If the computer does not read the disc. Windows does not see CD or DVD drive

Why doesn't the drive read?CD or DVDs and at the most inopportune moment, when we urgently need the information on them, for example: coursework or a diploma.Or a less critical option: we borrowed a CD with movies and music from friends, came home and unfortunately realized that our DVD drive is not able to read the information on this CD, what should we do in this case? Wait to make a flying saucer out of a CD, we'll come up with something now. First of all, remember that many problems arise, including this one, which can be solved by simply restarting the computer. Friends, if this article does not help you, try looking for a solution in another .

Why doesn't the drive read?

• From the very beginning, inspect the surface of the CD to see if there are any scratches or dirty spots on it; if there are any, they should be removed with a soft cloth or cotton wool, without applying force, moving from the center of the disc to its edges.
• Note: Friends, the most important thing to know is that many quite serviceable, but capricious disk drives from well-known manufacturers sometimes do not read some stale disks that you stored somewhere, if they are very important information, you don’t need to rub them with anything, otherwise you can make the disk completely unreadable. In this case, just go to your friends and 100%, some drive will read your disk, then you just need to rewrite it onto a blank disc from a well-known manufacturer, which in turn will be read by your drive.
• If scratches are visible on the surface of the disk, you can try to polish them with a special tool; if there is no damage and the files on this CD were accessible an hour ago on another computer, then the problem is your drive.
• Maybe you have this problem all the time and your drive does not read CDs or DVDs from time to time, then it is better to replace it. Many times I read on the Internet about miracle products that allow you to clean the laser lens of a disk drive, do not believe it, and especially do not buy it.
  I saw on sale special discs that clean the lens of a DVD ROM from a very well-known company, but for some reason there was no information about such a disc on the official website of this manufacturer.
• Friends, if you decide to disassemble the DVD-CDRW drive and clean the lens (it rarely helps), then know that it is best to blow it with a blower, but under no circumstances wipe it with cotton wool (the fibers will stick); it is also risky to rub it with napkins or brushes and so on.
• They may also recommend you a cleaning disk, but unfortunately a real one is very difficult to find, and the one you buy in the subway will finish off your lens completely.

Over the course of my life, I have come across various disk drives, and some of them, from the very purchase itself, could not from time to time read or write information on DVD+R or DVD-R discs. Sometimes a DVD drive cannot read cheap discs, but branded discs work without problems. So you should know everything about your drive.

What I would like to advise is that when buying a computer, pay attention to all the components, including the disk drive, buy it from well-known and reputable companies, even if they are more expensive.

By the way, you shouldn’t focus your attention on the drive; in most of these cases, the problem lies in the CD or DVD that we carelessly stored.

So, there are small scratches on our CD and we can’t remove them in any way, what should we do?
I will give, for example, one very good and free program that solves such problems, and most importantly, I will show with a concrete example how to work with it. The program is called Non-Stop Copy, you can get it on the official website of the developer: Dmitry Sergeev http://dsergeyev.ru/programs/nscopy/ or on my Yandex.Disk.

If anyone wants to work with paid programs, please, below are links to articles on our site that provide examples of working with,.

In the article I gave a common example of copying a single file from damaged media, but if you need to restore a group of files, check out our article.

I'll start with a short introduction. A friend came to me and said: “Save me, DVD drive does not read I couldn’t download a CD with my daughter’s favorite movie on the Internet, I just picked up viruses.”

My friend has a weak level of Internet training; he works in a managerial position and the only thing he can’t do is find films on the Internet, no matter how long I taught him.

Well, okay, we look at the CD and see strong scratches on it, launch our program and insert the disc into the drive, click Select file and specify our DVD drive,

in my case it is called (D:)

According to a friend, we need a movie: "The NeverEnding Story 3". Let's highlight it; personally, I like the first part the most.

Owners of computers with CD (DVD) drives may encounter a situation in which their drive does not see or read discs inserted into the drive. This dysfunction can be caused by a number of reasons, both hardware and software, and require direct user intervention to solve this problem. In this article I will tell you why the drive does not see the disk, I will list the reasons that cause this situation, and I will also tell you how to fix it.

If you are faced with the question of what to do if the drive does not read the disc, then, first of all, you need to determine the reasons why the drive does not recognize the disc. Let's divide the entire list of reasons into hardware and software.

Hardware reasons

Among the hardware reasons why your drive does not see the disk, I would include the following:

Software reasons

After we've looked at the hardware reasons, let's look at the software reasons why the drive won't read the disk. I would give the following reasons:

• Conflict with virtual disks (virtual disk manager programs such as Alchohol 120%, Nero, Daemon Tools and a number of analogues are installed on the computer);
• Problem with drivers (incorrect operation of drivers, outdated versions, etc.);
• The SD (DVD) drive is software disabled in the BIOS.

How to fix the problem when the drive does not see the disk

I suggest users to follow these steps when the drive does not work:

• Check the tightness of the connections of the drive cables and connectors and motherboard;
• Try temporarily removing the virtual disk managers installed on your PC (Alcohol, Daemon Tools, Nero, etc.);
• Reinstall hard drive drivers. Click on “Start”, type devmgmt.msc in the search bar and press enter. In the list of Device Manager, find the item “DVD and CD-ROM drives”, expand it, right-click on the name of your player, and in the menu that appears, select “Delete” (if there are several drives, delete them all in the same way). Then click on the Action button at the top and select Update Hardware Configuration. The system will update the configuration and reinstall your drives in Device Manager;

  

• Use DMA if possible. Go to the specified Device Manager again, find the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers item and expand it. You can see items such as ATA channel 0, ATA channel 1, etc. Right-click on each of them, select “Properties”, go to “Advanced settings” and view the device type there. If the CD drive is listed there, then try checking the “Enable DMA” option (if it is, then, on the contrary, uncheck it). After this, reboot the system and see if your disk can be read;

  

  Check the box “Enable DMA”

• Enter the BIOS and make sure that your drive is turned on, this may help in the issue where the drive does not recognize the disk;
• Roll back to a previous Windows restore point at which the drive worked correctly. Click on the “Start” button, type rstrui in the search bar, find the previous stable restore point, and roll back to it.

  

• Buy a new drive. If the service life of your device is calculated in years, then it could simply have exhausted its resource. Buy a new device, since their price on the market is not high.

Programs for solving problems with reading and writing disks with a disk drive

In the question of why the drive does not see the disk, special programs can also help us. I would mention Microsoft Fixit - a program for correcting various software errors in the Windows OS. And also Recuva, Unstoppable Copier, PhotoRec and Bad Copy - programs that will try to read the information you need from a damaged disk.

To update your drive drivers, you should also use programs such as DriverPack Solution, Driver Booster Free, Slim Drivers and others like them, which allow you to install the latest drivers for your devices. Updating your disk drivers to the latest ones may help resolve the problem with your disk drive reading disks.

If you have Windows 10 on your PC and you also have a problem where the drive does not see the disk, then in addition to the tips I described above, try the following:

• Run Command Prompt as an administrator (press Win+X keys, select “Command Prompt (Administrator)”), and there enter:

reg.exe add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\atapi\Controller0" /f /v EnumDevice1 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001

Press enter and then reboot your system;

• Use the DVD Drive (Icon) Repair program. Install this product, launch it, click on the “Repair DVD Drive” button, wait for the result, and then restart your computer.

What to do if the drive does not detect disks [video]

In this material, I examined the problem of a disk drive when it does not see the disk, identified a list of reasons causing this dysfunction, and outlined ways to solve it. In most cases, hardware determinants are to blame for this problem - gradual failure of the drive, as well as physical damage to the surface of the disk (scratches, dust, and so on). To get rid of the “drive does not read discs” problem, try all the tips I listed, one of them may help you.

In contact with

Here's how it happens: you give yourself a day off, buy interesting film, prepare everything you need for a romantic date, call your favorite girl. And suddenly, a wonderful evening that hasn’t even begun will turn into a real problem - the computer’s disk drive will completely refuse to read any media. So, if the drive does not see the disk, what should you do? First of all, don't worry. There are not enough reasons for this malfunction to require a whole day of repairing your computer. Secondly, get comfortable and get ready to read this material. The article contains the most common problems that negatively affect the operation of the drive, as well as ways to solve them.

First solution to the problem

Let's start with the easiest thing - with autorun settings. They can easily go astray, but, unfortunately, they are unable to return to the original parameters on their own. If the drive does not see the disk precisely because of them, the user’s task is greatly simplified. After all, the problem can be fixed in just a few seconds: you need to go to “My Computer,” right-click on the drive shortcut and click on “Properties.” In the menu that appears, go to autorun and there, in a couple of mouse clicks, with a non-working drive. After carrying out these simple steps, there is no need to restart the computer, since the new settings are applied instantly.

What else could be the reason?

The second trifle, which, however, can also prevent the drive from working stably is the drive not being enabled in the device manager. In this case, you only need to turn it on: you can do this with one click. But it is important to know where exactly the necessary button is located. In the menu of the above manager, it is located in the “use of devices” window. By the way, it is important to first see if the drive is turned on and only then change anything there. Otherwise, you can turn off a “formally” working disk drive, jeopardizing the success of all further attempts to heal the computer.

If the above manipulations did not help, there is no need to rush to exit the device manager. In its menu, you can perform another operation that may help solve the problem with the drive. It is possible that the drive is not working simply because something happened to its driver. To check this, you need to completely remove the installed driver: you can do this in the same device manager. Once it is safely removed, you will need to restart your computer. After loading again, the system will help the user download and install a new driver from the Internet. If after this the drive still does not see the disk, you will have to take more drastic action.

Let's rummage through the registry

If the drive works but does not see the disks, the problem may be in programs designed to create images, if, of course, they were once installed on the computer. Such programs sometimes leave completely unnecessary “traces” in the registry, which are easy to remove, but difficult to find. It will be much easier to return to a certain point when the drive was still working and successfully performing its tasks. By the way, many users make the mistake of deleting the harmful programs themselves, and not the culprits of the problems “registered” in the registry. The CCleaner program, which is one of the most popular programs for it, can help clean the system of unnecessary “garbage.” Although it won’t repair the drive, it will make the repair process as fast and comfortable as possible.

Are the cables to blame?

Have you been surfing the system a lot, are you very tired and want to relax? You will have such a chance right now, and without compromising the time needed to repair your computer. The fact is that the drive may refuse to work due to the fact that the cables connecting it to the system board have come loose. In this case, you will need to disassemble the system unit. And then disconnect and reconnect all the cables leading from the drive to the PC. If the user does not understand “all these strange pieces of hardware” well, he does not need to disassemble anything at all - it is better to involve people who can find the necessary cables and carry out the necessary actions correctly. The same advice should be given to happy owners of laptops - there is no need to try to fix something where nothing is clear! You can make sure that the problem is in the detached contact in the BIOS: if the drive is not displayed there, then you may be very close to solving the problem. By the way, it’s also not worth wandering through the BIOS menu without understanding anything there - you can lose the system.

User, help yourself!

When wondering why the drive does not see the disk, people often completely forget that the problem may be in the system itself. If this is the case, you will need to install various antiviruses one by one and scan the system for vulnerabilities. By the way, not only can they help specialized programs to search for viruses. The Advanced System Care program successfully searches for system vulnerabilities and instantly eliminates them, which can also optimize the system in the meantime.

Cleaning the drive: why is it needed?

Have you tried all the ways to solve the problem, but the drive still doesn’t see the disk? Perhaps it was just very dusty. It is not recommended to disassemble and clean it yourself. It is better to buy a special cleaning disk, which, thanks to the presence of special cleaning brushes, can do its job very efficiently. When purchasing it, it is important to pay attention to the softness of the cleaning devices - too hard, inflexible brushes can scratch the drive laser.

One problem and one solution!

If the CD drive does not see the disc, it is possible that it simply does not support it. In order for absolutely all discs to be played on your computer, you need to buy a multi-drive. Nothing helps to eliminate the problem that the drive does not see the disk, despite numerous attempts to “cure” it? Then just make sure that this is the problem and go to the store for a new drive. Nowadays, thanks to rapidly developing technologies, you can buy a high-speed, high-tech drive: it will delight its owner not only because it works, but also with high recording speed.

If your drive won't play discs, don't rush to buy a new one! Discs may not play for a variety of reasons. The problem may not be a faulty drive at all. If the DVD drive fails, there are many ways to restore it to functionality. Below we will look at these methods, and also tell you how you can reproduce scratched discs.

Determining the Nature of the Problem

First of all, you should find out the nature of the malfunction. Check: your drive does not read all or only some discs. If some discs are played by the drive, the problem is in the hardware. If he does not see any disks, there may be a software failure.

First of all, you should try to restore the operation of the drive by removing software restrictions. In the event of various operating system failures, disk drives often refuse to play or burn discs.

Software solution to disc playback problem

Do you remember what games and programs you installed on your computer recently? Problems with disc playback may appear after installing virtual disk managers (Daemon Tools, Alcohol 120%, etc.). Also, the above-mentioned problem may appear after installing games that create virtual disks for their needs, which may conflict with each other. Sometimes the drive stops seeing disks after installation Nero– a program designed for burning discs.

To make sure that the reason is in the installed software, you should remove these programs. If deleting programs does not bring any results, perform a system restore to the moment when the drive was still working.

If the drive works, we try to install other versions of remote programs that will not interfere with disk reading. Everything unnecessary software should be removed from the computer device.

Another cause of problems with a DVD drive can be a driver glitch. To solve this problem, you need to enter the “Device Manager”. To get to " device Manager", you need to first go to " Control Panel", and then go to the " System" Or you can use the keyboard shortcut " Win+Pause", then select "Device Manager".

After removing the software mentioned above, virtual disk drives may remain in the device manager, which must be removed with the right mouse button through the menu, then restart the computer and look at the result.

• Going to the “View” menu, select “Show hidden devices”;
• Find the “SPTD” driver in the device tree among “Non-plug and play device drivers”;
• After removing the driver, restart the computer.

All this may remain after installing virtual disk drives.

If the problem is not resolved:

• Find among the “IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers” the controller to which your drive is connected. To do this, open each channel in turn and check the “Device Type”.
• Next to the “Enable DMA” option, put a checkmark (if there is a checkmark, remove it, restart the computer and then install it again).
• This is often the only possible way to get the DVD drive to function in Windows 7.

If all else fails, try opening your drive in Device Manager and look at what is specified in its “DVD Region” settings. If the region is not selected, do not change anything, but if the left one is specified, change it to your own. Remember that you can only change the region five times!

What to do if the hardware is faulty?

The first step is to replace the drive cable with a known good one, and also change the power plug.

The cause of the malfunction may be due to dust accumulation on the laser head. Having disassembled the drive, VERY CAREFUL Clean the laser eye from dust using an ear stick soaked in purified gasoline or water.

To avoid disassembling the DVD drive, you can use a special cleaning disc. Brushes glued to such a disk will clean the laser head of dust. However, be aware that brushes that are too stiff can damage the laser head, so be sure to check that they are flexible enough before use.

Using a can containing compressed air, you can try to blow the inside of the drive through the open tray. Updating the drive firmware may also help. You can download the new firmware on the manufacturer’s website DVD drive. Strictly follow the instructions for installing the firmware.

The reason that the drive does not play discs may be a jammed laser. With such a breakdown, DVD discs may not be readable and CDs may be readable well, and vice versa, since a separate laser is provided for reading each type of disc. If none of the things we listed above helped you, your drive has most likely exhausted its service life and therefore needs to be replaced. Don't worry, disk drives are inexpensive these days.

How can you read a bad disk?

There are situations when the drive is working properly, but the disc cannot be played because there are scratches on its surface. Try sanding the scratched disc first using soft cloth. It is necessary to grind the disc from the center towards its edges. This will allow you to grind out longitudinal scratches on its surface, which coincide with the tracks, and therefore are the most dangerous. Special devices are available for cleaning discs, but they are of little use; grinding by hand is much more convenient.

There are a number of ways to read bad disks. special programs, for example, free or paid. All these programs repeatedly try to read the bad sector using various parameters. If these attempts are unsuccessful, they simply move on, skipping that sector. Usage this method allows you to save as much information as possible. For video and audio files, the loss is usually unnoticeable.

We hope that the information we have provided above will help you save money on purchasing a new drive or finding a way to solve the problem with a DVD drive that does not recognize discs.

Otherwise, you need to reinstall the driver. If the unreadable disc is a video disc, the problem may be related to the DVD region. In this case, you need to select the correct region in the drive properties. IMPORTANT! Please note that only 5 region changes are possible. Moreover, the counter cannot be reset either by reinstalling the system or by moving the drive to another PC.

If the DVD cannot be read, most likely, the drive is incompatible with this blank. This usually applies to cheap blanks of dubious quality.

Hardware reasons why the drive does not read discs on a laptop or PC

• Hardware problems include failure of the drive or disk. First of all, if the disc cannot be read, you should make sure that there are no scratches or cracks on its surface. It is worth noting that in case of such damage, complete or partial data recovery is possible using specialized software.
• One possible reason could be contamination of the laser drive head. To clean it, it is best to use special cleaning discs. It is best to use the cleaning liquid that comes with this disc. The use of other liquids, such as acetone or alcohol, may lead to permanent failure of the laser head.
• A fairly likely cause of disk drive failure could be cable damage, both supplying and transmitting data. To eliminate this problem, it is worth replacing the cables with others. This must be done with the computer turned off, so that the voltage surge resulting from switching does not damage the motherboard or power supply of the PC.

Video on how to fix software problems with a disk drive:

If you are an active computer user, then you have probably encountered the question: “why does the drive not read discs?” Everything seems to be fine, but for some reason a problem arises. There is good news for you - you can fix possible problems yourself. And our guide will help with this.

Therefore, put off buying a new CD/DVD drive and read to the end.

Main problems

If there was a need to classify problems with reading disks, then only two points could be highlighted:

• Hardware problems
• Software problems or incompatibilities

A CD/DVD drive, like any device, can fail. But don’t be alarmed, most hardware problems can be resolved on the spot.

As for software problems, they are very easy to diagnose. Let's say you were setting up or installing new software. And after rebooting the computer, the drive refused to read all or some disks. Here, the first thing you can think about is software incompatibility.

Now that we know the main types of problems, let's look at how to deal with them.

Hardware problems

If the drive does not read discs due to technical problems, the first thing to do is replace the connecting wires. This could be a Sata cable or an IDE cable through which data is transferred. Ides are used in old computers - the technology is already outdated. They look like this:

You need to disassemble the computer. Turn off the power and disconnect all wires. Take care of grounding. Then use a tool to remove the housing cover. Now you should visually determine which cables connect the DVD drive to the motherboard. And then replace them. You probably won't have the parts you need on hand, so be prepared to make a trip to the computer store.

After the new cables are installed, reassemble the PC in reverse order, start it up and try to check disk reading. If it works, great. If not, move on to the next step.

We carry out cleaning

While the computer is running, it collects in its case. a large number of dust. It accumulates on all hardware components, including the CD/DVD drive. This may cause problems. This problem occurs especially often among owners of desktop computers. The system unit is located on the floor, in a poorly ventilated place. Laptops are less susceptible to contamination, but they also need to be cleaned periodically.

You probably already guessed that now we will clean the drive from dust. This helps restore his functionality.

The reading laser that the drive is equipped with is responsible for reading the data. And if it is contaminated, then it will perform its direct duty every other time, or will refuse to work at all.

We disassemble the computer again, this time removing the disk drive. The easiest way is to blow it out. If you have weak lungs, you will have to buy a can of compressed air in advance. They are sold in the same computer stores and are used to clean dust from equipment.

For more experienced users We will recommend a thorough cleaning. Disassemble the drive and manually wipe the laser head. In this case, use soft cotton wool, ear sticks or a suitable cloth, first moistened with water or purified gasoline.

What else can you use? There are special cleaning disks. Special brushes are installed on their surface, which clean the laser head while the disk is scrolling. Just place them in the drive and wait a couple of minutes.

Solving software problems

If you suspect that your drive has stopped seeing or reading discs due to problems with programs, think about what software you have installed recently. Most often, the problem lies in programs that allow you to create virtual drives:

• Daemon Tools
• Nero burning room
• Alcohol 120%

With their help, you can work with disk images and connect them to virtual drives. But at the same time, these programs may conflict with an existing CD/DVD drive, preventing it from working normally.

Removing these programs, followed by cleaning the system registry, will help solve the problem. Search the Internet - there are quite a lot of utilities for garbage removal.

Driver problems

A disc reading drive, like any device, needs a correctly installed driver. Accordingly, a driver error may cause your disks to become unreadable.

How can we solve this problem? First, go to the device manager:

Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Device Manager.

If programs for working with virtual drives have left their traces here, they should be removed. We remove all virtual drives. You also need to remove the "STPD" driver. To find it, go to the "View" menu and click " Show hidden devices". After completing these steps, restart your computer and check the result.

Checking the drive parameters

All we have to do is check that the parameters of our DVD drive are correct. It must be configured correctly to read discs.

We return to the device manager again. This time we are interested in the item " IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers". We expand the drop-down list and see several items. Among them we need to find the one that relates to the CD/DVD drive. To do this, we open each of them one by one and go to the "" tab. If we see the inscription " Atapi CD drive", then we have found the one you need. Please note that just below there will be an item " Enable DMA". You should try both options, both with DMA enabled and disabled. If the drive does not read disks in Windows 7, working with the DMA option can often solve the problem.

Video for the article:

Conclusion

Computer hardware has a lifespan. If problems arise, you can try to carry out independent diagnostics and repairs. If this does not help, you will have to purchase new components.

Helps you transfer information between programs.

Why look for information on other sites if everything is collected here?

What to do if a DVD-ROM does not read discs, why does this happen and how to fix the problem?

Some users ask this question when they discover that the media inserted into the drive is not detected by the operating system.

Then, before fixing the problem, you need to establish how it appeared?

Content:

Signs

The problem is nonspecific and can be detected in a very diverse manner. It is possible to understand that it does not read disks one by one general characteristics– you installed the media in the drive, but it did not appear in the system. The physical varieties of this phenomenon are as follows:

• Only media of a certain format are not readable, for example, CDs are readable, but DVDs are not. Or vice versa;
• Only media with a certain type of file cannot be read (this happens quite rarely, but it does happen);
• Only media with certain technical characteristics (capacity, recording type, etc.) are not readable;
• Only blanks (of any or any specific format) cannot be read, but media written in industrial conditions, work properly;
• After installing it in the drive, you can hear that it is working, you can hear that the disk is spinning for a long time. But despite this, it is not determined by the system;
• Only movies cannot be played, regardless of the recording method and the presence of other files on them. Although most often we are talking about specialized movie discs purchased in a store.

All types of reasons why this happens can be divided into two large groups. Hardware problems arise from the hardware side, due to its malfunction, incorrect operation, etc. Such problems are quite difficult to resolve, especially for a beginner.

Often in this case, it is necessary to replace some computer components. It’s not worth doing this, especially for a beginner who doesn’t have any special skills. It is recommended to seek the help of professionals.

The second common reason is software. That is, when the drive does not function due to the fact that it cannot communicate with the computer, etc. Such problems can be fixed quite easily, and you can do it yourself.

Both the built-in and plug-in drive may not work. Regardless of the type of device, the methods described below can help. It is worth mentioning that for connected drives this problem is often associated with the software part, and much less often with the hardware.

Signs of a hardware problem

The device can fail for various reasons. Sometimes this is due to operational wear of heads or other hardware components, dust and other reasons. However, in these situations, it is typical to stop reading media of any type, but if only one type has stopped being read, then the problem is probably something else (with rare exceptions).

Playback side

How to diagnose a problem and roughly determine what actually happened? There are a few characteristic features:

1. If the VD opens, but the CD does not start, or vice versa, then the problem is most likely a broken laser or one that has just begun to change its functionality;
2. When inserting the media into the drive, the user hears how it makes noise, the spinning speed either increases or decreases, in some cases a grinding noise is also heard - the lens is damaged (worn out, dusty, etc.);
3. If the problem described above only occurs with one specific drive, then the drive itself is faulty and the drive is probably fine;
4. Licensed discs are detected fairly well, but unlicensed ones are not detected at all.

These are signs that may appear on the disk reading side. They are not the only ones. But these are the ones that occur most often.

From the recording side

A separate option is signs of a drive malfunction, detected when recording to a storage medium. From the recording side, problems manifest themselves as follows:

1. The disc is not written at all;
2. Data is written at the beginning, but then the process is interrupted;
3. The data seems to have been recorded, the system shows that the process is completed (sometimes too quickly), but such media then does not open on any other device;
4. The recording occurred or was interrupted, but the resulting disk can no longer be formatted, cleaned, or used again.

Those who often use the recording function note that if the hardware malfunctions, problems with recording appear earlier than with playback. That is, the discs stop being written to, but are still readable. This allows for timely repairs.

Troubleshooting a hardware problem

A dusty lens and a broken laser are the most common reasons such breakdowns. But often there is another reason. These are incorrectly or poorly connected cables for power supply and data transfer SATA or IDE.

This parameter needs to be checked first. To do this, open the system unit and find the wires that go from the drive to and. Make sure they are connected securely (tightly in the ports, free of dust and debris, etc.).

If the cables are connected normally, then the problem is in the drive. Fixing it is more difficult than buying a new device. It is much easier to purchase a disk drive - the price of such a component is about 1000 rubles.

In the case of, and at all, you should not try to fix anything yourself. Since the drive connection system there is connected to many components. You can accidentally damage the entire device.

The solution in the case of laptops is to use a drive connected via USB. With installed drivers and correct software, such a device works properly and stably.

In principle, to repair it, it is often enough to disassemble the drive. And then wipe the lens with a cotton swab. It’s just very difficult to do this, since these devices are selected without taking into account the fact that they will be disassembled (although in principle this can be done, general algorithms No).

Disassembling and cleaning the optical CD/DVD drive of a PC if it is not working well

If your computer drive does not read, does not see, freezes, takes too long to read CD DVD RW discs, or simply does not work.

Software reasons

Sometimes driver malfunctions or system problems cause the device to stop working properly. This cause of the problem can be easily eliminated and does not require additional fees. Therefore, before disassembling the drive, make sure that the problem is not in the software.

Signs of a software problem

How to diagnose software problems in the system? By what criteria are they determined? Such a malfunction can be assumed if there are the following factors:

1. The device stopped functioning normally after it was carried out or after its update;
2. The problems began after manual or even (which happens quite rarely, but still happens);
3. Discs written specifically by a particular program, a disc of a certain format or with a certain type of data cannot be read (this can equally be a sign of a hardware or software problem);
4. Difficulties appeared immediately after installing a particular program (such problems are especially often caused by programs for working with media - Nero, Alcohol 120%, Daemon Tools).

It is quite easy to diagnose the cause of the problem in this way:

1. Turn off your computer;
2. Install a boot disk into the drive;
3. Turn on your computer;
4. Try booting from the disk.

Accordingly, if loading occurred normally, then the drive is working properly (at least with this type of disk). If the download does not occur, then the problem definitely lies in the hardware.

Troubleshooting

If there is a program or update that is causing the problem, uninstall that program. Moreover, this must be done through Control Panel, and also delete all its files from system folders. Sometimes this is also recommended, but most often this is not required.

If it is not established exactly which program caused the problem, you can roll back the system to the point at which the drive was definitely still working. Quite often this is enough, and the discs begin to be read properly.

If problems arise after updating the drivers, you can do this:

1. Hold Win + R on the keyboard to open the command line, users can simply click on the start menu and write Command line manually;
2. A small window will open command line with the input field, enter the command devmgmt.msc in it;
3. Will start device Manager, in which you need to find the Disk Drives section;
4. Expand this section and find in the list the drive with which the problem occurred;
5. Right-click on it and in the drop-down menu click on the Delete section;
6. Now select the Action button from the menu at the top and find the item Update hardware configuration;
7. After clicking on it, the operating system will find the drive again and install the necessary driver on it.

Sometimes a section has some sections. It is also advisable to remove them, as they may be the cause of the problem. After this, restart your computer to resolve the issue.

Features of Windows 7

Some specific problems are observed on computers with. Try this:

1. Open Task Manager as described above;
2. Go to the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers section;
3. Items like ATA Channel 0, ATA Channel 1 should open;
4. In the right block of the menu, right-click on these items and one by one go to the Properties section;
5. In this window, go to the tab Extra options;
6. In the Device type field, set Enable DMA;
7. Click Apply;
8. Restart your computer.

The problem should now be resolved.

DVD drive repair

DVD player with a problem in the drive, it would not play. The repairs were made and everything worked.

Very often the computer does not have enough memory to store all the accumulated information. As your hard drive becomes full, it becomes necessary to transfer data to other media. Flash drives are expensive, but disks, in comparison, cost pennies.

But even here problems may arise; discs may suddenly become unreadable by your drive. This article will tell you about the possible causes of the breakdown and help you solve the problem.

Why did the drive stop reading discs?

There can be many reasons for this, ranging from problems with the disk to complete failure of the disk drive. However, all the reasons can be divided into two categories, hardware and software problems.

Hardware problems are caused by problems with the hardware. The following problems fall into this category:

1. The cause may be the disk itself; its wear can be so severe that no disk drive can read it.
2. The drive may no longer accept discs due to contamination. Over the entire period of operation, a large amount of dust accumulates inside the computer, which can get into the drive and settle on the read head.
3. Loose connecting wires will also affect the performance of the device.

These are the most common hardware problems; determining which of these led to the failure can only be done “surgically”, that is, you need to get into the system unit.

Diagnosing software problems is much easier. If problems appear after installing some software, then we can talk about software incompatibility.

Solutions to hardware problems reading disks.

Is your drive not reading discs? Don’t rush to throw it away and run to buy a new one. First, check the condition of the disk inserted into the drive; if it is in poor condition, then the reason may lie in the damaged disk, and not the drive. Remove the disc from the drive and inspect it for scratches and abrasions.

If everything is fine with the disk, then we move on. It's worth testing the drive on other drives different types: CD, DVD and small miniCD. It is recommended to use the newest disks for the test.

Do not forget about other hardware problems; open the cover of the system unit and carefully check the connection between the drive and the motherboard with connecting cables. If there is no obvious damage, still try to connect the drive using other available cables. And for prevention, clean the drive from dust and dirt. This can be done using special disks.

There is another way to clean the read head, but this option is for more experienced and confident users. This method involves disassembling the drive and cleaning the laser with water or high-quality gasoline. Never use cologne or other alcohol-containing liquids, or acetone to clean the laser. Their use will lead to disastrous results.

Have you cleaned the drive, checked its functionality on other drives, and tried to make it work using other cables, but it still refuses to read the drives? Don't be upset. You can move on to solving possible software problems, and consider all the above actions to be preparatory.

Solutions to disk reading software problems.

If you discover that the problem is not due to hardware reasons, remember what you did with your computer earlier, what you installed, changed and deleted. Because you might have accidentally deleted or changed files that are necessary for the drive to function.

To fix it, you will need to reinstall the device drivers required for the normal and correct operation of the device on the system. Driver mismatches or errors in them can cause the drive to refuse to read discs.

In addition, you can turn off the drive using operating system and then reconnect. For Windows this is done in the system properties.

My Computer window

In the window that appears, click on Device Manager.

System Properties window

The manager finds your drive and then removes it.

Removing a device

After removing the device, you must restart the computer so that the system can detect the drive again and automatically install the appropriate software for it, that is, drivers.

Often the cause of disk drive malfunction is third-party software installed to emulate virtual drives. Such programs include: DAEMON-Tools, Alcohol 120%, etc. All these programs can cause your drive to malfunction. If you have these programs on your computer, remove them one by one, and test the drive after each removal.

To uninstall, you can use the CCleaner program; it not only removes programs from the computer, but also cleans the system of unnecessary files and system entries left after removing the software. The process of cleaning system entries is called cleaning the registry.

In practice, there were cases in which the solution to the problem was to flash the device. But this action can lead to complete failure of the drive. So, before taking these measures, it is highly recommended that you read the following point.

Solving the problem using the MicrosoftFixit program

Sometimes after the next reinstallation of the Windows operating system, the drive stops opening only DVD discs, while CD discs still open normally.

This also does not mean that the drive “died”, because before reinstallation it was functioning properly. The most important thing is that this issue is resolved using the free and effective program MicrosoftFixit.dvd.Run. You can download the program from the link:

Troubleshooting Results Window

After which the media contents window will open or a dialog box will launch containing several available options for operating the disk. If none of the above happens, then open the disk manually using the My Computer shortcut. Thus, the MicrosoftFixit program easily solves the problem of failure to read DVDs or CDs.

And if this doesn’t help, then you can already think about buying a new drive. For greater understanding and optimal choice new drive, it is recommended to consult with specialists.

Conclusion

After reading this article, you will have the opportunity to try to fix problems with the drive yourself, one by one, first eliminating possible hardware causes, and then software ones. Applying the methods given in this article. It must be remembered that self-correction may result in bad results, therefore, you should not neglect the help of qualified specialists.