Common Problems

• Many different problems can affect optical drives. Sometimes the drive itself is missing from the computer's operating system, so it cannot be accessed in the first place. At other times, the disk put in the drive is not read or for some reason is rejected by the computer system. Other computers can have multiple drives that may be confused, leading to disk incompatibility with the drive used. Hardware problems can occur, such as jammed disk drives, stuck disks and improperly read disks--matched equally by a number of possible software problems, including errors that come from adding or deleting security software and computer systems that cannot correctly read inserted disks.
  
  Since these problems can be divided into hardware and software issues, they are easier to diagnose than many computer issues. Most operating systems will pop up a message indicating where the error seems to be, especially if it is software related. These problems range from misplaced files to corrupted data. If you follow the steps indicated by the system and still cannot solve the problem, then it is probably best to call an expert. If the problem is related to hardware, then maintenance steps can be taken.
  
  

Possible Solutions

• Many optical drive problems can be solved by simply cleaning the drive. Over time, dust can accumulate in CD or DVD drives, and if that dust settles on the laser, it can cause reading problems. Drives are cleaned by using a specially prepared cleaning disk that can be bought at an electronics store (or your computer may have come with one).
  
  You should also make sure the drive is set to the correct mode. If the drive has its own data cable and does not share data with another computer system, it should be set to master--otherwise, it should be set to slave. These switches may be available on the casing of the CD drive, but even if they are not, this is a good opportunity to make sure the audio cable is connected to the sound card and everything else looks in order.
  
  If your problem is more software related, you can try downloading troubleshooting software that conducts automatic tests of your optical drive systems and diagnoses particular problems. Several versions of troubleshooting software are available online for free, but these come with risks of their own. If you can, you should always try to download software from your operating system's website.