i need help with my cd-rom not working... these are the symptoms.. happened only a few weeks ago when trying to play some music in the cd-rom. Cd-rom opens fine, after closing the cd-rom it appears to try and low, by flashing the cd-rom load icon in a slow pattern as if it is trying to read, but something is stopping it. When going into my computer, my computer does not load at all, just freezes, unless i open the cd-rom, the my computer loads fine. which has obviously lead me to believe that it is a cd-rom fault. Also the burner underneath the cd-rom does not open... but the cd-rom sometimes only opens if i press the burner open.following? i have done a systems check, there is no X beside the cd-rom...there is one beside the cisco VPN adapter though, if anyone knows anything about that?? I am growing wild with this cd-rom and i fear it could cop a beating if someone doesn't help me. thankyou brendan

Check the power plugs, expecially on the burner drive. One could be loose, or have a spread contact in the connector. Try disconnecting each drive and see if the other drive works ok.

no i did that to, sorry i should've mentioned it before.. i unplugged the burner cable to and placed it in the back of the cd-rom thinking it may be a faulty cable..not sure if that whas the right thing to do.. but all connections were fine. Any other suggestions with that new knowledge?

You're going to need to try each cdrom unit one at a time. On the back of each drive are some jumpers. Jumper the drive to be tested as 'master' and attach it to the end connection. Make sure the other end of the cable is firmly attached to the motherboard connector. Then see if it works with a known good cd. Then shut down windows, remove it and do the same with the second unit. If either doesn't work alone then it's probably physically bad.

i have tried that now, both cd-rom and burner will not open. L.E.Ds flash on both burner and cd-rom but no response.. what could this mean? time for a new cd-rom?

It's odd that both are malfunctioning. Disconnect the data cable, just leaving it connected to the power, and then boot it up. The cdrom is not getting any instructions from the OS so if the tray still doesn't open the fault must be with the cdrom.

" after closing the cd-rom it appears to try and low, by flashing the cd-rom load icon in a slow pattern as if it is trying to read, but something is stopping it." The CDrom drive probably is either no longer spinning a CD fast enough, or it's logic board is fried, or it's data cable is damaged, or, much less likely, it's laser or the circuit for it is no longer working. The most common reason for an optical drive failing is the motor's sleeve bearings wear to the point such that there is too much friction in them, and it can no longer spin a CD at even 1X (the original standard audio CD sped) or it stops spinning. That's the main reason optical drives are not warrantied for any longer than a year. The most common reason for the logic board on an optical drive failing is because of a faulty power supply that has voltages that are too high. Check your power supply and the current voltages in your bios Setup: See response 4 in this: http://www.computing.net/hardware/w... (If +5v and/or +12v are too high, the logic board on both optical drives may be fried; if +5v is too high, the floppy drive's logic board may be fried too.) "Try disconnecting each drive and see if the other drive works ok." If an optical drive is faulty, it is common for your computer to have some delay, or even stall booting forever, while booting when it didn't before, especially if it has a disk in it while booting. If a faulty optical drive is on the same IDE data cable as another optical drive, the good optical drive may be affected by the bad one not working. E.g. If the CDRom drive is jumpered as slave, just unplug it's data cable from the drive. If it's jumpered as master, disconnect the CDRom drive, and if there is another drive on the same data cable jumper it as master. If the CDRom drive and another drive on the same data cable are jumpered cable select, disconnect the CDRom drive, and if the other drive was on the middle connector, connect the end connector to it, or jumper the drive as master. ..... It is common to un-intentionally damage IDE data cables, especially while removing them - the 80 wire ones are more likely to be damaged. What usually happens is the cable is ripped at either edge and the wires there are either damaged or severed, often right at a connector or under it's cable clamp there, where it's hard to see - if a wire is severed but it's ends are touching, the connection is intermittant, rather than being reliable. Another common thing is for the data cable to be separated from the connector contacts a bit after you have removed a cable - there should be no gap between the data cable and the connector - if there is press the cable against the connector to eliminate the gap. 80 wire data cables are also easily damaged at either edge if the cable is sharply creased at a fold in the cable. Try another data cable if in doubt. ...... The data cable does not even have to be connected in order for the drive tray to be able to open and close as long as the computer is running, and that may work, and the led may come on, even when the logic board is not working properly.