so my boss was gonna have 2 put in teh scrap pile but i asked if i could bring one home to try on my old computer that was currently usen only a cd drive (couldnt play DVD's )

any way just tested teh 1st 1 a few mins ago was fine but then had some fatal error because it was dirty (should of guessed that second i opend the tray looked like it had dried up coffee on it (at least i hope it was dried up coffee) (what would be the best and safest way to clean that up so teh thing may still work and be clean at the same time?)

about to try the second one now



and its preventing the computer from booting ...

so what should i clean the 1 that actually some what worked with ?

(and ill be testing a bunch of power suppliestomorrow so i may as well bring this computer stomping one back with me to see if it even works at all ...)

If you're asking what they cost retail....on average they're not that expensive ($20-$50), but it does depend on the make/model/abilities. Blue-Ray ones are going to be a bit more, ($50-$120 maybe) typically, and I'm sure there's a few that are very expensive, relatively speaking. There always are.

:/ so i swaped teh DVD out for teh 1 taht kinda worked to open it up once igot a reply on how to clean it ...

my computer has teh words "press any key to continue" and it just spams that everytime i press a key .... did the DVD rewriter kill my computer o.0 ?

You're getting that message even with no DVD player installed?

As to how to clean one...I have no idea. You can get discs with little brushes on them and 'play' them, with the brushes supposedly cleaning off the lens, but if it's really dirty (vs. just dust) may not be very effective. That's assuming, of course, that a dirty lens is the only problem.

i thought the tray would just have to be dirty i cnat see that far into it to see how bad the lense is :/

also i didint try the thing with the dvd drive out of it

Used IDE: I'd pay $5 on a generous day

used SATA: I'd pay $10 on a generous day

used USB: I'd chuck it out the window on a generous day (I don't like them :shrug:)

Just go buy a new one. For the most part its not worth it. A new one will only cost you between 20 and 30 USD.

Optical drives simply aren't something to buy used. On older drives, too much stuff breaks. Its like buying a used keyboard or mouse. Most of the time they are throw-away items after 3-5 years (if you're lucky).

got my computer working again .. was 3 second fix all i had to do was remov the floppy disk ..(forgot i still had that in the drive)

any way tried the second DVD thing and my computer wont even reckognize it it lights up and opens but in the "my computer" folder theres no "Drive " and for soem reason it also didnt recognie the floppy drive either ...

so i put teh dirty tray one back in and managed to copy about 50 songs or so onto my computer off a certain disc a computer teacher gave me last year and then my computer froze up but was playing them this morning so the copy over worked ^.^

Brand new drives retail for very little... 25-50 USD, but you can find them even cheaper than that on the interwebs.

so i could make a quick $10.00 if i sold it to some one ???

or second thought maybe i could trade it for my moms hers is apprently only a compaq disq rewritable this one is a DVD rewritable