CD Rom won't open

Hum. I've had some trays get stubborn, but never completely bad, and they were much older. Those of mine that didn't want to open were only sticking like drawers. They usually responded to well-timed sharp taps with the fingertips, often needing more than one start and bop in the snoot to jar them loose. Wiping with a rag with a little silicone lubricant made them happier. If the problem is not friction but something mechanical that has gone bad, you may or may not be skrewt. But a replacement shouldn't cost a limb.

Bear in mind, I know more about desktops, and most lappies hate me. Even though I am always very nice to them.

ETA: Ha ha, CaoPaux the brave!

Buy a second hand one. Unless you are handy and can fix it.

Is this a desktop or laptop? I seem to recall the Presario name used for both. I've got a Presario desktop that's from, I think, before Compaq bought HP.

Desktop CDROM drives are cheap to buy and easy to replace. Got screwdriver? Just do it.

For a laptop, the drive is kinda hard to get to and not really "user servicable" but you can buy an external CD-ROM drive with a USB cable on it. These are cheap enough I wouldn't try to replace the internal one, but if you REALLY need to use the INTERNAL CD-ROM drive, take the whole computer in to be fixed. Many or all of these external drives are powered by the USB port, so you don't need anything else. Just plug'n'pray.

By now you may not be able to buy CD-ROM only drives, they also read and write DVD discs. But surely you're not interested in watching DVD's on your computer...

... in the movie 'The Longest Day,' a Brittish officier spoke of the way he got anything mechanical to work. As his aunt said, "You just give the contraption a good kick." Worked for getting an army jeep going, and might also for your computer. G'luck.

Depending on the problem, you might be able to get it open the software way - right click on the drive's shortcut and there'll be an 'eject' option.

Go to My Computer for an easier view

Perks said:

Ah! That I'd be interested to try, but when I go to Window Explorer, the only two drives listed are my C: drive and the D: drive partition for recovery. Am I looking at the wrong?

Click to expand...

Hmm...and yet you say you can get the drive working?
Try what backslashbaby suggests, open 'My Computer' from the Start menu. It should show up there.