lost my cd/dvd drive

bakerlad1983

i have a packard bell laptop and i seem to now be missing the cd/dvd drive.in my computer there is no option to open it and when a cd is entered nothing comes up. any help gratefully recieved

mobfant

Two possibilities I can think of -

maybe the cable connecting it has come loose - have you moved the computer or opened it up recently?

go to Control panel -> system -> Hardware -> device manager and see if there are any question marks by the disk drives. maybe drivers need to be updated/re-installed

djchris_2

If your computer runs Windows XP then you won't normally need drivers for a CD drive to be recognised. If the tray opens & closes then the power connection must be OK and the drive must have some life.

Try reseating the drive in the laptop a couple of times (it's very likely removable). If that's OK and the drive shows in device manager, then it's quite possible that the pickup laser has failed through age (probably the most common point of failure). Try a few discs to be sure and make sure you can hear them spin up. If you have a laser cleaning disc, try that, but I find this rarely rescues the situation.

A freindle neighbourhood techie might be able to swap CD drives with you to see what happens, often they're a standard fit.

If the laptop is not very old, consider complaining under consumer law.