BleepingComputer.com: cd rom wont work

when i put a cd/dvd into my disc drive on my laptop, it makes a noise like its working, but nothing pops up and i cant see it under "my computer". Help. I want to install some software and I cant.

I suggest see if the computer can boot from CD and DVD, using the likes of Linux Live discs or Windows install CD/DVD. This eliminates any Windows issues - if the drive can't read the discs to boot up from, then it's a bad drive. If it can, then it's worth moving on to fault-find the Windows installation.

How do I test it?

Sorry, I don't understand - how do you test what?

I dont know how to do this:
"I suggest see if the computer can boot from CD and DVD, using the likes of Linux Live discs or Windows install CD/DVD"

Sorry I am new

OK, gotcha! I often wish I was new again... heh heh.

Do you have any CDs or DVDs that a computer can boot up from to install? The commonest are for CD, the Windows XP installation CD, and for DVD is the Vista installation disc. Other handy ones are the Linux Live CDs and DVDs that often come with computer magazines, or can be burned to disc from a downloaded iso. A borrowed disc is fine as it's only needed to see if the drive can read it.

If you've never booted your system up from a bootable CD or DVD, you should go into the BIOS setup screen and make sure the DVD drive is selected as the first boot device in the list. The BIOS setup is accessed by pressing a specific key during boot up, this is usually indicated on the screen as the computer starts up, it may be the Del key, a function key like F2 or similar.

Then when the system is powered up with the bootable disc in the drive, it will try to boot from that disc instead of the hard drive with Windows. This tells us if the drive can read a disc at all. If it can't, it will go on to Windows as it normally does and we'll know the drive itself has gone faulty (or could need the laser lens cleaned).

If it can read the disc and boot up to what is on the CD/DVD, then we know the drive can actually read discs, and something in the Windows installation is stopping it from working.

This post has been edited by Platypus: 22 December 2009 - 05:29 PM

1. Do this first:

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2. Now, Live CDs like these are what you need:

BartPE
Knoppix

You download them (your choice) and burn them onto a CD.
They run straight off the CD and don't need any installation.

3.

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BTW, are you experiencing this problem only with a specific disc or all CDs and DVDs? It could also be bad media and not necessarily the drive.

This post has been edited by ReviverSoft: 22 December 2009 - 06:05 PM