cd/dvd player in laptop not working

Euphoria1z

Hi

no cds/dvds seem to be playing on my laptop (last worked about 2 months ago).

its an hp G6. when i insert a disc i can hear it make noises, but nothing happens, when i click on the dvd drive E: it ejects the disc saying please insert a disc, ive tried several.

ive updated the driver in device manager but it says its the most up to date. i dont know what else to do?

Thanks

Oblivion

Sadly CD/DVD drive failures in laptops is all too common.

You might want to consider this external USB drive as a cheap fix. I bought one recently and it's excellent.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005KQ0S8S/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-SE-208DB-TSBS-Portable-External/dp/B008X0TX0W/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

googler

Euphoria1z wrote: »

ive updated the driver in device manager but it says its the most up to date. i dont know what else to do?

Since you can hear it trying to do something, but failing, that would tend to suggest something internally wrong in the drive itself.

Remove it and replace it with another similar drive, or upgrade it to a better one.


Search on eBay with the make and model of your PC along with 'optical drive' or 'cd/dvd drive' or variations to find a suitable replacement.

Look on YouTube for video guides on how to actually replace it.

Euphoria1z

can you record/burn from these external drives aswell? as thats what i was trying to do when i realised its not working as it kept saying insert a disc.

Spankey

Euphoria1z wrote: »

can you record/burn from these external drives aswell? as thats what i was trying to do when i realised its not working as it kept saying insert a disc.

yes they work exactly the same , only difference may be it is newer and faster.

look here

---

> http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Advd+drive+usb&keywords=dvd+drive+usb&ie=UTF8&qid=1367156164

RuFFCuT_RetRo

You could try cleaning the lens using a lens cleaner disk?

If that fails I would suggest taking the advice offered by Oblivion, rather than replacing the internal drive.

googler

RuFFCuT_RetRo wrote: »

If that fails I would suggest taking the advice offered by Oblivion, rather than replacing the internal drive.

Why would you suggest this?

An external drive will be slower than an internal one.
It will require the user to connect and disconnect it on occasion.
It will take up more space.

Replacing the internal one gets around all of the above.

closed

what type of disc, writeable/blank?

has itunes been installed?

Spankey

googler wrote: »

Why would you suggest this?

An external drive will be slower than an internal one.
It will require the user to connect and disconnect it on occasion.
It will take up more space.

Replacing the internal one gets around all of the above.

some of the drives are really hard to get , one i tried to order from the model number on drive was to come from USA and was $169.

googler

Spankey wrote: »

some of the drives are really hard to get , one i tried to order from the model number on drive was to come from USA and was $169.

So what? A quick google turns up a brace of listings for the OP's model of laptop, one of which I highlight here, at £35 or so....

http://www.drives-storage.co.uk/hp-pavilion-g6-1215sa-cd-dvdrw-lightscribe-drive-burner-writer-2911?gclid=CObg0JqH8LYCFbMbtAodjl4Aow

Euphoria1z

googler wrote: »

So what? A quick google turns up a brace of listings for the OP's model of laptop, one of which I highlight here, at £35 or so....

http://www.drives-storage.co.uk/hp-pavilion-g6-1215sa-cd-dvdrw-lightscribe-drive-burner-writer-2911?gclid=CObg0JqH8LYCFbMbtAodjl4Aow

as much as i would like to replace the original with an original, im not sure i can successfully swap it over. ive looked on the manual and it appears you have to remove the back cover, take the cd tray out, remove the drive from the tray and replace it and then put the tray back in. it appears simple enough but if these things break easily, i might aswell get a cheapy once for half the price.

its only used once in a while anyway (mainly to burn a disc)

but thanks for all the advice.