Not good......Big Problem

MY boss has me buring copies of DVDs and All of a sudden the DVD drive is failing to recognize that there is a disk in the drive.
What should I do?
I need HELP Pronto!

Thanks in advance to all that reply.

 

Have you tried different disks? Sometimes that happens with a bad burn when it's still in the drive...

Malia

 

yeah, I've tried CD-Rs, DVD-Rs, and DVD-RWs.

 

What drive do you have? And what exactly happens when you try to read the disks? If it's Mat****a, those things suck, so maybe it just died...

Malia

 

It's a roughly 4 year old Mat****a that up until a day or two ago, was rarely used. As for what happened: I was burning copies of differnt DVDs and when I went to put in the next one, It wouldn't reconize that it existed.

 

Describe the problem Phillip

It could be a mistake. Could you have chosen to burn a dual layer disc by accident? Or made a mistake in one of the Burn Menus in Nero or something?

Another thing you could do is going to the device manager, uninstalling your Optical Drive, and rebooting. If XP dosent install the drive using Generic Drivers, then you can download the driver from the Toshiba website and install it.

 

Does it give you any error messages?

Some good stuff here toward the bottom-ish: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321641/en-us

Malia

 

I can't get much clearer than I already have been. It was working and now it's not. I wasn't a dual layer burn and there was no mistake. Besides I'm using Roxio not Nero.
Perhaps I'll try the uninstall reinstal thing.
I hope I can fix this, it's not my computer, and I know that my boss will be3 furious if he has to thow away another 2000-2500USD. on a new laptop.
Though I suppose he could just get an external, but he'd still be mad.

 

no, there are no error messages Malia. The program and the system itself, just don't want to realize there is a disk in the drive.

 

Try the uninstall and reinstall thing and the copy/xcopy from the link above and let us know waddup... He could get an internal, too, but he may not be in the mood to reason if he finds out :\

Malia

 

Internal? I though once the drive was shot that there was nothing to do but to buy an external or get a new laptop.

 

No, you can replace the drive. Just look for "slim" drives. And of course, make sure everything else is good, and don't get Mat****a (Panasonic).

Malia

 

Nope, tried it but it didn't work. Assumiong I did it correctly, it didn't find/fix anything.

 

When you tried copy/xcopy, did the copying complete successfully?

Btw, it looks like you're supposed to type <.I> and <./I> (without the dots) but you're not, MSFT is just having some problems with its website...

Malia

 

no, it just gives me some error message about it not working/completing process/or something.

 

have you tried removing the od and reattaching it?

i moved this to the hardware section b/c it really isn't something that is directly related to toshiba....probably will get more responses.

 

thanks ejl, but what is an od?

 

OD = ODD = optical disk drive.

I can confirm that swapping the ODD is relatively easy for most notebooks. The two most difficult tasks are (i) finding the screw which holds the ODD in place (if you are lucky, it will be clearly marked on the bottom of the computer); and (ii) removing the fascia off the old drive (it is usually held in place by some hooked plastic clips).

However, before you do that, go into Device Manager, right click on the ODD and select uninstall. Then reboot the computer. Redectection of the drive may flush out a software problem.

John

 

Since you got an error, the problem is most likely not software related, and the drive is dead. I hope your boss wasn't too upset... But at least drives aren't as expensive as they used to be, so it's not that big a deal really.

Malia

 

I got the same problem...and did needed a new ODD. It dosent look good for you philliip

 

so how much should I/he expect to pay for a new one?

 

probably around $100....most likely less.

go to newegg and search for slim dvdrw drives. the only problem may be that the front bezel on the drive may not fit properly on your notebook...but since it's a toshiba, i doubt that will be a problem.

 

I've swapped the bezels between ODDs of several different types. The bare drives seem to have several standard fixing points but the bezels can have different arrangements of hooks.

John

 

so, online pruchase is the only way eh?

 

Maybe you can find an external slim unit such as the Liteon in a local store. It will be much easier to find than a bare drive. You can then have the option of using it as it is, or pulling it apart and swapping the drive over. The housing is held together by two screws under the back rubber feet plus plastic clips down the sides. I know because I have an earlier model.

John

 

well, when I/he gets around to replacing the drive, then I'll ask you again how to go about doing that.

 

I told him about it. he was alittle bit mad, but, I think he's over it. He's suppose to get back to me about what he wants to do about it. Till then feel free to post.