Windows 10: Is there a way to bench test cd drive to rule out hardware problem.

Dell Inspiron 5720
Windows 10 Home 64 bit – Version 1511

Problem: CD will not work - it spins when a cd is loaded then nothing. The drive shows up under computer. I have uninstalled the driver and asked windows to find the best driver for it - did not work. The drive tell that it is working properly but yet I cannot play pre recorded music or use it to store data. Have cleaned the unit well to make sure the laser could read the data. I have installed an external cd/dvd player and that works well.
I can replace the internal drive without too much problem but I am wondering if there is a way to determine if it really is hardware and not software.
Thanks for reading,




:)

 

Is there a possible way to find out if your Windows 10 device is dual core or quad core?

Hi James Michael Albert,

I tried typing in "dxdiag", and it did work. Unexpectedly, it does not say whether it is quad core or dual core. Chances are that it is none. To answer your question, I own a Lenovo G50 Windows 10 laptop, which was originally bought as a Windows 8.1
device, but was later updated. Thanks for your interest in helping me.

Your Sincerely,

Mohammad Aziz

 

Is there a possible way to find out if your Windows 10 device is dual core or quad core?

question is... what device? laptop desktop or phone

if youre using a laptop or desktop you can type dxdiag in cortana or open file explorer then right click
This PC

 

You need to manually download and install that driver from Dell. Most of the time, windows will just use the generic OS driver for hardware and tell you it's the right one, which in fact it's not.
Product Support | Dell US

 

Updated all drivers listed for my service tag and the optical/CD/DVD still does not work.
Thanks for trying.

 

Every optical drive (CD, DVD, BD) that I've used in the last 15 years or longer has only used the Microsoft drivers. No custom drivers were available. Post #2 is probably off the mark.

One possible hardware test: if you have a bootable CD or DVD, try to boot the PC using it. If you can, then there is probably some sort of corruption in Windows. (Commonly, bad Registry entries.)

 

Tried bootable CD with same results (spins a few times, makes some clicking noises) then nothing. Device manager tells me the correct driver for this optical drive is working properly. Which bad Registry entries are you referring to?

 

Bad Registry entries? I've not suffered from any. Others have. Example:

Windows 10 - my dvd/cd drive is not recognised, at all

This probably will be useless to you. I guess that your optical drive needs replacement. I see them on eBay for as little as $15, with free shipping. (That's used but tested.)

 

If you looked at the OP description....the make/model is a Dell Laptop and ever laptop that I've ever worked on has a CD/DVD driver/software package and the same for most OEM PC's that have a CD/DVD. Now for custom builds....then yes.....your statement would be correct.

 

Really? I'm mostly familiar with desktops. Some of which (Dell) came with laptop-type drives. I never saw any custom drivers for opticals. My home desktops have all been custom builds (since 1997).

Regardless, Dell seems to offer no custom drivers for optical drives for the Inspiron 5720. The only download that I see is a firmware update for a (Plextor?) BD drive. Not even any burner software. That leads me to believe that it is intended to use the Microsoft drivers.

That aside, if the OP can't boot from the optical drive, I still think it's a deader.

 

Thank you all for your suggestions. I have decided that with all of the software/driver troubleshooting that has been done and the odd clicking noise the drive makes the diagnosis is a dead piece of hardware. I will order one from Ebay today. At least it is an inexpensive piece of hardware and one easily replaced.
Again thank to all who responded. May you enjoy your day.