DVD±R/W drive won't R/W -_-'

[Tyenkrovy]

I've had a Hewlett Packard 640i DVD±R/W drive for a good 3 or 4 months now, and it's worked fine 'til now, had no problem burning DVDs and CDs on it. Now, all of a sudden, it won't read or write anything. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the driver for it, and looked on HP's site, and got nada. Did various permutations of Google searches on the matter as well and came up empty.

Does anyone have an idea of what might be causing this? Nothing I've installed recently should have had this effect, as they had nothing to do with the drives or anything.

[Momentum]

Have you tried downloading the LATEST driver? And any error messages popping up?

[Tyenkrovy]

Installed the most up to date driver straight from HP's site several times. And there are no error messages, it simply behaves as though there was no disk in the drive at all.

[Momentum]

How about trying a CD Lens Cleaner?

[Tyenkrovy]

I considered it, though I currently don't have one.

Edit: It's also hesitant about opening the tray when I press the button on the face of the drive. When I press it, I can distinctly hear some mechanism inside, as if it has to try several times to open. However, if I tell the tray to open through Windows, it has no problem. It's rather perplexing.

[Chrono Detector]

Probably your DVD writer is broken. Happened to me, if you still have warranty, you can replace it.

Or use a Windows 98 bootup disk and see if you can access the CD drive during the DOS setup, if that works, that means one of your Windows files is corrupted. If not, then your DVD writer is broken.

[db]

Mine stopped working after 2-3 days when I got my new laptop. After like 1 year, I decided to dust off that part and it started to work for some reason xD.

One recommends reseatting the drive.

[Tyenkrovy]

Thanks, guys. I'll check the connections and see if that has any effect, and if not I'll try the cleaner and the startup disk.

[DireCry]

If you put in a disc and it loads up then its definatley the laser. What software are you using to burn DVDs?

[Chrono Detector]

Instead of using that Windows 98 startup disk do you have a bootable Windows XP disk or any bootable CD disk that boots up before it boots into Windows? I highly suggest that.

And you should open your computer up and see if the cable is loose or anything.

[Tyenkrovy]

If you put in a disc and it loads up then its definatley the laser. What software are you using to burn DVDs?
It doesn't load up any disks on the HP dvd640. The thing about the software - Ahead Nero, that is - is that I had no problems with it up until now.

Instead of using that Windows 98 startup disk do you have a bootable Windows XP disk or any bootable CD disk that boots up before it boots into Windows? I highly suggest that.
If I ever find my damned XP disk, I'l try.

And you should open your computer up and see if the cable is loose or anything.
Already tried that -_-'

[Yuki]

Probably your DVD writer is broken. Happened to me, if you still have warranty, you can replace it.

Or use a Windows 98 bootup disk and see if you can access the CD drive during the DOS setup, if that works, that means one of your Windows files is corrupted. If not, then your DVD writer is broken.

It happened to me too... I had to buy a new DVD writer ;_;

[II Xion II]

I would start by checking the interface connection (IDE or whatnot to mobo), as that could be a problem. Do you see the drive listed in My Computer?

Swap out drives if you have any and see if it is either the connection or the drive that is the problem. If it is the drive (which it seems that it is), contact the manufacturer and check your warranty's validity. If it is still valid, send it back, if not then I guess you can try tinkering with the insides of the drive to check for obvious disconnections or part. (do not do this if it is under warranty). You might also want to check to see that the tray is properly seated.

[Chrono Detector]

Another suggestion is to replace the IDE cable, its quite cheap. See if that solves the problem.

When you boot up your computer, do you see the DVD drive being detected or in the BIOS?