will not let me onto googletalk or another site where I had saved my user name and password.... I am doing another virus scan but don't really understand what is going on......

hope it doesn't stop me from getting on here.......:eek:

[Amy in Vermont]

If all else fails, apply the Gates First Commandment: reinstall Windows and spend a week getting your computer to be "yours" again.

Uh.. Dave.. this would be a real problem with no CD drive!

[DaveM]

oops....my bad. Though presumably one could go into DOS (assuming one is pre-XP) and do a "format C:", then proceed from there, installing MSCDEX from a floppy and so on and so forth.

[John L]

And that's why the first step is to test if it is hardware or software, by attempting to boot from the CD drive (Using a OS CD like Windoze XP). That will tell you if the drive is hosed or the OS is borked.

THe "Cannot log into secure websites" thing points to a plotzed SSL layer. That is usually a side symptom of a spyware infection. My experience is that you are about 14 minutes away from an OS reinstall if that is going on (But then keep in mind that when I was doing support, the main criteria I was judged on was how fast and permanent my fixes were...and reinstalling the OS clean will pretty much fix most any software corruption issues...or, as we used to say "Five minutres of award-winning troubleshooting, followed by an OS reinstall").

But it is true that XP doesn't allow you to remove/replace the TCP/IP stack like previous versions of Windoze did...it's a base part of the kernal. THe best chance to straighten it out is the "netsh" command from the command line...

Ref: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299357/en-us

and when that doesn't get it, blow out the OS. Don't mess around.

[DaveM]

"borked"? ogod I love it....there is an alleged doctor in this area whose patients never get better and none of them have a good word to say about him. How in the hell he hangs onto his license I have no idea (will spare you the details), but his name is Bork. Will have to pass this along....