CD-ROM only detects audio CDs

Before following the below recommendations, ensure that more than one CD has been tested; if only one disc is unable to be read or detected, the below notes do not apply to your issue. It is likely that you have a unclean or bad CD. Steps on cleaning a CD can be found on our cleaning page.

Bad drivers

Ensure that the latest CD-ROM drivers are installed and installed properly.

If you are using Windows 95, 98, 2000, ME, or XP ensure that Device Manager has no conflicts or errors present. If no conflicts are present, click the plus ( + ) next to CD-ROM and remove the CD-ROM listed. Once removed, reboot the computer to have the CD-ROM redetected and possibly the issue resolved.

A listing of CD-ROM manufacturers and links to their driver pages can be found on our CD-ROM driver page.

Issue with firmware

The CD-ROM firmware may be invalid or incorrect causing the CD-ROM read or redetect errors. Verify with the computer or CD-ROM manufacturer that there are no available firmware updates that may be able to be used to resolve this issue.

A listing of CD-ROM manufacturers and links to their driver pages that  may contain firmware updates can be found on our CD-ROM driver page.

Defective CD-ROM drive

If after following the above recommendations, you continue to experience the same problems, the CD-ROM drive may be defective. To test this, create a bootable floppy diskette with CD-ROM drivers on that diskette and from MS-DOS test the a data CD drive from MS-DOS.

If the drive does successfully detect and read the disc, it is likely that there is an issue with the operating system and not a defective drive. We recommend that the operating system be reinstalled and the drive be erased and the operating system reinstalled.

If the drive does not read the disc from MS-DOS, unfortunately it is likely that the CD-ROM drive is bad and we recommend that it be replaced.