Acer Laptop 1644 Wlmi DVD drive replacing

[irah]

Hi I have an acer laptop Aspire 1644wlmi. I think the dvd drive is dead. It lights up when i insert a disc (tried both dvd and cd) but does not show any content after it reads. It is shown in device manager properly. Cleaned the lens still no progress. Any other thing I can check? Also for replacing drive what all should i take care? Are all DVD writers the same. This one has Pioneer DVR-K16RA (RA model is not availabe in Pioneer site; laptop manufacturers get drives customised or something). Whta should I do.

Thanks in advance

 

[wuzy]

Also for replacing drive what all should i take care?

You only need to make sure the replacement drive can take the same faceplate from your existing drive. Besides the faceplate issue (for aesthetics) all slim optical drives are physically the same.

Normally the best way to determine if the optical drive is faulty or not is to see if it's able to read bootable disks at POST. e.g. Windows setup disk
You'll need to have the optical drive set as one of the bootable device in your laptop's BIOS.

 

[irah]

thanks for the reply. I have already tried windows xp cd with boot from cd drive the 1st priority. its not reading. i tried almost 10 disks, cd & dvd. the drives dead. guess the lens. anyway to replace the lens?

So you say i can buy any brand drive rite. there wont be issues like can burn cd but not dvd etc. I have read these kinda things happening when you replace an OEM drive with a regular drive.

 

[wuzy]

there wont be issues like can burn cd but not dvd etc. I have read these kinda things happening when you replace an OEM drive with a regular drive.

Never seen it happening before. If it did then it'll be a software side issue. Nothing a clean install + fresh drivers & softwares can't solve.

The bare drives are physically the same outside and have the same 50pin EIDE port (at the same position) used by those slim optical drives. You just have to re-use any attached 'appendages' from your existing drive and attach them onto the new drive before slotting it back in. There's usually a screw at bottom of the laptop (middle-ish) that's used to secure the optical drive in place.

 

[irah]

i'l give it a try. thanx a lot wuzy. bye