Fill out the Diagnostics Checklist as you complete these checks.Ensure that Microsoft® Windows® recognizes the drive —l Click Start and click Computer.If the drive is not listed, perform a full scan with your antivirus software to check for and remove viruses. Viruses can sometimes prevent Windows fromrecognizing the drive.Test the drive —l Insert another floppy disk, CD, or DVD to eliminate the possibility that the original media is defective.l Insert a bootable floppy disk and restart the computer.Clean the drive or disk —See Cleaning Your Computer.Ensure that the CD or DVD media is snapped onto the spindleCheck the cable connectionsCheck for hardware incompatibilities —See Troubleshooting Software and Hardware Problems in the Windows Vista® Operating System.Run the Dell Diagnostics —See Dell Diagnostics.Optical drive problemsProblems writing to a CD-RW or DVD+/-RW driveClose other programs —CD-RW and DVD+/-RW drives must receive a steady stream of data when writing. If the stream is interrupted, an error occurs. Try closing all programs beforeyou write to the drive.Turn off Sleep state in Windows before writing to a CD/DVD disc —See Using the Sleep Power State for information on Sleep state.Change the write speed to a slower rate —See the help files for your CD or DVD creation software.The drive tray cannot eject1. Ensure that the computer is shut down.2. Straighten a paper clip and insert one end into the eject hole at the front of the drive, then push firmly until the tray is partially ejected.NOTE: High-speed optical drive vibration is normal and may cause noise, which does not indicate a defect in the drive or the media.NOTE: Because of different regions worldwide and different disc formats, not all DVD titles work in all DVD drives.
