Drive Problems
CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions that shipped with your computer. For additional safety best practices information, see the Regulatory Compliance Homepage at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance.
Ensure that Microsoft® Windows® Recognizes the drive —
Windows XP:
•Click Start and click My Computer.
Windows Vista®:
•Click the Windows Vista Start button 
and click Computer.
If the drive is not listed, perform a full scan with your antivirus software to check for and remove viruses. Viruses can sometimes prevent Windows from recognizing the drive.
Test the drive — Insert another disc to eliminate the possibility that the original drive is defective.
Clean the drive or disk — See "Cleaning Your Computer" in the Setup and Quick Reference Guide.
Check the cable connections
Run the Hardware Troubleshooter — See Hardware Troubleshooter.
Run the Dell Diagnostics — See Dell Diagnostics.
Optical drive problems
NOTE:
NOTE: Because of different regions worldwide and different disc formats, not all DVD titles work in all DVD drives.
Adjust the Windows volume control —
•Click the speaker icon in the
•Ensure that the volume is turned up by clicking the slidebar and dragging it up.
•Ensure that the sound is not muted by clicking any boxes that are checked.
Check the speakers and subwoofer — See Sound and Speaker Problems.
Problems writing to an optical drive
Close other programs — The optical drive must receive a steady stream of data during the writing process. If the stream is interrupted, an error occurs. Try closing all programs before you write to the optical.
Turn off standby mode in Windows before writing to a disc — Search for the keyword standby in Windows Help and Support for information on power management modes.
Hard drive problems
Run Check Disk —
Windows XP:
1.Click Start and click My Computer.
2.
3.Click Properties→ Tools→ Check Now.