Disc Drive - Broken

Alright this has been ongoing for a few months but I've ignored it up until now, I finally need some answers.

The problem first started when my computer would not boot up, no matter how much times I tried. Finally it started working again randomly.

Now every time I start up my PC it takes quite a long time to enter Windows compared to before, and sometimes I need to restart my PC a few times before it finally boots up.

When I'm up and running, everything works fine BUT when I load any type of CD into the disc drive it won't read, nothing shows up. Even in my bios it doesn't show my hard drive anywhere.

The question I have is if I buy a new disc drive, will all my files be deleted on my PC and will I have to re-install Windows 7 again? Cheers.

You're talking about two different things and naming them the same. CD Drive and Hard Drive.

How stupid of me, shows how much I know about PC's - not a lot as you can probably tell. I thought the Disc Drive and Hard Drive were the same thing, anyways I don't know what the problem is then?

I think it might be the Hard Drive, which would explain why I'm having problems booting up my computer but than why is my disc drive not reading discs either? Argh! Could it be that both are gone?

what? you trollin?

I'm new to PC gaming, my friend built this PC for me not me. I thought the disc drive and hard drive were the same thing, I even did a Google search and people were saying they're the same thing but just a different name to use for them. So sorry for the confusion.

I guess if it's my hard drive playing up I'll lose everything unless I back my files up. I'd just like to know what's wrong exactly, and if a nooby like me can tackle the problem.

Run a chkdsk /R on the OS Hard Drive. See if that helps and makes things better first.

Google how to do it.

Thanks Felipe. I'll see what happens.

@FelipeInside: Alright, so I just finished doing a check on Local Disc C and Local Disc D. I don't think it found any problems because it booted me back into Windows and I saw something say 0 problems were found.

But what confuses me, is why does my computer not boot up sometimes, and it takes a few restarts before it does. Also when I put a disc into my drive I hear it spinning but nothing shows up on my desktop? How should I approach this problem?

Thanks for the help so far Felipe.

I think you just did a chkdsk /f, not a chkdsk /r cause the later takes about 1-2 hours.

I'll show you the steps:

0) back up your important data FIRST

1) run Command Prompt AS ADMINISTRATOR

2) make sure it says C:\ at the front

3) if not, type "C:" and it will change to "C:\"

4) type "chkdsk /R"

5) it will show a message about taking over the drive, just say yes

6) it will say it needs to restart, so restart and it will go into a page similar to this: http://www.simplyguides.net/images/guides/recovery_console/chkdsk.jpg

7) let it do it's thing (DO NOT TURN OFF PC) till it restarts and goes back to Windows

8) see how the speed is

I did that, I was doing the check disc and all up it was about an hour or so. My disc drive is still not reading discs though, I've went into device manager too and it says they're healthy and there's no problems. This is driving me crazy.

Could it be the actual DVD/RW lens needs cleaning? I've had a quick look online again and some people have reported by doing this it reads discs again and the problem is fixed.

I think we have two different issues here:

1) the DVD drive could just be dead, it happens more than you think. Do you have a spare one you can test? If not just buy a new one or lend one from a friend.

2) Windows not booting could be a hundred different things at this stage. I personally don't think it has to do with the DVD Drive but just in case, unplug the DVD Drive and test Windows for a few days.

If you don't feel comfortable opening the PC, then get a friend to look at it or take it to a shop, better safe than breaking stuff.

True, but the weird thing is when I put a disc inside the DVD drive I can hear it spinning but nothing loads, so it seems to me it's still working but something is preventing it from reading discs maybe a mechanism is jammed? Which is why I thought about cleaning the lens.

Also sometimes I can boot up my PC just fine but for a few seconds on start-up there's a black screen and it says "Loading operating system" then it boots up normally, other times it just gets stuck on that screen and I have to restart my PC for it to work. Would you know anything about that?

A Dead DVD Drive can still spin, it might be just a dead laser.

As for the Windows issue, like I said, it could be anything at this stage. Could be hard drive is dying, could be you need to update your video card drivers, could be a program causing it...etc etc. Disconnect the DVD Drive if you think it's related.

Thanks for the help so far Felipe I appreciate it. I don't know what to do at this stage, but I'll see if updating my video card drivers help with anything (I haven't updated my drivers in a long time, unless they update automatically?).

Could you suggest which drivers to go for on my EVGA 1GB GTX 460?

No problem.

I always install official drivers for my video cards: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Make sure you choose the option for "CLEAN INSTALL"

I just read everything. I think that at this point once you've tried to install new drivers and everything that Felipe has told you to, then I think a new install of windows is your best bet. That way you can tell for sure whether or not it's just a bad install or program conflict.

In addition, just double check all the connections to your motherboard. Never know if something isn't plugged in all the way.

Appreciate your time for reading everything, thanks to both @FelipeInside and you for the helpful tips. I've just downloaded the latest drivers but every time I boot up my PC the screen goes black and for about 5-10 seconds (sometimes even longer) on the top it'll say "Loading operating system" then boot me into Windows.

The DVD drive is definitely gone, because when I put a CD or DVD inside nothing reads, so I'll need a new one for sure which shouldn't be a problem. Now I'm just worried as to why that "Loading operating system" message comes up, is that normal? I don't think it is because sometimes it'll be stuck on that screen and I'll have to restart the PC a few times for it to boot properly.

I really hope the Hard Drive isn't on it's way out.

Mmm...usually it's there after I bluescreen, but otherwise, it's not. Again, it could just be a bad install and not a HDD failure at all. Have you done any virus scans lately? I would double check that before trying a reinstall of windows. (Which if you do reinstall, make sure to back everything up because you WILL lose everything otherwise.).

That's the weird thing, no bluescreens or anything of that sort. Even the health of my Hard Drive is showing up as fine with no errors. I have been running with this install of Windows 7 for about 4 years now with no problems, only recently it's been acting this way.

As far as viruses go, I have Microsoft Security Essentials running and I make sure to do a full scan as often as I can, I've had no viruses take over my PC (tap on wood) and make sure it's up to date with everything so this really baffles me.

Like Felipe said it could be anything, I just wish I knew what it was so I could put an end to this. Maybe a fresh install might do the trick like you've recommended.

If the OS is 4 years old then you are due for a reinstall anyways, will make everything faster.

Make sure you back everything up first, and then maybe even look at installing Windows 8 if you can afford a license.

Cheers, actually just last night I changed the boot sequence on my PC, the primary was to boot from the Hard Drive then the second was the CD-ROM (so I disabled the CD-ROM option) than I enabled quick boot.

What baffles me now, is not only does it take way longer for my PC to boot, but once I'm in Windows 7 everything lags like crazy for a while and every application is slow to respond, whereas before it was quick and snappy.

You're definitely right on needing a reinstall but if I was to do that I'd have to upgrade to a Windows 8 copy, I think I've had enough of Windows 7 time to try something new.

Another silly question though, is there a way to save the games I've installed on Steam? So I don't have to download every single one of them when I upgrade to a new OS? Thanks Felipe.

Depends on the game but most of them will work if you just copy the Steam folder to an external drive. Search Google and there are step by step guides.

Steam also has a "backup" feature where you can back up each game manually.

If you want things to be snappy you need to stop non essential programs from starting up when you boot up. Google how to do it.

Things were already snappy, it's just after I changed the boot sequence everything is slow now. Not sure what went wrong but yeah.

@FelipeInside thanks again man.