Is my DVD drive on the blink?

My laptop specs are in my sig. I got it in March 2007

I don't know what to think, it seems fine most of the time, but every so often it won't load a DVD movie or data DVD (never any problems with games though - so far), often enough to make me think there might be a problem.

That's as much information as I can provide tbh, it reads DVD disks most of the time, but sometimes not.

 

Assuming that it is a tray loader, try carefully cleaning the lens.

Also check for any updated firmware.

If they don't fix the problem then the optical drives are one of the least durable parts of notebooks. Fortunately, replacement should not be very difficult.

John

 

Replacing it wouldn't be much of a problem. Here it is. Hopefully it'd be easy to install..

Anyway, I'll try cleaning the lens and will look for some firmware, I'm guessing the Dell Support website would be the place the look?

 

Can it read a game DVD? Try running diagnostics to test the drive. It's still under warranty and super easy to replace. I swapped out my defective drive in under a minute.

 

Need a bit more info on the "run diagnostics" bit!

Pretty sure I'm out of warranty anyway, laptop is nearly two years old, and I never purchased additional warranty on top of the standard 12 months.

Not that I'm bothered, still runs fine (apart from the DVD drive obviously, lol!) and when it eventually kicks the bucket, it'll give me an excuse to get a newer, better laptop!

 

Put in your drivers/application disc. Reboot, you'll be prompted on the reboot to press a certain key. I believe it's either F2 or F8.

The diagnostics will load. Choose the DVD drive test and wait for the results. One thing you might want to try is cleaning the lens with a Q-Tip and a little alcohol.

 

Thanks, I'll give that a shot.