Troubleshooting and Maintenance Guide

Troubleshooting Computer Problems 9
CD and DVD Drives
Symptom Possible solution
The CD or DVD drive cannot
read a disc or takes too long
to start.
Ensure the disc is inserted with the label facing up and centered in the tray.
Wait at least 30 seconds to let the drive determine the type of media.
Clean the disc with a disc cleaning kit, available from most computer stores.
The driver may be corrupted or outdated. Refer to “Updating Drivers” on
page 22 for detailed information about restoring and updating drivers.
I cannot remove a CD or DVD. Turn on your computer, and press the Eject button nearest the drive to open
the tray.
If you suspect a problem with the actual Eject button:
1 Click the Windows Start Button and then Computer.
2 Right-click the CD or DVD drive you want to open.
3 Select Eject from the menu.
I cannot create (burn) a disc. Ensure the disc is inserted with the label facing up and centered in the tray.
Verify that you are using the correct disc type (media) for the drive. Try a
different brand of disc.
Make sure the disc is clean and undamaged. If recording stopped during a
recording session, the disc may be damaged; use a different disc.
Use the correct type of disc for the type of files you are recording.
When using a CD-R disc, make sure that it is blank when recording music and
is blank or appendable (with space to add more data files) when
recording data.
Verify that you are using the correct disc type when making a copy of a disc.
Some recording programs can record only to the same disc type as the source.
For example, you can record a DVD only to a DVD+R/–R or a DVD+RW/–RW
disc, and you can record a CD only to a CD-R or a CD-RW disc.
Make sure the disc is in the correct drive and you specify the same drive in the
CD or DVD recording software.
Select a slower write speed for the recording drive, if it is available.
The recording software may not let you add a track if it exceeds the available
space on your disc. You can make space available by removing one or more
tracks from the list before recording the files to disc.
Close all software programs and windows before recording.