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Dvd reads but not Cds

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by mr_t_wright

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Ok, I am having a problem that i dont understand. My sis has a Dell Inspiron 1300. Recently her combo drive stopped reading cds. When you put a dvd in the drive reads and play it. When you put a cd in it acts as if it will start but never does. Also its a combo burner and it wont burn. Tried to roll back the driver, everything looks fine in device manager, and system restore wasnt helpful. I hope i gave enough info to be of an assistance. oh also tried to reinstall the driver, couldnt find anything useful from dell.

4 replies

by older mycroft

Each 'head' carries a LED laser and they're both different colours (different wavelengths of light).

One colour reads CDs and the other colour read DVDs.

If a user (in this case - your sister) is in the habit of leaving an optical disc in the drive for extended periods of time, during which the mechanism continues to check if there is a disc in the drive, eventually the LED laser loses its intensity and is further unable to read disc data surfaces.

If this drive still reads DVDs but doesn't read CDs anymore, I'd take a rough guess that your sister has been leaving CDs in that drive while she wasn't 'using them' - but the computer still was checking if the drive tray was occupied.

The CD laser has burnt out. There are no user-serviceable parts inside - it cannot be repaired (at least not economically).

Your sister will need to have the optical combo drive replaced.

And learn not to leave discs in the tray when she's not using them.

by mr_t_wright

yeah I told her that the drive was probable bad and I would rig up an external for now. Thanks...

by oh smeg

Cheaper than what it's going to cost you to hotch together a external USB Drive here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827248004

You only have to undo a couple of screws at best to slide out the existing drive and then remove the Bracket/s screw it/them onto the new drive and slide back into the NB. After that you just need to screw the 1 or 2 Fixing Screws through the Mounting Brackets to finis off the install. Most of these new Slimline Drives come with their own burning software as well. ;)

Col

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