DVD burner not working

My dvd burner has stopped working. It will not burn dvds nor play dvds. It acts as if there isn't a dvd in it. When I put a dvd in, the light on it just flashes. It's three years old. Is there anything I can do to fix it, or should I just go buy another one?

 

Can you see the drive in My Computer?

 

The drive shows up in My Computer but doesn't show there being a disc inside of it. I tried a cd as suggested and that didn't show up or start playing either.

I've been having some issues with my power supply and bought one to replace it with. Could it be that the burner isn't getting enough power? My plan now is to go ahead and install the new power supply, hopefully this weekend, and see if that helps.

 

By all means try a new power supply, but my guess is its the lens which is gone. A new writer would be a better if the power supply doesn't solve your problem.

 

Yes, looks like it is having problems reading disks. For confirmation, I put the drive into another computer and check it there.

 

I had the same problem

Hi Bucksone, a few years ago my DVD burner stopped working completely. I fixed it by uninstalling and reinstalling the DVD burner. At that time I was running Windows XP but I would have to guess that the way I fixed it will also work for Vista. Here is what I did, modified to fit Vista:

• Click on Start
• Type in Device Manager ->Hit enter
• Click the plus next to "DVD/CD-Rom drivesâ€
• Right click on the burner
• Click on Uninstall
• Restart the computer


I hope this works for you.

 

On my computer, I have two dvd drives. The top drive just plays dvds and the drive underneath it is the burner. The top drive is D and the drive underneath it is E. In Device Manager, the drives aren't listed with their corresponding letter. Do I just assume that the first drive listed is D and the second is the burner, E? I want to try the suggestion to uninstall and reinstall, but I want to make sure I am messing with the correct drive. Also, when I restart the computer, will it just do a search for a new driver to reinstall?

Oh, by the way, installing my new power supply fixed my power supply and fan problem, but did nothing for the burner problem. I didn't think it would, but, heh, nothing ventured nothing gained.

 

First of all I'm happy for you that you fixed the power supply problem, now lets see if we can resolve the issue with your dvd burner.

On my HP's the D drive is the burner. But even if it's not I doubt you will hurt anything if it's the wrong drive, but as a precaution you might set a restore point just before uninstalling the drive that way if something does get ******* up all you have to do is restore to that restore point.

Yes, all I have ever done is uninstall the driver, restart the computer and it automatically reinstalls the driver. Please let me know how you make out.

 

Well, I uninstalled and reinstalled and it didn't help. Looks like I will be buying a new burner. Thanks for all of the help.

 

Sorry, I just saw this topic.
Before you buy a new unit, look at the following link.
I've found this problem on several systems already and it fixed the problem.
Hopefully it will do the same for you..

Be sure and make a restore point and/or backup your registry before
attempting any changes.

savagcl


http://forum.my.nero.com/index.php?showtopic=1679

 

I'm sorry it didn't work for you

I'm sorry it didn't work for you, let's hope that Savagcl's suggestion will do the job. And based on what he said I suspect it will. Take good care of yourself.

 

Pete, once again I want to thank you for correcting my error. I did not think the language I used was unacceptable, it will not happen again and you now have me thinking that I should be little more careful with my choice of words in the future.

 

If I may just add to this - it happened to a friend of mine recently on her laptop. A most simple solution: clean the lens with a cotton bud dipped in some cleaning fluid - she done this, and hey presto: All was well. I Cant promise, but seeing as ive had so much help on here from other people, I just thought i'd share this little titbit

Olly

 

Thank you Pete, I thought it was you because it had your name on the left just like this reply. I'll be more careful anyway.