The owner of a computer that has not yet encountered the fact that the drive does not read disks is a real lucky one. This problem happens for everyone, the only question is how soon it will happen from the beginning of the operation of the device. If you carefully read computer-related forums, then just a few years ago one of the most popular questions was the following: “Why doesn't the drive read disks?”.
Now, when the tendency of gradual displacement from the market of CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray devices for recording / playback with more convenient flash drives, there has been a very distinct tendency, many users have begun to forget about the problems of reading CDs. But as long as the drives exist, the problem will remain. This article is addressed primarily to adherents of time-tested technologies. We will examine why the drive does not read disks and what can be done in this case. Since the causes of such a problem can be very different, its external manifestation is different. Let's start in order.
If you disassemble the drive housing, then inside, under the seat for the disk, you can see a small transparent lens. It is she who focuses the transmitted laser beam on the surface and picks up the reflected one. Initially, when the CD-ROM drives just appeared, the lens was made of special glass. Subsequently, in order to reduce the cost of production, manufacturers replaced glass with transparent plastic. Although such a product worked properly for some time, but the more intensive the use, the faster the clouding of the plastic. When examining such a lens, you may not even notice this, but the finest ray begins to experience resistance, its path is distorted. Result - the drive does not see the disk. You can understand the manufacturers: the drive has its own MTBF, the number of read / write cycles allowed. However, many users do not know this and arrange home burning discs on a semi-industrial scale. We emphasize once again that what has been said also applies to reading. The cost of restoring the focusing system may exceed the price of a new drive, and no one will give a guarantee. Conclusion: if it is determined that the drive does not read the disc due to the lens, then it's time to change it.
A further reason may be a decrease in beam strength. Since the electronic components of the generating circuit change their parameters over time (degrade), the beam itself also changes. Some drive cards have special tuning resistors. Twist them yourself is not recommended. However, even if the beam is properly tuned, the process of degradation of the elements will not stop there, and at any time you may again encounter the fact that the drive does not read disks. Compared with the clouding of the lens, a “shrunken” laser is not a sentence, but it is necessary to take care of the replacement in the shortest possible time.
The modern SATA-interface made it possible to abandon bulky PATA loops, however, the mechanical strength of the connection became lower. It is enough to accidentally touch the loops in the case or even just shake the system unit so that at the place of connecting the serial cable to the device or the motherboard, electrical contacts are broken. Because of this, the computer may “see” the drive, but it will not be possible to read the disk. The solution is simple: you need to use cables with locking latches.
If the drive refuses to read the disk, spins it all the time and stops it, then the reason may be incompatibility. Although standards exist, they are not always fully implemented. Therefore, sometimes it happens that a disc recorded, for example, on a Sony drive, is completely unreadable on Samsung.
In addition, discs that are too scratched or dirty are also difficult to read - it all depends on the strength of the beam. And finally, if you have reading problems, you should try to remove the emulators of drives (Daemon Tools) from the system.