Laptopn does not recognize DVD player anymore

Hello all,

I have an Acer Aspire 5520-5912 and it has stopped recognizing the CD/DVD player. I don't know exactly when it happened because I don't use it very often. I presume that some software update or something like that might have disturbed it but I am not sure. Couple of points:
The player can open and close.
It doesn't appear in My Computer.
Actually, recently I put in a USB stick into the laptop and all of a sudden it did recognize the DVD player, it appeared in My Computer next to the USB stick. But I was too distracted to notice it until it was too late as I had already removed the USB stick - the DVD player also disappeared again. Further attempts to put the USB back in have been ignored.

Could someone help with basic steps to diagnose the issue and maybe resolve it? Acer Tech help have been useless: first they told me to clean my CDs and then they just told me to reinstall everything. I don't have time or courage for such an extreme option.

Many thanks for your help!

Alfalf

 

ok many thanks. i tried the automatic fix and it didn't work. i will try the manual steps this weekend and report back.

 

Re: Laptop does not recognize DVD player anymore

so, i'm at this step:

"In Device Manager, expand DVD/CD-ROM drives, right-click the CD and DVD devices, and then click Uninstall."

problem is, dvd/cd-rom drives doesn't even apear in my device manager!

i'm almost wondering if there is a loose contact...


alfalf

 

Re: Laptop does not recognize DVD player anymore

please help? :-o

what i completely fail to understand is how, recently, when i put in a USB stick into the laptop all of a sudden it did recognize the DVD player (it appeared in My Computer next to the USB stick icon).

what underlying problems could such behavior possibly be a symptom of?

many thanks -
alfalfa