Our next article in our Ultimate Computer Troubleshooting series deals with optical drives. The top optical drives in this generation are CD/RW and DVD/RW drives. If you have a drive that will either read or write, or if your drive will do neither, then this guide will help you troubleshoot some possible causes for this.

Is the Drive a New Install?

If the drive is new, then we need to take a step back to make sure we’ve installed it properly. The drive will ship wil shorter screws than some of the other components for the PC because the the CD or DVD drive opens and could possible get stuck if improper mounting screws are used. Also, be sure to set the jumpers correctly in the back. If this is the primary device on the IDE cable, be sure to set the jumper at the rear of the drive to Master. If it’s not, be sure to use the Slave jumper position or Cable Select if that is the configuration the first drive is using. Lastly, swap power leads. Disconnect the molex power connector and switch it with another. Although it’s not typical, individual power leads can fail.

Does The Drive Show Up In The BIOS?

Now, assuming we have the IDE cable and power cable correctly attached, let’s enter the BIOS to make sure the device is registering. Depending pn your system, you will need to tap one of the following keys to enter the BIOS setup screen: ESC, F1, F2, F10 or Delete. Once in the BIOS, look for the drive under the Primary IDE or Secondary IDE (wherever you have installed it). If the device isn’t reporting, then we still have a problem with the installation.

Does The Drive Show Up in Windows?

If the drive doesn’t show up in Windows, you’ll need to reinstall the driver. We recommend getting the latest driver version from the manufacturer’s website, but if you must, you can resort to the CD that shipped with the drive. If the drive does not show up in Windows, or if it once did and now no longer doean’t, you may need to reinstall Windows to get it to appear again.

Does The Drive Read A Disk?

If the drive reports correctly in the BIOS, we next need to determin if the drive can read a disk. Put a music CD in the drive (or a DVD if a DVD is the drive in question). Navigate to My Computer and look under the drive letter of the new drive. Can you double click and view the contents? If so, then it can read. If not, examine the disk and make sure there are no scratches or other debris on the disk. If the drive does not read the disk, you may want to invest in a drive cleaner. You can get these at any local computer store. It’s also quite possible the drive’s read lens is mis-aligned and nothing can correct this. If it’s a new drive, return it.

The Drive Reads But Does Not Write

If the drive reads but does not write, you can always try the latest driver. Corrupt driver issues are often the cause of this type of problem. If the drive still does not write, try a different type of disk from a different manufacturer. Some CD and DVD drives are picky about their media. You can also try lowering the recording speed of the drive; this is done in the application software, normally under “options” or “preferences.” Lastly, use a drive cleaner in hopes of clearing the write lens of debris.

1. PC Will Not Boot
2. Device Manager Error Codes
3. Power Supply Troubleshooting
4. Computer Troubleshooting Tips
5. Computer Troubleshooting Tips
6. Hard Drive Troubleshooting
7. Benchtest Your PC
8. Power Supply Troubleshooting
9. Lost Clusters On Hard Drive
10. Bypassing The Case Switch
11. No Fixed Disk Present
12. Top Ways to Break Your PC
13. Diagnose Computer Problems
14. CPU Beep Code
15. Invalid Boot.ini or Hal.dll error
16. My Computer Automatically Reboots