DVD / CD Player Not Working

[smp]

Anyone got any experience with HP Pavilion Desktop machines ?

I have been asked to have a look at a colleagues home machine with a DVD Player / CD Burner problem.

When a disc (Audio or Data - either CD or DVD) is inserted, nothing appears in Windows Explorer and AutoRun doesn't work.

The drive still shows up in Explorer.

HP's Technical Advice is, wait for it - Reformat and Restore all existing data :rolleyes:

Obviously I would rather avoid this . . .

Anyone got any obvious tricks ?

TIA

Simon.

[arcturus]

To be honest, it sounds like the drive has failed - probably the laser or whatever controls it. That is normally the case when Windows reports the drive OK, but it wont read anything.

[pdV6]

Sounds likely. Been through a batch of bad cheap CDRW/DVD drives here lately. They seem to work for a while but gradually stop performing.

[GregE240]

Agree with all the above.

My first CD burner was made by Ricoh. Belting unit, until it failed. Less than 3 weeks after the warranty expired. Phoned them. Answer? Tough shit, sonny. Its out of warranty.

Symptoms were exactly the same. I bought a laser cleaner, what a waste of money that was.

Bought a Plextor CD/RW, marvellous bit of kit.

Not have a LiteOn DVD/RW, not as well made as the Plexy, but has stood the test of time.

Moral? Don't be afraid to invest a little extra in peripherals, unless you want to be changing them every year.

[smp]

Thanks for the feedback.

I'd come to a similar conclusion after reading some bad reports last night.

I'll break the news gently . . . .

Cheers

Simon.

[Pigeon]

GregE240 said:

I bought a laser cleaner, what a waste of money that was.

http://pigeon.dyndns.org/stuff/crapstuff/cdcleaner.html