Doesn't read cider on a laptop. What to do if the disc is not readable? Software reasons why the laptop does not read discs

If your drive does not play discs, do not rush to get a new one! Discs may not play for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the problem is not a faulty drive at all. If the DVD drive still fails, there are many ways to return it to working capacity. Below we will look at these methods, as well as tell you how you can play scratched discs.

Determining the nature of the problem

First of all, you should find out the nature of the malfunction. Check: your drive does not read all discs or only some of them. If some discs play on the drive, the problem is with the hardware. If it doesn't see any discs, the software may have malfunctioned.

First of all, you should try to restore the drive by removing software restrictions. With various failures in the operation of the OS, drives often refuse to play and record discs.

Software solution to disc playback problem

Remember what games and programs you have installed on your computer lately? Problems with disc playback may appear after installing virtual disc managers (Daemon Tools, Alcohol 120%, etc.). Also, the aforementioned problem may appear after installing games that create for their own needs. virtual disks which may conflict with one another. Sometimes the drive stops seeing discs after installation Nero- a program designed to burn discs.

To make sure that the reason is in the installed software, you should remove these programs. If the removal of programs did not bring results, do a system restore to the moment when the drive was still working.

If the drive works, try installing other versions remote programs, which will not interfere with reading discs. All unnecessary software should be removed from the computer device.

Another reason for problems with a DVD drive can be a driver glitch. To solve this problem, you need to enter the "Device Manager". To get into device Manager", you must first go to " Control Panel' and then go to the tab ' System". Or you can use the keyboard shortcut " win+pause", then select "Device Manager".


After removing the software mentioned above, virtual drives may remain in the device manager, which must be deleted with the right mouse button through the menu, then restart the computer and look at the result.
  • Go to the menu "View" and select "Show hidden devices»;
  • Find the "SPTD" driver in the device tree among the "Non Plug and Play Device Drivers";
  • After removing the driver, restart your computer.
All this can remain after installing virtual drives.

If the problem is not resolved:

  • Find among the "IDE ATA / ATAPI controllers" the controller to which your drive is connected. To do this, each channel should be opened in turn and check the "Device Type".
  • Opposite the “Enable DMA” option, check the box (if there was a checkmark, remove it, restart the computer and then install it again).
  • Often this is the only possible way make the DVD drive work in Windows 7.


If all else fails, try opening your drive in Device Manager and see which one is listed in its "DVD Region" settings. If the region is not selected, do not change anything, and if the left one is specified, change it to your own. Remember that you can only change the region five times!

What to do if hardware is faulty?

The first step is to replace the drive cable with a known good one, and also change the power plug.

The cause of the malfunction may be related to the accumulation of dust on the laser head. Having disassembled the disk drive, VERY CAREFUL clean the laser eye from dust with an ear stick dipped in purified gasoline or water.

In order not to disassemble the DVD drive, you can use a special cleaning disk. Brushes glued to such a disc will clean the laser head from dust. However, be aware that brushes that are too stiff can damage the laser head, so be sure to check that they are flexible enough before use.


Using a can of compressed air, you can try to blow the inside of the drive through the open tray. Upgrading the drive firmware may also help. You can download the new firmware from the DVD drive manufacturer's website. Strictly follow the instructions for installing the firmware.

The reason that the drive does not play discs may be a dead laser. With such a breakdown, they may not be read DVD discs and it is good to read CDs and vice versa, since a separate laser is provided for reading each type of disc. If none of the above helped you, your drive, most likely, has completely worked out its resource, therefore it must be replaced. Don't worry, drives are cheap these days.

How can you read a bad disc?

There are situations when the drive is working, but the disc does not play because there are scratches on its surface. Try sanding down the scratched disc first with a soft cloth. It is necessary to grind the disc from the center towards its edges. This will allow you to grind longitudinal scratches on its surface, which coincide with the tracks, and therefore are the most dangerous. Special tools are available for stripping discs, but there is little use for them; grinding by hand is much more convenient.

To read bad discs, there are a number of special programs, for example, free or paid. All these programs repeatedly try to read the bad sector, using various parameters for this. If these attempts fail, they simply move on, skipping that sector. Usage this method allows you to save as much information as possible. For video and audio files, the loss usually goes unnoticed.

We hope that the information above will help you save money on buying a new drive or looking for a solution to your DVD drive not recognizing discs.

If your CD/BD/DVD drive doesn't read discs, don't rush to get a new one! Drives for many reasons can begin to "work out". Perhaps the problem is not in the drive at all. And if the drive is to blame, then there are ways to bring it back to life. In this article I will tell you everything I know about this problem, and at the end of the article I will tell you how to read scratched discs!

Nature of the fault

First of all, you need to determine the nature of the malfunction. The DVD drive may not read all discs at all, or only some. Check it. If some discs are still readable, then the problem is in the hardware. How to solve it I will tell below.

If a computer or laptop does not see the disks at all, while you can hear that the drive recognized them and spun them, then the problem is most likely software. But if the drive tries to spin the disk several times, but stops trying, or does not even try to spin at all, or groans, creaks, then the problem is still in the equipment.

First of all, we will try to return the drive to its former agility by removing software restrictions. If the operating system fails, the drive may not recognize any disks, and immediately give errors. By the way, there may or may not be the same problems with recording discs.

Software solution to the problem

Remember what programs you installed recently, what games your children installed? common cause problems are virtual disk managers such as Alcohol 120% and Daemon Tools. Games can install virtual disks for their own needs, and they can conflict with each other. In some cases, the trouble appears after installing the Nero disc burning software.

To make sure that this is the problem, the advice is simple - remove such programs and look at the result. But the removal may not bring results if you do not roll back the state of the system when everything was still working. If everything worked, then we dig the problem in this direction: we try other analogues of programs, other versions, leaving only what is needed. In the case of "alcohol", try unchecking "Force other programs to detect discs as CD-ROM or DVD-ROM" in the program settings.

The second reason for the failure may be a driver error. To solve the problem, we need "". To enter the "Device Manager", open the "Control Panel -> System" or press the hot keys "Win + Pause" and select "Device Manager" on the left.

After removing the above software, the Device Manager may still have virtual drives See DVD and CD-ROM drives section. Delete them through the right-click menu, reboot and look at the result.

The next thing to do is:

  • Go to the "View" menu and select "Show hidden devices"
  • In the device tree, find the "SPTD" driver under the "Non-Plugin Device Drivers" branch
  • and reboot

This is all a legacy from virtual drives. If it doesn’t help, then go to the “IDE ATA / ATAPI controllers” section. Among the two or four channels of the controller, you need to find the one to which the DVD drive is connected. These four channels may be named differently, such as "Primary IDE Channel" and "Secondary IDE Channel", or "ATA Channel 0" and "ATA Channel 1", as in my picture. We open each in turn and look at the "Device Type".


We need to find a channel with a device type of "ATAPI CD-ROM drive" or something like that. Further:

  • We look at the checkbox "Enable DMA". Remove if available, or install if not.
  • Reboot, look at the result
  • If it works with the option disabled, then check the box again, reboot and check
  • We leave the working option, but it is highly desirable that the “Enable DMA” function be enabled.

In some cases this the only way make DVD-ROM work in Windows 7/10. The "SATA AHCI" controller does not apply to this case.

Another loophole to straighten the brains of the drive is to change the region in the settings. To do this, in the Device Manager, open your drive and on the "DVD Region" tab, look at the current region. If it says "Current region: Not selected", then do not touch anything. And if some “left” one is selected, then we try to change it to our own. The number of attempts to change the region is only 5! In complete desperation, you can try to change the region from the "Not selected" state to some other one. But you can reset it back only by flashing it.

To be sure to rule out software problem, you will need any boot disk. It can be any installation disk Windows versions, or "rescue disk", doesn't matter. Your task is simple. If the download is successful, but the same disk is not readable in your Windows, then you can confidently talk about system problems in the operating system.

Let's try to restore the system to working parameters. Run (cmd.exe) and execute two commands in turn:

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

The commands are executed for quite a long time, after the end of the work you need to reboot. They check system files, and in case of deviation from the original options, they are automatically restored from storage. During the recovery process, you may be asked installation disk with Windows or flash drive.

What to do if the problem is in the hardware

First of all, I advise you to replace the cable with a known working one and change the power plug to another one. This completes the repair.

During operation, the DVD drive collects dust, which partially settles on the laser head. Due to dust, the drive may not read discs well, or not open them at all. It would be a good idea to disassemble the drive and VERY CAREFULLY clean the laser eye from dust with an ear stick lightly moistened with water or gasoline.

But not everyone can disassemble a disc reader. In this case, special cleaning discs can help, i.e. CDs with glued brushes. When the drive tries to recognize the disc, it spins it and the brushes brush the dust off the laser head.

Due to excessively hard brushes, there have been cases of damage to the laser head. The brushes must be flexible and come with a lubricant.

Alternatively, you can CAREFULLY blow the insides of the drive through the open tray using a can of compressed air, as an option.

Sometimes updating the firmware of the drive helps. New firmware you need to look on the manufacturer's website and clearly follow the instructions for its installation.

A dying laser is a common thing. Due to a low laser, CD discs can be poorly read, but DVDs can be read perfectly and vice versa, because each type of disc has its own laser. Probably, the drive worked out its own, if none of the above helped. Do not worry and buy a new one, since today they are inexpensive.

How to read a worn disk

When everything is in order with the drive, but there is a scratched disc that really needs to be read, then try sanding the disc with a soft cloth. Be sure to sand from the center to the edges! With this we will grind the most dangerous - longitudinal scratches, because. they match the tracks. I once tried a special device for stripping disks, but I didn’t feel any benefit, it’s better with my own hands 🙂

To read at least something from a defective disk, there is special programs, such as paid or free Unstoppable Copier . Programs many times with various parameters trying to read the bad sector, and if nothing happens, just skip it and move on. In this way, you can save everything that is possible. As a rule, for audio and video, the loss is not noticeable. In the bonus video below the article, I recorded it using the Unstoppable Copier program.

I hope I saved you time looking for the right information or money to buy a new drive. If everything worked out or, conversely, it didn’t work out, leave a comment, we’ll discuss it!

Edited: 2018-07-03

My name is Alexey Vinogradov I am the author of this wonderful site. I am fond of computers, programs, programming. Over 20 years of experience and a lot of spent nerves behind me :)

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    First, if a user encounters a similar problem, then he should check whether he reads discs at all or only some. If it still reads some part of the disks, then most likely the problem lies in software used on the computer. If it does not read discs at all, then most likely the problem lies in the drive itself. You should remember which virtual disk managers you have used recently. Quite often, this kind of malfunction occurs due to internal conflicts with programs such as Daemon Tools, Alcohol 120%, and even with Nero. Solving such a problem is quite simple - just remove such managers and reinstall the DVD in the appropriate drive.

    Malfunction in drivers

    If the problem is still not resolved, then you should check the health of the drive drivers optical discs. To do this, you need to go to the "Control Panel" and select the "System" item, where the "Device Manager" is located. In the "DVD and CD-ROM drives" field, delete all virtual drives and restart the computer. After that, go to the "View" menu and select "Show hidden devices". In the device branch, find the "SPTD" driver in the "Non-Plugin Device Drivers" branch, remove the driver and reboot and check the operation of the device.

    The problem with the lines

    In some cases, the problem may lie in the IDE and SATA cables that go from the optical drive to the motherboard. The user just needs to connect another cable and check the performance of the drive. In addition, you can simply install the cable in another connector on motherboard. It will not be superfluous to purchase a special CD for cleaning the laser head. Fortunately, it is inexpensive (about 150-200 rubles), but it will help solve an urgent problem if it lies precisely in the contamination of the laser head. Of course, you can always clean it yourself. To do this, you need to turn off the drive and remove the cover from it, then gently wipe the laser with a cotton swab. It is worth noting that in no case should you use acetone, alcohol or other aggressive liquids to clean the head, since in this case, you will simply lose your drive. You won't find anything better than just water. In addition, when connecting a drive, be vigilant and attentive, as an incorrectly installed cable can also deprive you of the drive.

    Here's how it happens: arrange a day off, buy an interesting movie, prepare everything you need for a romantic date, call your girlfriend. And suddenly a wonderful evening that has not even begun will turn into a real problem - the computer's drive will completely refuse to read any media. So, if the drive does not see the disc, what should I do? First, don't worry. There are not so many reasons for this malfunction to repair a computer all day. Secondly, get comfortable and get ready to read this material. The article contains the most common problems that negatively affect the operation of the drive, as well as ways to solve them.

    First solution to the problem

    Let's start with the easiest - with autorun settings. They can easily go astray, but, unfortunately, they are unable to return to their original parameters on their own. If the drive does not see the disk precisely because of them, the user's task is greatly facilitated. After all, the problem can be fixed in just a few seconds: you need to go to "My Computer", right-click on the drive shortcut and click on "Properties". In the menu that appears, go to autorun and already there in a couple of mouse clicks with a non-working drive. After carrying out these simple steps, it is not necessary to restart the computer at all, since the new settings are applied instantly.

    What else could be causing it?

    The second trifle, which, however, can also prevent the drive from working stably, is a non-enabled drive in the device manager. In this case, you only need to turn it on: you can do it with one click. But it is important to know exactly where the necessary button is located. In the menu of the above dispatcher, it is located in the "using devices" window. By the way, it is important to first see if the drive is turned on and only after that change something there. Otherwise, you can turn off the “formally” working drive, jeopardizing the success of all further attempts to heal the computer by this action.

    If the above manipulations did not help, there is no need to rush to exit the device manager. In its menu, you can perform another operation that can help solve the problem with the drive. It is possible that the drive is not working simply because something happened to its driver. To test this, you need to completely remove installed driver: You can do this all in the same device manager. After it is successfully removed, you will need to restart your computer. After booting up again, the system will help the user to download from the Internet and install new driver. If after that the drive still does not see the disk, you will have to take more decisive action.

    Let's dig into the registry

    If the drive works, but does not see the discs, the problem may be in programs designed to create images, if any, of course, were once installed on the computer. Such programs sometimes leave completely unnecessary "traces" in the registry, which are easy to remove, but difficult to find. It will be much easier to return to a certain point when the drive was still working and successfully performing its tasks. By the way, many users make a mistake when they remove the harmful programs themselves, and not the culprits of the problems “registered” in the registry. Help clean the system from unnecessary "garbage" can CCleaner, which is one of the most popular programs for She, although she will not fix the drive, will make the process of repairing it as fast and comfortable as possible.

    Are the loops to blame?

    Have you “climbed the system” enough, are you very tired and want to relax? You will have such a chance right now, and without prejudice to the time of repairing your computer. The fact is that the drive may refuse to work for the reason that the cables connecting it to the motherboard have come off. In this case, you need to parse system unit. And there already disconnect and reconnect all the cables leading from the drive to the PC. If the user does not understand well in "all these strange pieces of iron", he does not need to disassemble anything at all - it is better to attract people who can find the necessary loops and correctly carry out the necessary actions. The same advice should be given to happy owners of laptops - no need to try to fix something where nothing is clear! You can make sure that the problem is in the loose contact in the BIOS: if the drive is not displayed there, then you may have come very close to solving the problem. By the way, wandering through the BIOS menu, understanding absolutely nothing there, is also not worth it - you can lose the system.

    User, help yourself!

    When wondering why the drive does not see the disk, people often completely forget that the problem may be in the system itself. If this is the case, you will need to alternately install various antiviruses and scan the system for vulnerabilities. By the way, not only specialized programs for searching for viruses can help. It successfully searches for system vulnerabilities and instantly eliminates them with the Advanced System Care program, which can also optimize the system in the meantime.

    Cleaning the drive: why is it needed

    Have you tried all the ways to solve the problem, but the drive still does not see the disk? Perhaps he was just very dusty. It is not recommended to disassemble and clean it yourself. It is better to buy a special cleaning disc, which, thanks to the presence of special cleaning brushes, can do its job very well. It is important, when purchasing it, to pay attention to the softness of the cleaning devices - too hard, inflexible brushes can scratch the drive laser.

    One problem and one solution!

    If it is the CD drive that does not see the disc, it is possible that it simply does not support it. In order for absolutely all discs to be played on the computer, you need to buy a multidrive. Nothing helps to eliminate the problem that the drive does not see the disk, despite numerous attempts to "cure" it? Then just make sure that the problem is in it and go to the store for a new drive. Nowadays, thanks to rapidly developing technologies, you can buy a high-speed, high-tech drive: it will please its owner not only because it works, but also with a high recording speed.

    Updated - 2017-03-04

    Windows does not see the drive. What only surprises does not present us with a computer. You go to bed and don't know if it will turn on tomorrow? or anywhere else? It used to worry me too. The most interesting thing is that the surprises are constantly different. At one fine moment, I suddenly discovered that the disk drive icon disappeared in my system in the My Computer folder. It's just that Windows doesn't see the drive. What to do? First you need to check the drive itself.

    The drive tray itself slides out and accepts discs, which means that the problem is either:

    1. in a train
    2. in the drive
    3. in the drive controller.

    Most likely, the reason is in the drive itself. But it doesn't hurt to check.

    If before that the drive worked fine, then let's try to do it.

    If for some reason it is impossible to restore the system, then we check if our drive is visible in the BIOS.

    If the drive is not detected in the BIOS, then we check the cable (cable) that connects the drive to the motherboard. If possible, replace it with a known working one.

    I checked the drive with a working cable, but it is still not detected. Then we try to connect the drive to another computer to determine its performance.

    If the drive is working, then enter " device Manager» ( Start - Settings - Control Panel - System - Hardware - Device Manager) . Check at the bottom of the tab " Are common» in the window « Device Application » whether the device itself is turned on. If it is off, then turn it on through the same window (just select the entry “ This device is in use (enabled) ».

    Let's see if the entry contains " DVD and CD-ROM drives » our drive. And is there an exclamation mark on a yellow background in front of the entry.

    If there is an exclamation mark opposite the drive, then we try to remove the drive driver (double-click on the name of the drive, select the tab " Driver"and press the button" Delete"). We restart the computer.

    After the reboot, the system should detect the drive itself and load the driver.

    If the drive and the cable are working, then this should help, and if not, then most likely it will have to.

    Let's try to load any bootable disk, having previously installed in BIOS boot from the CD drive. If the boot occurs and the drive opens, and Windows still does not see the drive, then we have a problem with operating system. Here it is already necessary to first check the system for viruses, and then delve into the .

    In the meantime, you can play in the casino for money. Maybe you'll get lucky.

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