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General discussion

Sony Notebook CD/DVD Drive wont read software CD's

Jul 27, 2004 3:22AM PDT

My Sony Vaio notebook will not read software CD's. I've uninstalled the Drive and reinstalled it. It will read music CD's and any other CD, but if the CD is software to be installed, it spins away, when I open the F Drive manually, it shows blank. NO, the CD is not damaged as it can be installed on another laptop or desktop. I've also installed the CD Recovery Disk - it seems to read that just fine... Anyone have any suggestions?

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Re: Sony Notebook CD/DVD Drive wont read software CD's
Jul 27, 2004 4:46AM PDT

My killer test is this.

1. Use a CD lens cleaner.
2. Boot from a silver factory made CD.

No boot? Replace the CD drive.

It's a common sign of an aging drive for it to become finicky, read some disks and not others. It's not fun to watch an owner go into denial mode for a month or two while they search for drivers and firmware. But it happens.

Bob

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Re: Sony Notebook CD-Drive wont read software CD's - to Bob
Jul 28, 2004 3:47AM PDT

Bob, thanks for the info. Now the next question- Do you recommend any special brand of CD "Lens" cleaner? Whats a silver factory CD? I tried loading the original CD-DVD Recovery Disk and it loaded fine. Are you recommending something different?
Last question - is replacing the F-Drive a simple procedure for a novice? This laptop just turned 2 yrs old - I cant believe the F drive is shot already.
Thanks... J

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Re: Sony Notebook CD-Drive wont read software CD's - to Bob
Jul 28, 2004 4:02AM PDT

1. Do you recommend any special brand of CD "Lens" cleaner?

I use one I got at walmart. It's a simple affair. But worth using as a last resort.

2. Whats a silver factory CD? I tried loading the original CD-DVD Recovery Disk and it loaded fine. Are you recommending something different?

That's a good test. It means that the drive is totally gone yet. BUT if you have trouble with recorded CDs then it's either dirt on the lens or the laser has degraded.

3, Last question - is replacing the F-Drive a simple procedure for a novice? This laptop just turned 2 yrs old - I cant believe the F drive is shot already.

My laptop had one fail at 3 months. It was very easy to replace. Read

http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-7587-0.html?forumID=69&threadID=28673&messageID=324924

Bob