CD-rom drive question.

Okay so my cd-rom drive has been dead for a few months now. Now im pretty sure i know what caused it, but my question is, before i get a replacement, is there a way i can tell if its the cd-rom drive thats actually dead or if its the motherboard port that is not picking it up or something.

Now, i took out my cd rom drive and opened it up and a screw fell out. I'm pretty sure thats why it died in the first place because one of the screws that was supposed to be holding the circuit board of the drive had come loose and probably screwed it up moving around while i was travelling with my laptop.

Could this have damaged the motherboard side of the port in any way? I need to make sure that my motherboard still detects a functioning cd drive because if i replace it and find out that it doesnt work...

 

Why not try one of those usb hard drive adapters. You can get a cheap one for around $20. Unless you have one of those older PATA drives for notebooks. Then you'll need an external enclosure with that interface. What kind of interface does the drive have?

 

Uhh, I'm not sure but my laptop is going to be 2 years old in september, so i dont know if thats considered "older".

The USB ones i did consider but they are a bit of a hassle for the speed. If my laptop had an eSata port i probably wouldve shopped around for an external esata drive. i can get a replacement drive off ebay for around $40-50 which is not too much compared to an actual warehouse parts dealer.

 

I wouldn't worry about speed with a optical drive. They are slow so USB 2.0 should be fine.

 

PATA was mostly phased out by 2006/2007, so you're likely safe.

eSata would be a waste of a port for a CD-Burner. Especially if it's CD and not DVD. If you can get an internal drive for $40-$50, go for it. I wouldn't get it from eBay, personally, but that's your choice (I've had quality issues galore off eBay). An external USB burner will run roughly the same price.