I own an IBM ThinkPad R51 laptop. When I insert a CD, the drive does not read the CD. Kindly help.?

Answer 1

You didn't accidentally un-load the disc-drive from the system tray did you (ie, when using the safe-remove tool to remove a thumb-drive or the likes). I ask as I've done it myself once before on my old Thinkpad...was not very well thought out by IBM

Try rebooting and try again :)

Answer 2

Ditto on the reseating idea.

Try several different CDs, and types of CD's -- music, DVD, data, blank, etc. Do any of them work? If not, then your R51's CD drive is likely to be dead.

If you just have 1 or 2 CDs that don't work, then it's likely the media. If if won't play an entire type (will do data but won't do music, etc) then it might be a defective hardware part as well.

IBM's tech support number is 24-7, and once you fight your way past the awful menuing system then you get a good tech that speaks English. 1-800-426-7378 (I've called about 2 IBM R51's in the past week). If it is under warranty you'll have a new CD drive with a day or two. If not, they'll offer to see you a new one, but you can buy the exact same thing or an upgrade (DVD-RW?) on eBay for a lot less.

Answer 3

get an external usb portable cdrom drive.

ps: you may need to install the drivers from the drivers cd.

and check if the external usb cdrom drive supports 1.x and 2.x version usb ports.

cheers and good luck!

mercury of love

Answer 4

is this a data cd or a blank? ... try going to my computer and rightclick on the drive and explore it ... if nothing happens then try pulling the drive out and reseating it with the power off ...

Answer 5

i just had the same problem, first try to clean the drive using lens cleaner cd.

if you got the warranty, send it back to the service centre.

i got it replaced in 7 days.