AH, I need PC help

[CountryBoy19]

My wife's computer HP DV2842se

CD/DVD drive not recognized, sometimes it's totally unresponsive, other times it spins up to full RPM and won't stop, even when the tray is opened.

It's been like this for a year now. I tried before to fix the problem but couldn't and quit in frustration.

Last week I attacked it again, and reinstalled the drivers and it worked... until this week when she turned it back on again.

Now, I've tried the entire HP troubleshooting. I wasn't succesful in getting into the BIOS to check if its listed in the BIOS. I don't know enough about computers to do that. It asked for a password, but it wasn't the password that she logs in with.

The drive doesn't show up in the device manager. I've looked for the driver again, but the problem is that HP's stupid "auto-detect" crap won't show the driver that I need. And when I manual look it doesn't show up. So I have no idea what the problem is, and I can't even find the stinking driver for the drive in case that's the problem.

Any recommendations? I'm at a loss as to what to do.

But this is definitely the last HP product I will EVER buy. I wholly despise HP after the multitude of issues and complete lack of CS pertaining to this single laptop.

 

[Brandon]

replace the drive and call it a day.

 

[YETB]

I second the advice from Brandon. Optical drives die.

If it's IDE (I looked at the specs on the model you listed and HP doesn't give many details) - you are lucky it's not killing your boot up.

Buy a new one at newegg - they are dirt cheap.

If your mobo supports sata - go that route. Even easier.

 

[mbaza3]

I agree with the above posts. PC components are so affordable these days it is easier to replace than repair or waste time fooling with them. Check out Tiger Direct online.

 

[Taylorz71]

agreed, newegg is great and a new slim drive should be about $25 if it is SATA. HP's commercial line is much more reliable than their consumer line- maybe that is why the rumor is that they are getting out of the laptop and desktop business.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Is it really that simple?

It's a laptop, doesn't it require a special drive? Or do you strip off the outside "cover thing" and put it on the new drive? Are they all the same basic frame?

 

[! twitty]

PM me the brand and model and I will tell you how to do it.

 

[Brandon]

should not be difficult.
for some reason i thought this was a desktop but laptops are not all that hard to work on.

 

[Outlaw]

You will need to buy one that fits it. Should be a button on the bottom to release it. Pull it out get the model number then find one online somewhere. Tigerdirect, newegg, fry's would be a good place to start. Keep the old one bcz you might have to put some of the plastic peice from it onto the new one.

 

[Outlaw]

You might have to take some screws out but they will be marked on the case

 

[GBuck]

Throw away the PC, buy a mac.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

I've replaced just about every part of a laptop one time or another. It's readily possible.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Throw away the PC, buy a mac.

Are you kidding? That's a joke right?

You want me to get a mac so when a part fails I have to send it back rather than fix it myself? That seems ridiculous, along with the entire business model of Apple. The good thing for Apple is that they have a good marketing department; PC doesn't need one because they sell themselves.

I wouldn't own an Apple product if somebody gave it to me...

I'm happy with every PC I own, except this stupid HP.

 

[Brandon]

Are you kidding? That's a joke right?

I wouldn't own an Apple product if somebody gave it to me...

I'm happy with every PC I own, except this stupid HP.

Ipods are as far as I am willing to go.

 

[Drunken Yak inc]

Are you kidding? That's a joke right?

You want me to get a mac so when a part fails I have to send it back rather than fix it myself? That seems ridiculous, along with the entire business model of Apple. The good thing for Apple is that they have a good marketing department; PC doesn't need one because they sell themselves.

I wouldn't own an Apple product if somebody gave it to me...

I'm happy with every PC I own, except this stupid HP.

The point being is that it wouldn't go bad if it was an Apple. They have the lowest number of problems out of any manufacturer year after year. And despite what you may have heard, you can repair an Apple yourself, but their customer service is rated considerably higher then any other manufacturer (might have something to with their CS being actually in the USA).

Honestly I've owned many windows laptops that have had optical drives fail, and I recommend just using an external optical drive. Chances are that if you replace the internal one, it will also go bad in relatively short amount of time (a year or less), at least that has been my experience.

 

[Brandon]

The point being is that it wouldn't go bad if it was an Apple. They have the lowest number of problems out of any manufacturer year after year. And despite what you may have heard, you can repair an Apple yourself, but their customer service is rated considerably higher then any other manufacturer (might have something to with their CS being actually in the USA).

Honestly I've owned many windows laptops that have had optical drives fail, and I recommend just using an external optical drive. Chances are that if you replace the internal one, it will also go bad in relatively short amount of time (a year or less), at least that has been my experience.

I'll pass

 

[Drunken Yak inc]

Are you kidding? That's a joke right?

You want me to get a mac so when a part fails I have to send it back rather than fix it myself? That seems ridiculous, along with the entire business model of Apple. The good thing for Apple is that they have a good marketing department; PC doesn't need one because they sell themselves.

I wouldn't own an Apple product if somebody gave it to me...

I'm happy with every PC I own, except this stupid HP.

Oh, and just to make a point...

in 2008 apple spent $489 million on advertising. The entire year for all of their products.

While Microsoft spent $300 million on the Jerry Seinfeld adds just for Vista alone...

 

[Drunken Yak inc]

I'll pass

A Mac isn't for everyone, if you're happy with Windows then more power to you!

 

[Brandon]

A Mac isn't for everyone, if you're happy with Windows then more power to you!

keeps me employed

 

[CountryBoy19]

I'm still not convinced that this is a failed drive... I just played around with it. When you plug the drive back in, it makes a noise and the light comes on.

I think this is a driver/software issue. When I go into device manager there isn't even a section listed for CD/DVD drives. It's not that the drive is just not there, the entire section in the device list is missing.

I just don't want to pay money for a drive and find out it's another issue...