PC help: Disappearing optical drive

What to do if an optical drive doesn't show up

Q I have a Fujitsu-Siemens computer with both DVD-Rom and CD-RW drives. When I start the computer, the CD-RW drive is sometimes randomly missed out and does not appear in My Computer. I get a message saying ‘detecting IDE drives’ and it always detects the DVD-Rom but not always the CD-RW.

I have entered the computer’s setup and re-scanned the drives but the problem still happens. I thought of simply replacing the drive, but is the drive the problem or is it something else? I would appreciate any ideas or suggestions.

A It’s worth checking inside the computer case to find out whether a connection has come loose. Connections to optical drives tend to use IDE ‘ribbon’ cables, which are wide and flat. Make sure both this and the power cable, a collection of four wires that ends in a rectangular, white brick-type plug, are firmly seated in their sockets, both on the back of the drive and on the motherboard.

Before opening up the case, turn it off and unplug it from the mains. If you’re confident, it might be worth swapping the IDE cables for the CD and DVD drives, to see whether the problem moves with the cable to the other drive. If that’s the case, a computer retailer can supply a new IDE cable. If the problems continue, it’s likely that the CD drive is on its way out, in which case new drives are reasonably cheap.