• Why won't the DVD read? The drive does not read discs

    Despite the fact that the use of CD/ DVD discs codes is gradually giving way to other methods of reading information, however, for a number of operations it is still quite relevant, for example, for installing operating system, stored on disk. Therefore, the failure of this device can be very inappropriate. Let's figure out what causes the drive to not read discs and how to solve this problem in Windows 7.

    We will not focus on such a banal reason for the problem of reading information from optical drive, as a defect in the disk itself, but let’s focus on malfunctions of the drive and the system. Among the main causes of the problem we are studying may be:

    • Drive hardware faults;
    • OS failure;
    • Driver problems.

    Below we will look various ways solve the problem in as much detail as possible.

    Method 1: Solving hardware problems

    First of all, let's focus on solving hardware problems. The reason that the drive does not read discs may be due to its failure or incorrect connection. First you need to check the connection of the cables to the SATA or IDE ports. They should be inserted into the connectors as tightly as possible. You can also try reconnecting the device to an alternative port (usually there are several of them). If the cause of the problem lies in the cable itself, you can try cleaning the contacts, but it is better to replace it with a new one.

    However, it is quite possible that the drive itself is broken. One indirect confirmation of this may be the fact that it reads DVDs, but does not read CDs, or vice versa. This indicates defects in the operation of the laser. Malfunction can be expressed in various forms: from failure of microcircuits due to overheating to dust settling on the lens. In the first case, you cannot do without the services of a professional technician, but it is even better to purchase a working CD/DVD-ROM. In the second case, you can try to clean the lens with a cotton swab yourself. Although for some device models this is quite problematic, since they are not designed by the manufacturers for disassembly.

    Method 2: Enable in Device Manager

    However, even a working drive can be disabled due to some kind of failure or intentional actions. "Device Manager". Therefore it is necessary to check this option and, if necessary, activate the drive.

    1. Click "Start". Go to "Control Panel".

    2. Go to "System and Security".

    3. Now press "Device Manager".

    4. Will start "Device Manager". In the list of equipment, click on the name "DVD and CD-ROM drives» . If this name does not appear or the drive name does not appear when you click on it, this means either a hardware failure of the drive or it is disabled. For the procedure in the first case, see Method 1. If the DVD/CD-ROM is simply disabled, then the problem can be solved right there.

    5. Click on horizontal menu "Action". Choose "Update hardware configuration".

    6. Will be produced new search devices.

    7. After that click on again "DVD and CD-ROM drives". This time, if everything is fine with the drive hardware, its name should be displayed.

    Method 3: Reinstalling drivers

    The next reason why the drive may not see the disk is incorrect installed drivers. In this case, you need to reinstall them.


    If this method didn’t help, you can use specialized ones.

    Method 4: Uninstall programs

    The problem with reading discs through the drive may be caused by the installation individual programs that create virtual drives. These include others. Then you need to try to remove this software, but it’s better not to do this using Windows tools, but by using specialized applications, for example, .

    1. Run Uninstall Tool. In the list that opens in the application window, find the program that can create virtual disks, select it and press "Uninstallation".

    2. After this, the standard uninstaller of the selected application will launch. Act according to the recommendations displayed in its window.

    3. After removal Uninstall program Tool will scan your system for the presence of residual files and entries in the register.

    4. If uninstalled items are detected, the Uninstall Tool will display a list of them. In order to completely remove them from your computer, just click the button "Delete".

    5. After the procedure for removing residual items is completed, you need to exit information window indicating the successful completion of the procedure by simply pressing a button "Close".

    Method 5: System Restore

    In some cases, even if the above programs are removed, the problem with reading disks may persist, since this software has managed to make the appropriate changes to the system. In this and some other cases, it makes sense to roll back the OS to a restore point created before the described malfunction occurred.

    1. Click "Start". Go to "All programs".

    2. Go to the directory "Standard".

    3. Open the folder "Service".

    4. Find the inscription "System Restore" and click on it.

    5. Will start standard utility OS recovery. Click "Next".

    6. The next window will present a list of restore points. Select the most recent one that was created before the drive problem occurred, and click "Next".

    7. In the next window, to start the recovery procedure to the selected point, click "Ready".

    8. The computer will restart and the recovery procedure will occur. After this, you can check the drive for functionality.

    As you can see, the reason that the drive has stopped seeing disks can be various factors, both hardware and software. But if there is a hardware problem regular user is not always able to decide on his own, then when software errors There are algorithms of action that almost everyone can operate.

    DVD drive may not read discs for several reasons - this is: 1) the laser head is dirty; 2) the laser head is worn out; 3) guilty software; 4) disk problem; 5) the problem is in the hardware. Therefore, if your DVD drive does not read discs, do not rush to buy a new one, you need to figure out what the problem is.

    The DVD doesn't read the disc. What's the problem?

    First of all, you need to determine the nature of the malfunction. The DVD drive does not read all or only some discs. Check it out. If some discs are still readable, then the problem is in the drive; if it doesn’t read at all, it may also be related to the software.

    Laser head

    During operation, the DVD drive collects dust, which partially settles on the laser head. Due to dust, the DVD drive does not read discs, or reads them, but not all of them. You can disassemble the drive and carefully clean the laser eye of dust using an ear stick.

    If you cannot disassemble the DVD drive, then special cleaning discs can help. But quite often, due to excessively hard brushes, there were cases of damage to the laser head. The brushes must be flexible and come complete with lubricant.

    You can also blow out the insides of the drive through an open tray using a can of compressed air, as an option.

    A worn out laser head is a common occurrence if a DVD drive does not read discs. If the DVD drive is used intensively, and if the discs are heavily scratched, the head can wear out very quickly, even within a year. Usually it fails at first due to recording density DVD reading discs and then CDs. If the drive is already several years old, then it is better to buy a new one; now they are not expensive.

    Software solution

    Remember what programs you installed in lately, what games did your children install? Managers are often the cause of the problem. virtual disks, such as Alcohol 120% and Daemon Tools. Games can install virtual disks for their own needs, and they can conflict with each other. In some cases, the DVD drive does not read discs after installing the Nero disc burning program.

    To make sure that this is the problem, remove these programs and look at the result. But deleting may not bring results unless you roll back to an earlier state of the system when everything was still working.

    If everything works, then we dig into the problem in this direction: we try other analogues, other versions, leaving only what is necessary.

    In the case of “alcohol”, try unchecking the “Force other programs to detect disks as CD-ROM or DVD-ROM” checkbox in the program settings.

    The second cause of the problem may be a driver conflict. To solve the problem, we need the “Device Manager”.

    To enter Device Manager, press Ctrl+Alt+Del at the same time

    After removing the above-mentioned software, the device manager may still contain virtual drives in the “DVD and CD-ROM drives” section. Delete them via the right-click menu, reboot and look at the result.

    The next thing you can do is go to the “View” menu and select “Show hidden devices" In the device tree, find the “SPTD” driver in the “Non-plug and play device drivers” branch. Remove the driver and reboot. This is all an inheritance from virtual disk drives.

    If it doesn't help, move on. In the “IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers” section, among two or four controller channels, you need to find the one to which the DVD drive is connected. These four channels can be called differently, for example “Primary IDE Channel” and “Secondary IDE Channel”, or “ATA Channel 0” and “ATA Channel 1” as in my picture. Open each one in turn and look at the “Device Type”. We need to find a channel with a device type of “ATAPI CD drive” or something like that.

    If it works with the option disabled, then check the box again, reboot and check. We leave the working option, but it is highly desirable that the “Enable DMA” function is enabled. In some cases, this is the only way to get a DVD-ROM to work in Windows 7.

    Sometimes updating the drive firmware helps. New firmware You need to look on the manufacturer’s website and strictly follow the instructions for installing it.

    The problem is in the hardware

    First of all, I advise you to simply unplug and insert the power plug and IDE or SATA cables, or even replace the cables with known working ones and change the power plug to another one.

    Reading a bad disc

    To read bad disk There is special programs, for example Non-Stop Copy. Programs try to read the bad sector many times with different parameters, and if nothing works, they simply skip it and move on. In this way you can save everything you can. As a rule, for audio and video the loss is not noticeable.

    CD or DVD drives and drives are now less common - they have been replaced by USB flash drives. The advantage of the disk was its compact size and large volume of stored information, but its disadvantage was its fragility. Information could easily be lost with just a few scratches on the working surface. If your drive does not read discs, this article will help you find out why and what you need to do to correct the situation.

    The drive does not read discs - why and what to do. Is it possible to fix it myself?

    It is clear that the above problem occurs for two reasons:

    • The device itself is faulty;
    • The disk is faulty;

    And if you can assess the condition of the disk yourself, then what should you do with the disk drive? Let's analyze all possible options.

    The drive does not read discs - let's diagnose it

    Failure of a disk drive is not that uncommon, especially if it is many years old. The main reasons for disk drive failure are as follows:

    • Dust contaminating the lens through which the laser beam passes. You can carefully disassemble the drive and wipe it, for example, with a DRY cotton swab. Do not use solvents - the lens may become dull and the drive will no longer read.
    • The material from which the lens is made. Low-quality plastic lenses quickly become cloudy and stop transmitting the beam in the volume required for work. The lens can only be replaced when service center, you can’t do this yourself.
    • Reduced laser power - its power will not be enough to write or read discs. For example, the drive will read CDs fine, but will not respond to DVDs. Or disk reading will proceed as usual, but errors will begin to occur when writing - this is a clear sign power reduction. You can find information on the Internet on how to make adjustments, but remember this can lead to complete failure of the drive.

    Discs cannot be read - what to do with them

    As a rule, careless handling can lead to breakage or scratches on the work surface. Contamination is also the enemy of the disc, but it can be carefully removed without the use of solvents. Unfortunately, cracks and scratches indicate its complete unsuitability. Replace the disk with a new one and try to handle it more carefully.

    The drive does not read discs - why and what to do - video instructions

    Despite the enormous popularity of connecting via USB solid state drives and distribution cloud technologies, DVD discs are still actively used by many users. They are covered by music albums and computer games, licensed software and OS are sold. If a laptop or computer does not see the disks inserted into it, this is quite unpleasant problem. This article describes what to do if the drive does not see or read CDs.

    There is enough large number possible problems, due to which the laptop or CD-ROM on the computer does not see the disks and does not work correctly. These include: damage to the disk itself, dust on the read head, physical damage to the device itself, lack of contact and incorrect operation drivers. The rest of the article discusses each of the reasons in detail and describes what to do in this case.

    Non-working DVD

    DVDs are quite fragile data storage media. If used and stored carelessly, their surface becomes covered with many small scratches, due to which the CD-rom does not see the recorded information. To diagnose this cause, users simply need to try inserting another media into the drive. If the laptop works with them and sees the information, it means that the problem was in a specific drive.

    What to do in this case? Try polishing the media using a soft cloth and a special paste.

    No contact

    If the CD-ROM tray refuses to eject when you press a button, contact with the power supply has probably lost. In this case, you need to do the following: turn off personal computer, remove the side cover from the housing system unit and check whether the cables are properly connected to the device.

    There should be two of them: one comes from the power supply and provides the CD-rom with electricity, and the other - information - connects to a special connector on motherboard. Just unplug both cables and plug them back in. If you are using a laptop and not desktop computer– It is recommended to contact a specialist and not to climb inside the device yourself.

    Dust on the read head

    Most common cause The reason why the drive does not read discs on the computer is dust on the head with which the CD-rom reads information. There are two ways to clean it: manually and using special devices.

    In the first case, users need to do the following: remove the side cover of the computer, unscrew and pull out the CD-rom, disassemble it and use cotton wool or a soft cloth to gently wipe the head. If you are not sure that you can easily disassemble and reassemble your laptop, it is recommended that you turn to professionals.

    The second method is available to everyone - you need to purchase special disk with brushes glued to it. You need to insert it into the CD-rom, wait a while and pull it back out. The computer or laptop sees the cleaning device, spins it, and small brushes remove all the clogged dust.

    Laser doesn't work

    A laser is installed inside the CD-rom, with the help of which a laptop or personal computer reads data from the surface of the disk. If you hear that the device is working (that is, spinning), but the system does not see it, it means that the laser has most likely been damaged and is not working correctly.

    Also, evidence of this failure includes selective reading of data. If the cd-rom works with CDs, but does not see DVD formats, this indicates internal problems. In this case, it is not recommended to do anything yourself. You need to show your laptop to a specialist or simply purchase a new drive.

    This document is for HP and Compaq computers with a CD/DVD drive running Windows control 10 or 8.

    When loading a disc into the CD/DVD drive, the disc does not start playing automatically.

    Step 1: Check if the problem is with the drive

    Check the disk for damage and make sure it is compatible with your computer.

      Clean the disk and check for damage. Clean any dust or marks from the disc using filtered water and a lint-free cloth. If there is significant damage to the playing surface, replace the disc.

      Check multiple drives various types . Use CDs and DVDs that work exactly in other players and drives. If all discs of the same type do not play, make sure the drive supports that disc type.

      Blu-ray or DVD movies do not play: Make sure the drive supports the disc type. If the type is supported, install compatible software to play movies. More information see DVD playback options for Windows (on English English).

      Discs recorded on another computer cannot be played: Record the disc again using a different brand empty disk. Record at a reduced speed (4x) and ensure that the recording session is closed when completed.

    Step 2: Run the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter

    If you are using Windows 10, continue to the next step. If you are using Windows 8, use the troubleshooter Windows problems can automatically find and fix drive problems.

    If the problem persists, try the following action.

    Step 3: Check the drive for hardware failure

    Time, dust, vibration and mechanical wear reduce the performance of a CD/DVD drive. You can use HP PC Hardware Diagnostics to check your drive for hardware problems.

    If the problem persists, try the following action.

    Step 4: Check the drive status in Device Manager

    Make sure the drive is listed in Device Manager, then reinstall the device to resolve any errors.

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