CD-RW not reading

[deamon20]

Hey, out of nowhere the other day my CD-RW drive (Generic Model) just stopped reading any cd's or cd-rws that are put into the drive. The computer recognizes the drive in the device manager list and in My Computer but when it tries to read a cd the light will just blink and nothing will happen. I have been trying to fix it myself but have come with blanks, I fear the lens is somehow screwed up or something like that... any ideas?

Thanks alot,
Rob

[John Prophet]

have you installed any new programs or software or done any updates or anything lately?

[bazcor]

You could eliminate the CDRW hardware by using a 98 bootdisk with CD drivers ( available for download from http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm) if you can't read from the CDRW with this I would suggest the CDRW drive, cable, or interface has 'bit the dust'.

good luck ... Barry

[Bovon]

Originally posted by deamon20
Hey, out of nowhere the other day my CD-RW drive (Generic Model) just stopped reading any cd's or cd-rws that are put into the drive.

I hope I am wrong, but it sounds like the laser died..it happens. They do not have a long life, especially in a gaming machine.

The laser is the weak link in any CDR or DVD...the cost of the solid state laser units is very cheap..and the technology to keep one of the drives up and running for a long time would require a much better laser unit. Lab quality laser units can cost in the hundreds of bucks each...which we cannot pay for a unit in the PC..better to use one until it dies, throw it away and buy a new one.