CD & DVD drives not responding

Does this happen with all CD’s? CD’s that are burned on another computer sometimes won’t work on your computer unless they have been finalized (no more files can be added).

You may want to start the computer in Safe Mode. Go to Device Manager and Remove all CD and DVD drives listed. When you reboot the computer, Windows will reinstall the drives.

Drives not showing up or not responding after a new drive is installed is usually due to the jumpers not being set properly. Jumpers are set to designate the Master & Slave (Primary & Secondary) drives on a cable. The Master drive connects to the end of the cable and the Slave drive connects in the middle. If your BIOS allows, it may work better to set both drives for Cable Select and let the BIOS handle the job.

If no changes have been made to the hardware in your computer, it indicates a hardware/electronic failure. That could be the drive itself, the connections, the motherboard, etc. Troubleshooting is required. Try disconnecting the CD-ROM and use the DVD drive by itself.

There may be some damaged or missing Operating System files. Try running the System File Checker under Tools in System Information. Malware (virus/spyware) can also cause problems.

(More information needed.)