Disk Drive Won't Read
Disk drives, whether they are CD optical drives or hard drives and solid-state drives, are some of the most common sources of issues on home computers. You can run into various errors related to both your CD and fixed disk drives, ranging from read and write errors to random full system shutdowns.
This article will give you a few ideas for fixes you can attempt if you are running into the most common read/write errors with your disk drives.
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Table of Contents
Run the disk check tool
First, try examining a hard drive that produces read/write errors using the tools integrated in Windows. To do this, open a command prompt window with administrator privileges. Open the start menu, type "cmd" and right click the Command Line app icon, then click on "Run as Administrator". When you see the text terminal window, type in this command, then hit Enter:
chkdsk /f /r
This will launch the disk-checking tool integrated in Windows 10. The command line switches /f and /r instruct the tool to automatically flag any bad and corrupt sectors on the drive, then attempt to automatically fix any errors and extract any information that can still be salvaged and re-write it to a new spot on the drive.
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Run the system file checker
Windows also has a system file checker tool in its default components. This application scans the integrity of files that are essential for the normal operation of the system and if it finds any issues with a file, it replaces it with a good copy.
To run the system file checker, follow the steps described above to open an elevated command prompt window. Once you are in the text terminal, enter this command to run the tool, then hit Enter:
sfc /scannow
Wait for the process to complete and check if the program log lists any repaired files.
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Check a CD drive for mechanical issues
If your CD drive is acting up and would not read the disks you insert in it, take a close look at the tray and the housing. Any warping on the tray may lead to problems when the disk is spinning up ad high speed in the closed drive.
The optics that read the surface of the disks inserted in the CD drive can also become damaged and worn over time but checking those for wear and tear is impossible without qualified technician help.
What you can check for on your own is loose cables. Open your PC case and check the data and power cables that plug into your CD drive. Make sure none of the plugs are loose and everything is connected properly.
