The drive does not spin disks. Why doesn't the DVD RW drive read DVDs?

You have probably encountered such events in your life when you had some kind of malfunction or problem with your computer. One of the common problems is disk drive failure. So, if the drive doesn't work, what should you do? Well, don’t throw it away right away! You should always try to restore it, if, of course, this is possible.

First you need to understand what exactly is not working. When you turn on the computer, look if the light on the disk drive is on, but it does not see your disk drive, then it means you are not receiving information from the drive. That is, the power is on and the drive works, but it does not transmit data to the motherboard. This means that either the wire contact is bad or it is not working at all. Try disconnecting and then reconnecting the data cable. If the motherboard is dusty, blow out the connector as dust can cause interference.

It is possible that the drive is working and the computer recognizes it, but what should I do? What should I do? Don't worry too much. This is not such a serious breakdown, since the main thing is that the drive itself works and is detected by the system. If the drive carriage does not extend, then there is a problem with the rubber band, called the belt. We need to change it. Well, or suffer and open the drive with some sharp object, for example, a needle.

If everything is fine, everything works, opens, is detected, but the computer slows down, what should I do then? This problem occurs when your system has a conflict of devices and they do not work correctly and interfere with each other. Since the motherboard has several connectors (depending on the model, since older boards only have 1 or 2 connectors), simply insert the data cable from the drive into another connector. In this case, the freezing problem should disappear.

But if it remains, it means that your drive is very slow and slows down the system. This happens when the drive is very old and is working at its last. It is better to replace old drives, as over time they stop reading some discs and also begin to freeze.

So, for general development, I would like to mention that the “life” of the drive is determined by the number of recorded discs. If you want the drive to live longer, then you shouldn’t write down everything, or everything you can.

If your disk drive does not work at all, a specialist in the workshop will tell you what to do in this case, since there are many breakdowns that can lead to the inoperability of the entire drive. And they need to be determined individually.

For example, what is more likely, your electronics on the drive have failed. Some part on the board could have burned out. Or it could have broken a microcircuit or fuse. There are many options. But, if your main chip is burned out, then it will be cheaper and more reasonable to buy a new disk drive than to repair it.

But first of all, take it out first and smell it to see if it stinks. If there is, it definitely means that something has burned out. Then open it. To do this you need to unscrew the bolts. By opening it, you can determine which part has burned out.

There may also be a situation where you cannot understand why the disk drive is not working. What to do? Take it to the workshop. They will determine exactly what the problem is.

If you don’t want to take it to a workshop, or you don’t have the money, then pick up the phone and call some friend of yours who knows about computers and tell him: “The disk drive doesn’t work! What to do?". And hope that it will help you, otherwise you will need to buy a new device, or take yours for repair, which, most likely, will also end in purchasing a new drive.

Don't waste your time and buy a new drive if the old one doesn't work. After all, they are not that expensive.

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

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 between the cables and connectors of the drive and the 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.

Why does the DVD drive not work on a Windows 7 laptop and what to do in such cases?

After experimenting with the drive, I identified the five most common reasons why the DVD drive does not work on a Windows 7 (XP, 8) laptop.

What to do to correct it is described under each of the reasons below; of course, others are not excluded, but these are individual problems.

Reason one

On an asus laptop or any other computer in Windows 8 or Windows 7 (no difference), the disk drive does not work because its earthly journey has ended (this happens too).

This is a rather extensive answer, but it happens and so you cannot do without a replacement. It's good if you can remove it and try it on another computer.

What to do? Buy a new one and replace it, they are not expensive today, about 15 dollars. There are no difficulties in replacing it, you can do it yourself.

Remove a few screws and disconnect the two cords. That's it.

Reason two

What to do? Enter the BIOS and turn on the DVD drive. Usually it is there opposite the CD-ROM line. ENABLED - ENABLED.

Third reason

If the disk drive stops working, the reason may be Windows itself. The system simply doesn't see it.

This is usually driver related. You can see them in the device manager. How to fix it?

Install new (correct) drivers in Device Manager and update the configuration.

Fourth reason

Fifth reason

The laser head has failed. There are many reasons why this happened.

What to do? Replace, although it is better to replace the drive completely - the laser head is expensive (80% of the cost of the drive)

Of course, the five reasons described in this article are not all possible options why the drive does not work.

This could be a lack of power supply, bad contacts on the cables, and much more.

Then it is much easier to check which element affected the performance of the drive.

As an option, remember that you can always use an external drive or flash drive - today they are quite capacious and allow you to easily install even operating systems.

Only if the content is on DVD, then you won’t be able to do without a disk drive. Good luck.

What to do if the disk drive on your laptop does not work? First of all, it is advisable to find out the cause of the malfunction. How exactly does the problem manifest itself?

• No discs can be read.
• Only some discs are not readable.
• The discs are readable, but new information cannot be written.
• The disc tray does not open.

If the device does not want to play one disc, it is quite possible that it is the one that is damaged. Moreover, upon inspection, physical damage cannot always be detected. These may be microcracks that are not visible even through a magnifying glass. Discs are damaged if caustic, aggressive liquids or detergents are used when cleaning them.

Physically damaged discs can sometimes be played using special software - Nero or similar packages. The question here is that unusable optical discs can damage the drive itself. Therefore, if the disc is stubbornly unreadable, it is better not to use it.

Drive problems

The device may also stop working due to low battery charge. Then you need to connect the computer to an electrical outlet and see if the drive starts to rotate.

If the laptop was dropped or subjected to strong vibration, contact failures in the connectors could occur.

A common reason why the disk drive on a laptop does not work is that the laser lens is dirty or dust has accumulated. To remove dirt and clean the lens, it is best to use special discs and service kits. Better yet, take your laptop to a service center every year for cleaning and maintenance. This way, malfunctions will occur less often.

In principle, you can clean the lens with a cotton swab. To do this, you will have to remove the device from the laptop and disassemble it. The operation is quite delicate and you need to act with extreme caution, otherwise you can completely break the device.

If the drive has stopped writing information to discs, it can be assumed that the power of the laser beam has decreased over time. The box has a special adjustment screw with which you can increase the laser power. However, this is a task for specialists.

The best way would be to check the device by replacing it with a working one or moving it to another laptop. True, at home such opportunities are extremely rare.

If the drive stopped recording information some time ago, and then it became impossible to play it back, most likely the device has completely failed and needs to be replaced. Disk drives are not very expensive, and repairs can be approximately 80% of the cost of a new one. So, it is not economically feasible to repair them.

In older computer models, laser drives were not made as a separate module, but were integrated with other parts of the computer. Therefore, replacing the reading device on such computers is a task only for experienced craftsmen. In modern laptops, the drives are made into a separate video unit and you can replace them yourself. To do this, you need to unscrew several bolts and disconnect the power and data connecting cables. After this, insert the new module and connect all the wires as expected.

Viral infection

The reason for the inoperability of the optical drive may also be damage to the system by viruses. Conduct a deep scan of your computer, remove any viruses found, and then restart your computer.

Viruses often cause such severe damage to the operating system that the only way to restore normal operation of the computer is by reinstalling Windows.

But how can you read the operating system distribution if your laptop doesn’t read discs? For such a difficult case, prudent users create a bootable USB flash drive in advance. Modern laptops already have the option to create a bootable USB flash drive. You don't even have to use additional programs like Alcohol or Acronis.

The drive is not properly connected as a device

The optical drive will not work if it is disabled in the BIOS settings. Immediately after turning on the laptop, you need to switch to the CMOS settings, find the DVD drive and see how it is designated in the BIOS. It is quite possible that you just need to turn on the device for everything to work properly.

The drive can also be disabled at the operating system level. To clarify this issue, you need to open the Control Panel and see if the laser drive is in the list of connected devices.

If the drive is connected but does not work, then we can assume there is a problem with the device drivers. Try simply updating the device driver. Or download from the Internet and install a new driver.

Unauthorized changes in system settings and non-functioning device drivers suggest the same virus infections or serious damage to Windows. The operating system can receive changes in settings even from such a common event as an unexpected power outage while the equipment is operating. The easiest way to solve the problem is to try System Restore. Often, simply rolling back Windows to one of its previous states will restore the laptop to functionality.

Sometimes on forums you can come across the question: “The disk drive does not work, what should I do?” Indeed, even such a seemingly reliable device as a CD drive can fail. As usually happens, the causes of a malfunction can be very different, and it is possible to accurately determine the source of the failure only after analyzing some indirect factors.

If the disk drive does not work, we will indicate what to do next.

Overheat

Some users have noticed that after burning several discs in a row, the drive may refuse to read new ones or begin to write subsequent ones with errors. What’s interesting: after 10-20 minutes everything returns to normal on its own. Miracles and silicon logic are not compatible, so this strange behavior of the reading device can be explained quite simply - it overheats. Despite the fact that the laser beam has little power, when it is continuously used, the internal temperature of the drive increases, which affects the operation of all its systems - hence the problem. It is often aggravated by the fact that the air flows in the closed case of the system unit of the average user do not blow through the drives. Thus, to the question: “The disk drive does not work, what should I do?” - you can answer as follows: it is necessary to fix the device so that there is free space around it in which the temperature could dissipate, or install an additional fan.

This is the most common reason why topics are created on the Internet: “The disk drive does not work, what should I do?” With the advent of the SATA standard, the computer community happily forgot the problems associated with the incompatibility of IDE devices. Now the controller has taken over all the configuration nuances, freeing the user from the need to monitor the correct setting of operating modes - Slave or Master. However, sometimes you can come across the question: “When using a CD or DVD, the computer freezes: what should I do?” In this case, you need to turn off the computer, open the cover of the system case and remove the SATA cable from the board and drive, and then connect it back. The cheap interface wires used in most computers do not have metal retainers, which is why the constant vibration of the drive breaks the contact and the device stops working. If this does not help, then you need to connect the cable to another SATA port on the motherboard and replace the wire with a new one (the absence of external damage does not mean anything).

BIOS

All modern BIOS provide the ability to switch controller modes: IDE, RAID, AHCI. If there are no problems with hard drives, then some older models of compact drives may refuse to work normally in any of the modes due to compatibility issues. To solve this, you can try to switch the controller to the desired command system (go to the BIOS - DEL button when turning on the computer) or flash the BIOS file with the current version.

Software glitch

No less often the cause of problems is errors in the driver. In Windows, you need to go to “Computer - Properties - Device Manager - DVD Drives” and remove the drive from the list. After a reboot, it will be re-detected and the problem may go away.

The disk drive does not open, what should I do?

In this case, you need to right-click on the drive letter in Explorer and select the “Eject” command. If the carriage extends, then the mechanics are faulty, otherwise, most likely, you will have to think about changing the drive to a new one.