Posted: 3/28/2009 7:52:26 AM EDT
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Update: Pulled the CD drive and cleaned the lense with a Q-Tip. It works fine now.
I've got a new problem with my 6 month old Gateway. I haven't installed any new hardware on it and I can't remember installing any new software. I'm running Vista. Whenever I try to load a CD or other disk into the CD Drive I get nothing. If I click on DVD RW Drive (E:) it tells me to insert a disk. If a disk is in it, it pops it out. I checked for driver updates and my computer tells me I'm up to date. It used to work. 
A couple weeks ago Adobe wouldn't work and I had to go into system32 to install a driver. I didn't touch anything else. I don't know if the problems are related or not but it seems to me like they would be. Thanks in advance. |
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I forgot to add that its in a laptop. I can swap components on a desktop but I sure don't want to tear this thing apart. No warranty? (Well, definitely not if you start cracking it open, but fuck that - if it's under warranty, let Gateway deal with it) Oh yeah... and if you do end up sending it in for work, make backups of everything you care about. The folks who do that kind of work love the "reformat and reinstall" approach to troubleshooting |
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Reload all of your drivers. It is needing a driver to recognize the DVD or CD.
Your laptop should have come with a restore CD...USE IT Go to Gateway website or google the drivers you need if you do not have the restore disk. Windows Vista or XP does not always find the correct drivers |
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Yeah, I got that far and I searched Vista 32 bit drivers, butI can't find one that looks like it's a driver for a CD drive. |
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When in doubt, Google is your friend. Here is one (there are many) complaints. Type in "dvd drive problems Gateway" and you will see more. Here's the link to one solution LINK ( I don't know why "computer experts" don't suggest this first instead of telling you to get a new drive in a six month old machine) |
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Problem #1: You bought a fucking Gateway.
Problem #2: You're running Vista on it. Problem #3: You haven't sent the whole goddam thing back yet with a note saying "Go fuck yourselves, Gateway." As for the computer itself.... it sounds like a piece of shit. Google is your best friend. |
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Problem #1: You bought a fucking Gateway. Problem #2: You're running Vista on it. Problem #3: You haven't sent the whole goddam thing back yet with a note saying "Go fuck yourselves, Gateway." As for the computer itself.... it sounds like a piece of shit. Google is your best friend. That's for the help. In return for your help, I'd like to offer my cock for you to suck. |
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It's a bad dvd drive, most likely.
It is possible to replace this kind of drive. However it's not precisely easy and you would need to locate a replacement drive first. You're best bet is to talk to gateway and bitch and moan until they offer to fix it, or at least send you a replacement drive. -Local |
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Thanks for all the help. Gateway wasn't any help. They want $60 an hour for tech support since it's out of warrenty by two months. Frustrating.  Well, do the search like I suggested to start. It's funny, I took a look because I ran into an issue with a CD sent to me by D-Link for a Skype appliance so you can run your telephone with skype. Not only wouldn't the cd not work (all others that I have do) but when you d/l the sofware it won't work either. LOL, so much fail there. |
| We use Dell's at work, their CD drives are removable, just pull them out. Download Ubuntu Linux on another computer, burn it, then try to boot to it. If that much works then you've just got a bad drive. You could also try and boot to the Vista CD that came with your laptop, assuming they sent you one. |
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When in doubt, Google is your friend. Here is one (there are many) complaints. Type in "dvd drive problems Gateway" and you will see more. Here's the link to one solution LINK ( I don't know why "computer experts" don't suggest this first instead of telling you to get a new drive in a six month old machine) Because it's most likely a dead drive. |
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When in doubt, Google is your friend. Here is one (there are many) complaints. Type in "dvd drive problems Gateway" and you will see more. Here's the link to one solution LINK ( I don't know why "computer experts" don't suggest this first instead of telling you to get a new drive in a six month old machine) Because it's most likely a dead drive. So if the computer dies you go buy a new one? You don't troubleshoot the issue first? ETA: Ok, I'll give you my "best story" when I was doing tech support for Micron Caller: I bought this POS Micron because it's supposed to be this best! Me: I'm sorry sir, exactly what seems to be the issue? Caller: THE POS WON'T TURN ON! ARE YOU DEAF? Me: Ok, sir can we try a few things first? Caller: BIG SIGH. Ok, what do you want? Me (here I go through typical things like is it plugged in etc. Caller: YOU ARE A DUMB ASS! OF COURSE IT'S PLUGGED IN. DO YOU THINK I'M AN IDIOT!! Me. Can you reach the back of the machine and verify this for me sir, I also want you to reset the main power switch. Caller: I CAN'T SEE BACK THERE IT'S TOO DARK. Me (thinking WTF?) Sir, why is it too dark? CALLER: BECAUSE WE HAD A THUNDERSTORM AND THE POWER IS OUT! Me; Sir, the computer won't turn on because apparently you have no power. CALLER: YOU FUCKING IDIOT. THE SUPPLEMENTAL POWER SUPPLY IS STILL HOOKED UP? Me: (now I'm thinking this guy has an APC box of some kind so I apologize and ask if this is the case. Caller: GOOD GOD! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! IT'S HOOKED UP TO THE SAME POWER AS THE PHONE I'M TALKING TO YOU ON! YOU DO UNDERSTAND THAT PHONES WORK EVEN WHEN THE POWER GOES OUT DON"T YOU? Me: (trying not to laugh) Yes sir, but this is basically how your computer works. CALLER: "click" |
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Update: I pulled the drive, popped the cover, and cleaned the lense with a Q-Tip. It works fine now. Thanks for all the help. 
Edit: Whoops, looks like I just served up a plate of crow. Who's eating?  Glad to hear it. Glad that basic troubleshooting worked out for you instead of BUYING A NEW DRIVE! |
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Edit: Whoops, looks like I just served up a plate of crow. Who's eating? Did you fix the problem by fucking with obtuse driver settings in the registry? Not me, then  Notice my post said "many links". When you start troubleshooting you start with the basics, at least I do. My first response is NOT going to be "replace the drive" |
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Notice my post said "many links". When you start troubleshooting you start with the basics, at least I do. My first response is NOT going to be "replace the drive" Neither was mine. But you were right, the problem was fixable. Good job, recoiljunkie. And a cookie for philinmedford. Everyone happy now? |
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Update: I pulled the drive, popped the cover, and cleaned the lense with a Q-Tip. It works fine now. Thanks for all the help.
Edit: Whoops, looks like I just served up a plate of crow. Who's eating? Nobody's eating dude. It's a CD drive. To most geeks they're generally not worth the time to diagnose beyond the component level. It'd be like putting new ends on frayed cat5 cables. Real geeks will have spares of both
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: When in doubt, Google is your friend. Here is one (there are many) complaints. Type in "dvd drive problems Gateway" and you will see more. Here's the link to one solution LINK ( I don't know why "computer experts" don't suggest this first instead of telling you to get a new drive in a six month old machine) Because it's most likely a dead drive. So if the computer dies you go buy a new one? You don't troubleshoot the issue first? ETA: Ok, I'll give you my "best story" when I was doing tech support for Micron Caller: I bought this POS Micron because it's supposed to be this best! Me: I'm sorry sir, exactly what seems to be the issue? Caller: THE POS WON'T TURN ON! ARE YOU DEAF? Me: Ok, sir can we try a few things first? Caller: BIG SIGH. Ok, what do you want? Me (here I go through typical things like is it plugged in etc. Caller: YOU ARE A DUMB ASS! OF COURSE IT'S PLUGGED IN. DO YOU THINK I'M AN IDIOT!! Me. Can you reach the back of the machine and verify this for me sir, I also want you to reset the main power switch. Caller: I CAN'T SEE BACK THERE IT'S TOO DARK. Me (thinking WTF?) Sir, why is it too dark? CALLER: BECAUSE WE HAD A THUNDERSTORM AND THE POWER IS OUT! Me; Sir, the computer won't turn on because apparently you have no power. CALLER: YOU FUCKING IDIOT. THE SUPPLEMENTAL POWER SUPPLY IS STILL HOOKED UP? Me: (now I'm thinking this guy has an APC box of some kind so I apologize and ask if this is the case. Caller: GOOD GOD! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! IT'S HOOKED UP TO THE SAME POWER AS THE PHONE I'M TALKING TO YOU ON! YOU DO UNDERSTAND THAT PHONES WORK EVEN WHEN THE POWER GOES OUT DON"T YOU? Me: (trying not to laugh) Yes sir, but this is basically how your computer works. CALLER: "click" I'm not calling BS (seriously, I'm not!), but I've seen variations of that story posted everywhere for the last 9 or 10 years. |
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When in doubt, Google is your friend. Here is one (there are many) complaints. Type in "dvd drive problems Gateway" and you will see more. Here's the link to one solution LINK ( I don't know why "computer experts" don't suggest this first instead of telling you to get a new drive in a six month old machine) Because it's most likely a dead drive. So if the computer dies you go buy a new one? You don't troubleshoot the issue first? ETA: Ok, I'll give you my "best story" when I was doing tech support for Micron Caller: I bought this POS Micron because it's supposed to be this best! Me: I'm sorry sir, exactly what seems to be the issue? Caller: THE POS WON'T TURN ON! ARE YOU DEAF? Me: Ok, sir can we try a few things first? Caller: BIG SIGH. Ok, what do you want? Me (here I go through typical things like is it plugged in etc. Caller: YOU ARE A DUMB ASS! OF COURSE IT'S PLUGGED IN. DO YOU THINK I'M AN IDIOT!! Me. Can you reach the back of the machine and verify this for me sir, I also want you to reset the main power switch. Caller: I CAN'T SEE BACK THERE IT'S TOO DARK. Me (thinking WTF?) Sir, why is it too dark? CALLER: BECAUSE WE HAD A THUNDERSTORM AND THE POWER IS OUT! Me; Sir, the computer won't turn on because apparently you have no power. CALLER: YOU FUCKING IDIOT. THE SUPPLEMENTAL POWER SUPPLY IS STILL HOOKED UP? Me: (now I'm thinking this guy has an APC box of some kind so I apologize and ask if this is the case. Caller: GOOD GOD! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! IT'S HOOKED UP TO THE SAME POWER AS THE PHONE I'M TALKING TO YOU ON! YOU DO UNDERSTAND THAT PHONES WORK EVEN WHEN THE POWER GOES OUT DON"T YOU? Me: (trying not to laugh) Yes sir, but this is basically how your computer works. CALLER: "click" I'm not calling BS (seriously, I'm not!), but I've seen variations of that story posted everywhere for the last 9 or 10 years.
It always winds up with, "Sir, do you still have the original packaging that came with your computer? Yes? Good, box it up and send it back. You're too fucking stupid to own a computer." It's the second most popular geek forward behind the "top ten" list that includes "I'm stepping on the pedal and nothing's happening" and "my coffee cup holder broke". I'da called BS, but I've actually no-shit had the "pedal" call. |