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CD/DVD Door Won’t Open

Does the door on your Optical Drive stick? After pressing the “Open Door” button on an optical drive, the green light will go on and then nothing. On some drives, it will only happen occasionally. Fortunately, there is an easy fix for both problems on most models.

Once an optical drive is used for years, the small rubber belt that is attached to the gear that opens the door stretches and starts to slip. An easy fix is to use “Belt Dressing” to give the belt the grip it needs to open the drawer.

  • Each optical drive has a Manual Eject Hole located under the disk drawer
  • Insert an opened paperclip or similar tool into the hole and gently push until the pressure releases the internal latch that keeps the door closed
  • Opening the drawer all the way should reveal the rubber belt that requires attention
  • Spray some of the belt dressing on a Q-Tip (something like Berryman’s Belt Dressing) only $4.99 on Amazon
  • While holding the moist Q-Tip against the rubber band, gently push and pull the draw so that the belt is completely coated
  • Close the draw and now try using the “Open Draw Button” on the face of the drive. The draw should open easily
  • In a pinch, I have used vinegar with about the same success

Summary

If you don’t have belt dressing on hand, and few of us do, using vinegar has worked for me. I know that belt dressing will give you at least a couple of years before you might have to repeat the process. I have never tested how long vinegar lasts but it is cheap and can be reapplied. The locking mechanism on Laptop drives is different and I have never had one stick. The fix listed above is only for Internal Desktop drives and some External drives that have the same rubber belt functionality for opening the door.

4 thoughts on “CD/DVD Door Won’t Open”

  1. Hi Jim. Would using software to open the door give the same result? Vinegar not that W product is awesome news, Mindblower!

  2. These drives are out of favor/obsolete, but I live and breathe by mine. It’s ripped my 500+ CD collection, ripped many documentaries on DVD, and been an all-around work horse over the past six years. Thanks for this tip. One day, I expect I’ll need it.

    1. Hi Steve, you are correct, direct gear to gear drives will never encounter this problem. However, there are millions of belt-driven drives in use now and I don’t see that changing in the near future. I go to the public library and borrow 15 music, movies, and books on disks then go home and rip them to a CD. Now it is easier to rip them to the HD and then make USB’s

  3. Yes, Mindblower, using the file manager and selecting the drive then choose eject will open the door, and often it works better than the button on the front of the drive. However, if the drive belt becomes too stretched, neither will open it.

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