Troubleshooting The DVD Drive
You really enjoy those dvd movies and games and thelast thing you need or want is to experience problemswith your dvd drive.
To prepare for the possibility of having your dvd drive leaving you out in the cold one morning,we will dicussproblems that may cause dvd failure as well as theprocedures you should take to correct these problems.
As with all drives,be sure to double check the failure.If the dvd drive will not read the dvd,try running anotherdvd in the drive.Make sure the dvd has no scratchesand is clean.
Visually inspect the drive if the drive is external and if thedrive is enternal,check the computer.Check to see if thecomputer has good ventilation to help keep it cool.Hereare the common dvd problems with their solutions.
DVD DRIVE HAS NO POWER
First..For external drives that have no power,first check to seeif anything or anyone has caused the power cord to becomeunplugged.Rule out the wall outlet by plugging in anotherdevice such as a radio and see if it plays.
Second...If you've proven the wall outlet to be good,but youstill don't have power,check the surge protector for any signsof damage.If the surge protector is good,check the cord.
Third..If you're certain the surge protector or wall outlet isproviding power,double check the cord by plugging it in a few times.If no power is present,you will have to replacethe cord or the drive itself.
Internal dvd drives receive their power from the connectorfrom the power supply.Try another connector to the drive.if the internal dvd drive still does not receive power afterusing another connector,the drive is faulty.
DRIVE HAS POWER BUT TRAY WON'T OPEN
You may experience the tray failing to open.Should thishappen,press the button a couple times to see if it willopen.If the tray fail to open,reboot your computer andtry to open the tray.
When rebooting the system,notice the monitor to seeif the drive is recognized by the computer.Some systemswill not display installed hardware during bootup.If this isthe case,you will have to access your BIOS to check if thedvd drive is being registered.
You can also try the manual eject button on the drive toget it to open.Use something very small but firm to pressin the pinhole in front of the drive to open the tray.
Shut the computer off and unplug it.Use something likea long paperclip to insert in the pinhole to open the tray.The tray may open a couple inches and you can grabit with your fingers to open it completely.
DRIVE IS NOT RECOGNIZED BY WINDOWS
Be sure the operating system is recognizing the driveby clicking on My Computer.Windows XP will show"drives with removable storage".If your drive is present,highlight the drive,right click and select properties.Clickon properties and you should see "this drive is workingproperly".
If you see another message such as "this drive is notworking properly",you may be able to update the devicedriver.If the drive is not present in My computer,reboot the computer and access the cmos setup.
In the cmos setup,the dvd drive should be present.The drive may not be properly installed or one of the cables have become disconnected if the drive is missing.
If you check the drive cables and are certain they areconnected correctly,it may be that the data cable isfaulty and the drive controller may be at fault.And wecan't overlook the fact that the drive itself may be bad.
DRIVE HAS POWER BUT WILL NOT READ DVD
First..try another dvd since a dirty or scratched dvd maynot play.If the new dvd fail to play as well,check to see ifthe operating system is recognizing the drive Click on My Computer and highlight the dvd drive.Rightclick and select properties.The statement "This deviceis working properly" should be present.If not or you seeanother message,try to update the device driver.
In the My Computer screen,highlight the dvd drive,and select the Properties screen,select Drivers,and then select update device driver.
Another cause may be the Windows Registry is corrupt.You can use software utilities such as PC Bug Doctor torepair your registry. Download this free repair utility athttp://www.pcbugdoctor.com/download.html.
To make a backup of your registry with Windows 98, just go to Start, select Run, enter scanregw and click OK. This will run Scanregw.exe.
Restore your registry in Windows 98 by typing scanreg /restore at the Dos Prompt.You can also use.Winrescue XP at http://www.superwin.com/index.htm is a neat littleutility for backup and restore of Windows XP.
The dvd drive or writer is an awesome storage and databackup drive.Use it to the fullest to enjoy music,video,audio,and more.Understand everything about this drivebefore something goes wrong.
Should your audio die on you,check the dvd to be sureit is not dirty or damaged.Look at the audio cable forsigns of looseness.Inspect this cable to be sure it isinserted in the connector completely and that is indeedinserted in the correct connector.
If you have a dvd drive,take the time to visit the supportweb site and download the latest device drivers or patchesto keep your drive running at peak performance.
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