Driver doesn't read disks.

[CharlieKasper]

I insert read-able disks but the laptop still doesn't read the disks, CD or DVD.

Laptop - Acer Aspire 4720Z.

OS - Windows 7 Ultimate

[Devin]

Have you recently re-installed your operating system?
Does the optical drive show in My Computer?
Are the drivers for the optical drive installed?
And has it worked before?

Open Computer and right click in the open, select Properties, when that opens look for "Device Manager" on the left, select that.
A "Device Manager" window will open, does it show any issues or symbols under the "DVD/CD-Rom Drives" tab?

[CharlieKasper]

Have you recently re-installed your operating system?
Does the optical drive show in My Computer?
Are the drivers for the optical drive installed?
And has it worked before?

Open Computer and right click in the open, select Properties, when that opens look for "Device Manager" on the left, select that.
A "Device Manager" window will open, does it show any issues or symbols under the "DVD/CD-Rom Drives" tab?

The laptop is a very old ('06 or '07). My uncle dropped it here at my house about a week ago to have it fixed by my Father.

- I believe yes, Windows 7 was installed at a later date.
- Yes, it does show up.
- I'll have it checked.
- No idea. Must have definitely the day it was bought.

[Matt Murdock]

As Devin said, there's just an extra step to this.

Open Device manager, DVD/CD ROM drive > Right Click > Select Properties > Uninstall , wait for it. Then reboot your laptop.

[Devin]

Open Computer and right click in the open, select Properties, when that opens look for "Device Manager" on the left, select that.
A "Device Manager" window will open, does it show any issues or symbols under the "DVD/CD-Rom Drives" tab?

What were the results in regards to this?

[CharlieKasper]

Open Computer and right click in the open, select Properties, when that opens look for "Device Manager" on the left, select that.
A "Device Manager" window will open, does it show any issues or symbols under the "DVD/CD-Rom Drives" tab?

It shows the name of the DVD Drive - HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-T40N ATA Device.
Post Merge: June 11, 2013, 08:34:16 am

As Devin said, there's just an extra step to this.

Open Device manager, DVD/CD ROM drive > Right Click > Select Properties > Uninstall , wait for it. Then reboot your laptop.

Tried this, no success.

[Devin]

I've got a feeling that the reading head may be damaged or have dirt on it causing the drive to fail when trying to read disks.
As you said it shows in My Computer, the device itself shows no faults in Device Manager yet it isn't able to read any format of disk.
That is of course if the drive hasn't been disabled in the BIOS.

[CharlieKasper]

Ok.. That's what I initially thought. I'll have it checked by some service man.