Member Avatar for myra367

I have a 4-yr-old Sony Vaio laptop with a Blu-Ray player/CD burner combo. It stopped playing a few months ago and my laptop is out of warranty. Besides, the dealer where I purchased it is 90-minute drive one way (I'll never do that again!) I'm running Windows Vista. The device is Matshita BD-MLT UJ-220S ATA. Through Device Manager I searched for updated driver software to see if that was the problem, and the result was "the best driver software for your device is already installed." But when I insert a DVD, it spins for 4 seconds then stops. It's not showing the drive at all in my My Computer list. What's going on?

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Brief diagnostic summary referencing the thread: described a Vaio with the internal Matshita Blu‑ray/CD combo that briefly tries to spin but does not appear in My Computer; suggested testing with a bootable disk and suggested reseating the drive. The best path is an ordered set of quick checks that separate “hardware” from “Windows” problems.

  1. Check at the firmware level. Reboot and enter the BIOS/boot menu to see whether the optical drive is listed among boot devices or system hardware. If the drive does not appear in BIOS, Windows fixes won’t help — reseating or replacing the slim drive is the practical next step.
  2. Bootable-disc test. Try a known bootable disc (Windows install/recovery DVD, a Linux live CD, or a system rescue disc). If the laptop boots from that disc, the drive works at a hardware level and the problem is inside Windows; if it won’t boot from the disc, that points to a hardware fault. This follows @Rik_’s suggestion but clarifies how the result is used.
  3. Windows-side fixes (use only if BIOS sees the drive). Open Device Manager, choose View → Show hidden devices, uninstall any optical-drive entry, then restart so Windows redetects. If that fails, back up the registry and remove UpperFilters and LowerFilters under
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} — delete only those values if present, then reboot. Also confirm the “Shell Hardware Detection” service is running. Be careful with the registry; export the key before changing it.

If the drive is hardware-failed or disassembly is unwanted, a low-cost external USB DVD (or a replacement slim internal unit) is the quickest fix. Lens-cleaning discs or a careful professional cleaning can help if the issue is dirty optics, but repeated “spin then stop” behavior on an older slim drive often means the laser or mechanics have failed. These steps put ’s reseat idea and ’s boot test into a safe, repeatable troubleshooting order.

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Member Avatar for Rik_

Try booting it with a dootable disk in it. If that wont read then you need a new drive!

Member Avatar for myra367

Thanks for your advice, Rik. Please excuse my technical ignorance: what is a bootable disk? Please give me an example of one that I may have in my file cabinet.

Member Avatar for Rik_

Something like a windows install disk will do as a test!

Member Avatar for myra367

Thanks for your advice, Rik. Please excuse my technical ignorance: what is a bootable disk? Please give me an example of one that I may have in my file cabinet.

Member Avatar for myra367

Thanks, Rik. If that doesn't work, I'll take this to a local tech and replace the player.

Member Avatar for tracer357

try using a disk with any data on it like a movie, music, game etc.
if that does not work remove the device from your laptop and bootup.
after that's done shut down your system and install the device and let your system reinstall the device.

find the device or model name maybe there is a web-site that you can go to and download the drivers if needed.

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