>>Bizzare. Only other thing I can think of is to try different software t read them. It really doesn't sound like a hardware problem to me, because you would *think* if that was the case it wouldn't read anything.
>>If it could just read just either CDs or DVDs then I'd say it was a hardware issue because I know it uses different laser beams to read those...but I guess that isn't the case here. I imagine it could be that the drive is just begining to go bad or that it's spinning slightly out of balance. Would be nice if you knew someone with identical hardware & you could try their drive in yer machine for a few minutes & see if the issue persists...ha How old is the machine and where did ya get it? maybe they can try a temporary swap??
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>This computer is Gateway and it's relatively new - we bought it in December last year. I saw several times blue screen of death on it - so it's not entirely good.
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>Something happened - not sure exactly what - and most of the CD/DVDs stop being read here. I was able to read most of the CD/DVDs on my husband's laptop. However, one of the CDs I was unable to read on my husband's laptop either - (the one with VFP installation), so I guess this one is really bad.

- Some programs such as CD/DVD writing programs (Roxio, Nero) or media players (PowerDVD) load drivers for optical drives. Have you updated any programs like that lately, or installed new ones?
- Check your System and Application Event Logs for warnings or errors
- If the drive is IDE/ATA, check that the controller on that channel is set to use DMA. This is preferred over PIO, but some computers may require a motherboard driver to work properly with Windows. If the drive is SATA you shouldn't have to worry about it
- I've seen optical drives behave erratically if they get too warm. Is the ambient temperature higher than usual when you're having problems?
- Check if there is a manufacturer's diagnostic program for your make/model of optical drive