Techie question

[mitchy]

Techie types - is there an easy way of getting at what's in a PC's cd-rom drive when the bloody thing refuses to open? I've lost a DVD disc and I'm wondering if it got stuck in the old, dead PC. I've taken the side casing off but got foiled at that point because I don't possess a screwdriver of the right size to assist me in dismantling everything else :P It occurred to me that before I start entertaining ideas of mallets and chisels, I should prolly ask here first :)

Comments

[jebbypal]

Usually there is a "hard" eject button somewhere -- ie, a small hole in the drive that you can insert a paperclip end through to force the drive to open. HOwever, I'm not positive if it will need to be on or not to work. So if it can't boot up, or at least turn on to a blue screen of death, i'm not sure it will work.

[adelpha.livejournal.com]

That tends to be the 'erk it's completely dead' or 'oops, I've just taken the drive out and forgot to take the disc out first' hole ;)

So, yeah, unfurl a paperclip and shove an end in. There's a little lever thingy that it pushes, which will kick the tray out enough to pull by hand.

[mitchy.livejournal.com]

Yayyy! It worked!! It wasn't the DVD disc I was looking for but there WAS a DVD in there so that was good.

And for the record, jebbypal, it worked without the power at all, so there ya go :)

Thank you both :)

[adelpha.livejournal.com]

(Not that I've ever forgotten to take a disc out before removing a drive, then hunting around wondering where the disc is. Oh, no...)

[mitchy.livejournal.com]

(of course not, perish the thought!)