ASUS F3JR CD/ DVD drive not working

I am using Vista. The dvd drive was working fine before. Suddenly stopped reading any cd / dvd. The last time it was working was about 2 months ago. I didn't use dvd drive for about 2 months. And when I used it yesterday first time after 2 months, it failed to read cds/ dvds.

I have checked the Device Manager. The device name is "HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-T20L ATA Device". It says the device is working properly. I tried disabling the drive, rebooted the notebook and enabled it again. It still doesn't work.

I also got rid of iTunes just to make sure it wasn't causing any problems but the problem persists.

Why is this happening? What is the fix for this problem?

Thanks

 

If you insert a bootable CD/DVD, does the drive boot from it? If yes, then the problem is caused by software.

If no, then it's most likely hardware.

Even if you removed iTunes, check if it didn't leave those Upper and Lower filters in the registry (I don't remember the exact names right now, google should tell you). Those filters sometimes created problems with optical drives.

Is the computer still under warranty?

 

I tried to boot the notebook with a bootable CD. It does not work.

I read one of the previous posts here. I removed UpperFilters from registry. It doesn't help.

The invoice from the seller says 2 years warranty. It also says CD/DVD ROMS have only 1 year warranty. I bought the notebook more than a year ago. I guess warranty is now void for CD/DVD. I am not sure how this warranty thing works. Do I need to contact ASUS directly?

 

Yes, ASUS warranty is direct, and the CD/DVD is AFAIK an internal component which is covered by the 2-years warranty.

So I'd try calling ASUS, see if they send an optical unit in advance, without you sending in the notebook, so that you don't have downtime. It should be quite easy to replace, one or two screws only.

If it's not covered, you'll be able to buy one for a reasonable price (~50 EUR here in Europe.) So it's no major problem.