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Subject: "CD/DVD drive will not read" Previous topic | Next topic
wings515Wed Jul-19-17 12:02 AM
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"CD/DVD drive will not read"


          

I have been working on this for a couple of days. It is an Acer Aspire E17 if that makes any difference. Here are the things I have done. Uninstalled the drive from the device manager, Scan for hardware changes , tried to update driver. Current driver is best.

Checked the BIOS, shows the drive. Explorer shows the drive and if there is a disk in the drive, double clicking the drive a message to insert a disk comes up and the drive door opens. Inserting the drive door does not start playing. When the door is pushed in the drive light goes On for a second and you an hear the drive spin but will not read.
I have tried multiple disks.

My last resort was to re-install Win 10 with no change.
I have looked to see if there was some kind of Disk Drive test program with no success.
Any ideas? I am thinking this might be a hardware failure but I have nothing to verify the failure.

Thanks for looking at my problem.

Regards,
Dan Kahn

Dan K

  

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Replies to this topic
Subject Author Message Date ID
RE: CD/DVD drive will not read
Jul 19th 2017
1
RE: CD/DVD drive will not read
Jul 19th 2017
2
      RE: CD/DVD drive will not read
Jul 19th 2017
3
RE: CD/DVD drive will not read
Jul 19th 2017
4
RE: CD/DVD drive will not read
Jul 19th 2017
5
      RE: CD/DVD drive will not read
Jul 23rd 2017
6
           RE: CD/DVD drive will not read
Jul 23rd 2017
7

lenjackWed Jul-19-17 12:48 AM
Member since Nov 13th 2001
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#1. "RE: CD/DVD drive will not read"
In response to wings515 (Reply # 0)
Wed Jul-19-17 12:51 AM by lenjack

          

How old is the drive? Has it worked recently? Might just have gone belly up. These are pretty cheap to replace. Can you borrow one to try? Sorry, I see the E17 is a complete laptop, not just a drive. I assume it's out of warranty. You might try calling Acer.

  

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wings515Wed Jul-19-17 01:10 AM
Member since Nov 24th 2004
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#2. "RE: CD/DVD drive will not read"
In response to lenjack (Reply # 1)


          

Really don't know the age. I suspect it was working and failed but I don't know if it was during the update or when.

Just so I can convince myself it is a hardware failure, I'd like to know if a test would confirm it is failed. Taking two PC's apart to obtain a drive and the installing a new one, into the PC with the problem seems like a lot of work. I think I'll suggest an external USB drive since these are available for less than $30.

I had a desktop Acer with a similar problem and that I replaced the drive as a test. I suggested the external drive in that case.



Thanks for the input.
Regards,

Dan K

  

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TtechWed Jul-19-17 04:15 AM
Member since Aug 06th 2002
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#3. "RE: CD/DVD drive will not read"
In response to wings515 (Reply # 2)


  

          

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21PmIDbz_go

Behind every good computer... is a jumble of wires 'n stuff.

  

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ChickenmanWed Jul-19-17 06:41 PM
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#4. "RE: CD/DVD drive will not read"
In response to wings515 (Reply # 0)


          

Has I-Tunes ever been installed on this computer? Can sometimes mess up Optical Driver Registry entries and change Upper and Lower filters.

  

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GreyFalconWed Jul-19-17 09:36 PM
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#5. "RE: CD/DVD drive will not read"
In response to Chickenman (Reply # 4)


          

What he said. The first thing you always do is delete the upper and lower filters for the DVD ROM in the registry and restart. If it doesn't fix your problem you have a bad device. This has been going on forever and it hasn't changed. Over the years a lot of software has caused CD problems. Delete the filters and a restart will rebuild them.

  

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wings515Sun Jul-23-17 12:15 PM
Member since Nov 24th 2004
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#6. "RE: CD/DVD drive will not read"
In response to GreyFalcon (Reply # 5)


          

THank you all for the replies.
I checked the Filters and they were not listed. I also added the ATPI line in the registry. (I think it was ATPI )

I ordered a Slim SATA to USB cable to check the drive outside the laptop on a tower.

One thing I did learn, it is very easy to remove the drive from a laptop. Just one screw holds the drive in the frame. Easily located since it is located at the corner of the drive.

I removed a drive from another laptop with the idea of swapping it. Turns out there are different thickness drives.

I asked the owner to return the laptop when I receive the cable to confirm the disk is faulty.

I gave the owner two alternatives. New internal drive for about $40 or an external drive for about $25.
We shall see what happens after the test.
Regards,

Dan K

  

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GreyFalconSun Jul-23-17 02:22 PM
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#7. "RE: CD/DVD drive will not read"
In response to wings515 (Reply # 6)


          

You seem to work on these computers a bit. Add a USB external DVD drive to your tool kit for testing. I got one in a slim case with a laptop drive in it that is easy to carry around. If the registry is messed up, no CD or DVD is going to work. You reinstalled windows 10. That should have fixed everything as far as the registry is concerned but it is possible a bad drive being in the system during installation could mess things up. DVD drives fail often enough and are cheap enough that it's not worth the time to resist replacing one. If you get the proper drive configuration, your face plates from the laptop will fit it. They are made to be quite adaptable.

  

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