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 from

recognizing the drive.

Test the drive —

Insert another floppy disk, CD, or DVD to eliminate the possibility that the original media is defective.

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 spindle

Check the cable connections

Check for hardware incompatibilities —

See

Troubleshooting Software and Hardware Problems in the Windows Vista®

Run the Dell Diagnostics —

See

Dell

Diagnostics.

Optical drive problems

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.

Problems writing to a CD-RW or DVD+/-RW drive

Close 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 before

you write to the drive.

Turn off Sleep state in Windows before writing to a CD/DVD disc —

See

Using the Sleep Power State

Change the write speed to a slower rate —

See the help files for your CD or DVD creation software.

The drive tray cannot eject

1. 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.

recognizes the drive —

for information on Sleep state.

Operating System.