Drive Problem

I have a drive problem. I can't get my drive to read games or music cd/dvd. I have a DVD-RW. But the odd thing is that when I do system restore to a different day it works but the next day it doesn't.

Was anything changed / installed the day that it didn't work? If so, uninstall it, reboot, and see if that solves the problem.

If not, go to the Device Manager, uninstall the device and let Windows reload the drivers for it.

Yeah, try removing the DVD drive through the device manager. Reboot if needed. If not, click the "Scan for hardware changes" button and reinstall it.

Once you scan for hardware changes, it will see the device and install it. Depending how you have it set up, it may ask you to allow it to find the drivers automatically... but other than that, it's pretty straight forward.

I had a similar problem with a CD/DVD-RW (is it a SATA by chance?) and nothing I could would make it work. I think it ended up being a faulty laser and I had to replace it... but the fact that you say is still works when you do System Restore points to one thing: Software.

Check the Mfr. site to see if there are any updated drivers or firmware for your unit. Other than that, look at what software you recently installed and start removing them one by one until the problem is resolved.

Don't really know what else to do aside from that.

*edit* Another thing you can do is try the drive in another PC. If it works, then the above software / driver problem needs to be resolved with your PC. If it doesn't work even on a different PC then it's likely a drive failure.