Lost HD for CDs

[mich]

I have lost my HD for using CDs, I can load a CD but nothing happens and it eventually ejects.
Any suggestions "Vista 32b home"

 

[townsbg]

Do you mean that something is wrong with your cd drive? If so specifically cd's or dvd's? You can try cleaning it with one of those cleaning disks but they don't last forever. I've had to replace one before.

 

[mich]

It works mechanically but is not playing the CD, if I go to computer and click on CD/DVD drive (E) it says choose a CD and then ejects the one I loaded. Sorry for not explaining better.

 

[Vistaar]

Are you expecting the CD to AutoPlay in Windows Media Player, which you reported problems with in July 2018? If so, maybe see if you can play a CD using VLC (which currently still supports Vista, although upcoming 4.x versions will not). But townsbg could be right: It might be hardware. Does your Windows 10 laptop perhaps have a DVD drive?

 

[wither 3]

Instead of clicking on the disc in the drive in Computer, right click on it. Is there a Play with............ selection?

If not, open Windows Media Player. Select Music (Not Music\Library.............) The disc will probably show up as an unknown album. Right click on it and select Play. Does that work?

 

[mich]

@Vistaar It will not auto play in either WMP or VLC it has been this way for a while but I was not really concerned as my new Dell PC had a CD drive that was perfect unfortunately the new PC developed a problem that neither their local technician or 2 of their virtual technicians could fix so the supplied a replacement PC but as the faulty one was now obsolete supplied a later model and it was only a couple of days ago that I found out it does not have a CD drive, I suppose they will be a thing of the past now, I think the problem with my faulty CD drive could have happened when WMP suddenly started to work. I do have an old HP PC, which I will have to fire up as it had a good CD drive.

@wither 3
In WMP it shows ‘no disc in drive “E”

Right clicking on drive in Computer does not give a play with option.

 

[wither 3]

Can you open a DVD in WMP?

 

[mich]

Yes after a bit of jigging around I got a DVD to play in WMP also played in VLC,

 

[townsbg]

The laser for the CD may be out. Do you have a known good one to check in that computer and another computer to check that one in? As I said they don't last forever. You might also try a bootable linux disk and test it from there.

 

[mich]

The actual audio CD is OK, I have tried a CD with programs on which I use to install on PC and that wont play, I have tried a DVD-RW and that works OK.
I have been onto Dell about the new PC not having an optical CD drive and they are sending an external drive at no cost so I can try that on my "not playing desk top" when it arrives, why does it read DVDs OK and not CDs??

 

[townsbg]

I thought that CDs and DVDs use different lasers but that doesn't seem to be the case. I know that how the lasers are used is different but beyond that I don't know how it would work for DVDs but not CDs.

 

[wither 3]

Run regedit.exe to open the Registry Editor

If you are antsy about editing the registry, click on File, Export. Export the registry to a location you can remember. This may take a few minutes. You could also simply set a system restore point.

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class.

Open the Class key. Find this-

{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Open it. It should show your drive.

In the results that appear on the window on the right, locate the UpperFilters and LowerFilters values. Note that both values may not be present.

If present, right-click or tap-and-hold on UpperFilters and choose Delete.

Choose Yes to the "Deleting certain registry values could cause system instability. Are you sure you want to permanently delete this value?" question.

Repeat with the LowerFilters value, if present.

Note: You might also see an UpperFilters.bak or LowerFilters.bak value but you do not need to delete either of these.

Close the Registry Editor.

Restart your computer.

Retry a CD in WMP.

 

[Vistaar]

I still don't understand why wither 3 rarely posts a link. The Microsoft instructions paraphrased above can be found HERE. Among the many omitted parts, this might concern mich:

Note After you remove the UpperFilters registry entry and the LowerFilters registry entry, you may lose functionality in certain programs, such as CD recording programs. In this scenario, you must reinstall any affected programs. If this problem occurs again, contact the program vendor to determine whether an update is available for the program.

 

[mich]

Thanks guys, It is going to be at least a couple of days before I get onto this as I am in the process of changing Banks which I have done a few times in the past no problems but this time there are so many hoops to jump through it is taking for ever and I need a reliable PC, so please be patient with me.

 

[wither 3]

I didn't post a link because I was going by my notes.

 

[Vistaar]

The actual audio CD is OK, I have tried a CD with programs on [it] which I use to install on PC and that wont play, I have tried a DVD-RW and that works OK.

Sounds like just a bad data disk. I would burn another one, and I wouldn't use an RW disk for anything important.

 

[wither 3]

The ability to play either a CD and not a DVD or vice versa on a PC, is commonly fixed by removing the filters. I have all kinds of video and audio software on my system and it's never caused a problem. I've recommended it to people many times and it always fixed the problem.

 

[Vistaar]

The actual audio CD is OK, I have tried a CD with programs on which I use to install on PC and that wont play,

A CD-R with only data (files) on it isn't actually supposed to "play."

 

[Vistaar]

I've recommended it to people many times and it always fixed the problem.

In that case, why don't you post a link to one of your success stories? Preferably a case where audio CDs played but data CDs did not.

 

[wither 3]

If he's talking about a data disc (other than an audio CD), then he should be able to see it's contents when he explores it in Windows Explorer. I agree it shouldn't play. Obviously, I've been going on the premise it was an audio CD.