BleepingComputer.com: CD Drive Rips and Reads Some CDs, Refuses to for Others

I've been having this problem for a while. My CD Drive plays and rips some CDs just fine, but with some others it refuses to play or rip them. They are not scratched and are in good condition. I have various degrees of difficulty with it: sometimes, it "revs up" but then doesn't even recognize or play the CD, sometimes it recognizes the CD but when I go to play a song or rip it, it freezes up everything. Also, it no longer reads CD-Rs or CD-RWs. My OS is Vista if that helps. Any ideas? I've tried a bunch of things. I've tried the Microsoft Fix-It, which worked once but no longer works. I've reinstalled drivers and updates, among some other stuff that evades me right now. Thanks for the help.

Make sure all connecting cables are firmly in place, if they are and it still happens then try a different cable, If it's still happening then it might just be that the drive is coming to the end of it's life, You could even try a different drive in the machine if you've got one or can borrow one. If the different drive works then you know your old one is knackered.

could be on its way out (knackered - good word dave). could be dirt on laser, clean with isopropyl alcohol. last ditch effort would be update firmware for drive.