<p>Hey,</p>
<p>I’m having major problems with my CD-Rom. The light is always on, it won’t read CDs, and it won’t open (unless I use the little keyhole). This started after an incompatible CD, which has no viruses, was inserted into the CD drive. Does anyone have anyone know what’s going on, and what I could do to fix it?</p>
<p>Thanks,
Vtoodler</p>
<p>When this happened to me Dell sent a repair contractor to replace it.</p>
<p>How much did it cost? Did he have to put a new drive in?</p>
<p>I had an extended warranty. They just replaced the drive.</p>
<p>Re: cdrom drive</p>
<p>If you put a store bought music cd into the drive (not a burned cd) and the drive access light stays lit or blinks on and off constantly and pressing the open/close tray button does nothing, your drive is dead.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t spend more than $20 for a new cd-rom only drive. Most computer shows sell dvd/cdrom drives for around $30. If you have a local computer store, they should have tons of cheap, used cdrom drives laying around.</p>
<p>Get a new or working used drive. Open up your computer and remove the two or four mounting screws that hold the drive in the drive mounting cage. There’s a white power connector and a grey ribbon cable attached to the drive. Unplug the white power connector and carefully remove the ribbon cable (making sure that you mark the top of the ribbon connector with a marker or pencil). Be sure you re-install the ribbon cable exactly in the same orientation with your new drive.</p>
<p>Your new drive will have a jumper block connection at the rear. Make sure you set your new drive’s jumper exactly like your old drive. If you have a typical two optical drive system, one drive will be set to “master” and the other will be the “slave”. The jumper on the new drive must match the old drive’s position.</p>
<p>Or have a friend who’s computer lliterate do the job…</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>There are other fixes you could try:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>go to settings/control panel/system/hardware/device manager. Scroll down the list until you find your cd rom drive. Right click, and select uninstall. Hit the OKs and let the system reboot and redetect. </p></li>
<li><p>If that does not do it, replace it. It could have failed. When you replace it, you might want to get a dvd reader.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>One long shot possibility: Earlier this year, Sony Music issued some music cd’s that had a “rootkit” program installed as a copy protection measure. If you tried to play, copy or rip those cd’s on your computer, the rootkit would really mess up your optical drives to the point where they would no long work…</p>
<p>If this were the case, you should go to the Sony music website and download instructions on how to “remove” the rootkit software.</p>
<p>Your comment about an “incompatible cd” starting your problems made me think about what could have caused these issues. Sometimes a burned cd may have “read” issues on other optical drives. The drive can’t read it and the access light will just blink because it can’t make out the disc’s TOC (Table of Contents) directory. Then again, this wouldn’t explain why the tray would not eject the disc. Even with an unreadable disc, the eject button should still work if you press it a couple of times and certainly after you reboot your computer.</p>
<p>If, as newmassdad’s suggestion about uninstalling your cdrom’s device manager and allowing Windows to automatically re-install it fails, it’s time for a new drive…</p>
<p>There is a freeware program called “rootkitrevealer” that can help address the problem described by michuncle.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.sysinternals.com/utilities/rootkitrevealer.html[/url]”>http://www.sysinternals.com/utilities/rootkitrevealer.html</a></p>
<p>Is the reflective layer on the top of the disc scratched in any way? A friend of mine had a music cd that was heavily scratched on the top of the disk (you could easily see through the disk to the other side) and playing this somehow damaged the laser. He ended up having to buy a new cdrom drive.</p>
<p>If you need a new drive and want to just get a new one online, take a look at Newegg (<a href=“http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/Category.asp?Category=10)%5B/url%5D”>http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/Category.asp?Category=10)</a>. They have standard cdrom drives which start around 13$ through dvd burners which start in the $30’s.</p>
<p>I second Newegg as a source. They DO stand behind their stuff. I bought an OEM notebook drive from them last year.<br>
because it was OEM, the mfg did not warranty, only Newegg. The drive failed after nine months. Because that specific model was no longer available, they gave me a full refund, including shipping. I ordered a new, bigger drive from them (went from 80 to 100 gb, and 5400 RPM, too) for less money. My D was happy.</p>