CD/DVD Drive Question

Hey Guys,
A friend of mine has a Dell Inspiron 530s. Its CD Drive has been weird for awhile now and now it will only read certain games(or picture CD's). I think that the CD Drive has gone bad but I don't know what Drive to tell her to get if it comes down to that.
Her computer got hit by lighting and she had to replace the HD. I don't know if she would need drivers for it or not since she had a friend re-install Vista(Her friend went to boot camp so that's why she has come to me).
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Spock96

 

I'm pretty sure it is going to be a SATA DVD burner that you want to replace ( I'm getting that the 530s is a desktop). Simplest thing to do is verify that it is a SATA interface DVDROM in there. I don't see any IDE connectors for that model. No drivers necessary it should be immediately recognized.

Might as well buy a DVD burner because they will be same price as DVDROM. I buy Lite-On models but others may have different opinions. I generally go for cheap because I haven't found added value in more expensive models. Seems to me they all eventually get dirty and stop reading either CDs or DVDs. They all work great at first and all last only a couple of years trouble-free. So I would rather buy another cheap model after a couple of years rather than an expensive model.

One thought is that buying online is essential. Last time one of mine went out I wanted to grab one at Staples or Best Buy but they wanted $50 dollars or more. Seems brick and mortar stores don't really stock them anymore and those that do charge way too much. I decided I could wait and just ordered online for $20+. Newegg selection: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4093 600003509 600003707&IsNodeId=1&name=SATA but do take a quick look at the PC to make sure it is a SATA drive you are replacing.

 

It still looks like that is SATA connections for the CD/DVD drive, from Dell's site scroll way down for replacing a CD/DVD drive.

One other thought is you might want to get familiar with Newegg's Feedback tab, I find it very useful as many reviews are informative of possible problems/solutions. Lots of good advice! Keep in mind that a 5 egg rating may not reflect overall quality--sometimes a product that only has 20 reviews gets 5 eggs whereas a product that has 500 reviews gets only 4 eggs. I tend to stick with products that have lots of reviews and still get 4 or 5 eggs. You don't have to buy from Newegg but their Feedback/Reviews are informative and worth a read when buying online.

 

Thank you Sach2.
She told me that in Device Manager it says it's working properly(But it isn't). I also was thinking that something may have happened to the motherboard(When it got struck). But I don't know what/how to see what may have happened to it.