Please Help: "Please Insert Disk.." But disk IS in drive

michaelr92

Hi all,

I just discovered today that my laptop (a Gateway NX570X laptop) will not play any CDs or DVDs whatsoever. I have tried multiple DVDs and each time I put one into the drive, nothing happens. I opened My Computer (on Vista) and clicked on the DVD/CD-RW Drive, and an error message from window pops up saying "Please insert a disk into Drive E."

I have no clue what to do, so any help would be greatly appreciated. School is starting soon, and I need to be able to play DVDs. Thank you.

midders

Have you tried any CDs? (Try a bought audio cd if not).
When you say 'Nothing happens' can you hear the disk spinning up inside the drive?
Has this drive recently/ever worked with DVDs?

If it turns out to be a hardware problem, then you can pick up external USB drives for peanuts, these days.

Slainte

midders

__________________
Hardware: HTC Desire Old, slow refurbished Dell server with LG HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-E10L and new HTPC
Software: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, DVD Fab, ImgBurn
Thoughts: "I'd never belong to a club that would have me as a member" - Groucho Marx
"Some people bring happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go" - Oscar Wilde
Website: http://www.cuckfieldcomputers.com

michaelr92

I've tried many audio CDs and the same error message pops up. As for 'nothing happens'- I don't hear any noise of the disk spinning at all. And yes, this drive has worked many, many times before.. Thanks for the suggestion of an external drive.. I just hope there is something I can do to fix this problem.

michaelr92

Please.. is there anyone who can help me with this problem?

midders

To rule out windows problems:
- restart your laptop
- go into the BIOS (hit Del or F8 or something after rebooting; varies with laptops)
- make sure that the boot order is set to boot from CD-ROM before hard drive, then exit bios
- put a boot disk in the CD drive; can be any windows disk after 98, a product recovery disk etc.
- restart the laptop

If the disk spins up and you get a prompt to Boot off cd... or it boots from whatever disk you put in, then it's not a hardware problem; try doing a repair install of windows or similar.

If the system won't boot from the CD drive then it's probably hardware and you'll need a replacement or external drive.

Slàinte

midders

__________________
Hardware: HTC Desire Old, slow refurbished Dell server with LG HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-E10L and new HTPC
Software: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, DVD Fab, ImgBurn
Thoughts: "I'd never belong to a club that would have me as a member" - Groucho Marx
"Some people bring happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go" - Oscar Wilde
Website: http://www.cuckfieldcomputers.com