I have a problem with my CD/DVD player RW. It plays DVD's fine, but it just does not believe that CD's exist. I know these combos can cause a problem as they use different readers and are complex to repair. I am thinking of obtaining an external CD RW player (not for DVD's) and using that instead. Anyone have any suggestions?

Incidently, this is a recent problem which appears to be intermittent. Sometimes it just decides to work again. It is not a problem with reading dirty CD's, it is actually a total failure of the CD reader itself. (most manuals say this is unlikely, but this is true)

Thanks Mike and Twisted, I too like the idea of a laptop which may include what I am after anyway. The USB's still work so I can copy files to MP3 players, and so on. What do I need CD's for?

Well when I work it out I will go out and buy a new laptop with the features I am after rather than what is sold to me!

i have the same prob with my laptop, ive been told that if a cd isnt finalised when its burnt it can cause it.
i bought a external cd writer, and it works fine.
also you may as well replace your combo drive as my ext cd writer was £40 and that was the cheapest i could fine, i could get a internal dvd writer for the same price, but as i have a laptop, had to go external

what is the make of ur computer?

i have a simular problem i have a Dell 9150 it would not copy CD's only DVD's i ended up paying £60 for an external cd-rw LG make works perfect but i could've dont without the cost.

i had similar probs with my old laptop. I went and brought myself this new one a toshiba equium from dixons and boy its good it has 4 usb ports wifi and everything else under the sun also has ati graphics so top notch and was only 599 so cheaper than most on the market. i truely reccomend it.

Step one: Open your window.

Step two: Throw your computer out of it.

well if it's intermitting, could be software related, - what software are you using to play dvds? & what software are you using 2 play cds? ie - itunes?? - best 2 use windows media player for both. also check what version bios your running & if its a low version, flash your bios. what type of media are you trying 2 read? is it music / data / images (from the cd's)...? is it with all of them? could be a fault with your cd/dvd rom... if none of above work, try swopping a cdrom (if you have one avail & see if the prob stays with the system (to rule out software) or of the prob follows the cd/dvd & that way your sure 2 find your answer ... hope this helps
(yeah - i know my shite btw) lol

It has managed to fix itself again. The only thing that has happened is an updated version of Mozilla Firefox has installed itself automatically. I used to understand computers before remote access, and Windows were available. Everything was much simpler when you could run everything from DOS based batch files and executables. I have another computer which has no access to the internet, it is my back up in case of a severe and concerted update attack on my computer file drivers!

Thanks for your advices!

think it was mentioned before but try changing the sofware you use to burn.. Nero 7 is the one and only burning sofware i use, covers 99% of every option you will need for media etc...

Also, try using a #diffrent brand of disk ???... possible cause.. Check if you are using dvd- or dvd+ ..??

Hope this helps..


Steph
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The software I am using is outdated and temperamental. On fiddling around some more, I think it might be related to not closing properly after burning a CD. It stopped working, but it has started again after I burned a CD. I am one of these people who refuses to upgrade software if the software I already have does what I want. One just has to work out it's boundaries and potential conflicts.

windows does not format the disc before burning thats why it ignores the blank cds, get a cd burner prog from freewarefiles.com , and your laughing do not as stated above throw it out the window as its only a software issue kids..