Hi Jim, I Had a similar problem to the one you describe, and if I remember correctly, it was solved by someone sighted re-installing the drivers for the CD ROM. Therefore, might I suggest that you try this first, always assuming you can get knowledgeable sighted help, and that the drivers are available on the web if you haven't got a disk with them on. If the above suggestion doesn't work, then I would agree with those who have replied to you so far, that the drive needs to be replaced. Alexander Shannon