Mike's Tech Blog

The other day I was asked by someone to look at their DVD drive that had a CD stuck in it. This can be frustrating when even pushing the Eject button, and the CD won't eject. Fortunately, there is an easy solution.

The first thing to do is to turn off the computer. Then look closely at the front of the computer. Almost always there is a little hole underneath the CD or DVD tray. The exact location will vary, but it is almost always underneath the tray of the CD drive.

Below is a photo with the hole circled:

Once you have located this hole, you will need a paper clip. Straighten the paper clip out. I usually fashion it like in the photo below:

With the paper clip fashioned this way, it allows me  to have a good grip so I can open the CD drive. Just take the paper clip and put it into the hole of the CD or DVD drive as shown in the photo below:

 The distance that you have to push in the paper clip often varies, and can be as much as an inch. Once the paper clip stops, give it a push. It will take a bit of force, but not too much. Also make sure that you are going straight into the hole with the paper clip because if you are off, you won't be pressing in the right spot.

What will happen is the drawer of the CD / DVD drive will open just a little bit as shown in the photo below:

 

 Then just grab the tray of the CD / DVD drive and pull it open. Then you will be able to take out the disk that was stuck in the CD / DVD drive. Then just push the tray of the CD / DVD drive closed and restart your computer.

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