Bizarre Office install problem on Windows 7

I'm trying to install Office 2010 on my Windows 7 PC but neither of my DVD drives can 'see' the program and they both eject the disk when I try to view the disks contents through windows explorer and ask me to insert a disk.

Presuming there may be something wrong with the install disks I tried them on another computer (laptop running XP) to check but it reads the disk fine and I can see the install files with no problem.

So far I've tried, without any success:
- re-booting, several times
- using the other two disks: one works fine which is just the Windows Communicator program install disk, but the other one also can't be read
- cleaning the disks - which were spotless to start with - plus I've had a really good look at them and there are no marks or damage to be seen anywhere
- using other program install disks on both my drives - which all work fine and I can see all the files on the disks

My internal DVD drive is a recently installed Samsung DVD writer and the other one is an Iomega external (USB) DVD writer (which has worked reliably for years), both of which can see ALL other disks whether they are movies, files or install programs, or anything else - and work flawlessly.

So, my PC refuses to read these Office install disks - but the disks themselves are fine and work on other computers and my drives can see ALL other disks. I'm completely baffled.

Anyone have any ideas? Could it be something in the operating system that is preventing the PC from reading these disks?


System is:
Intel Core2Duo E8400
Asus P5N-MX BIOS (Revision 0610)
Windows 7 Home Premium ver 6.1.7600 build 7600
Memory: 2Gb
DVD: Samsung TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C ATA drive
External DVD: Iomega DVDRW 8440E2D-B USB
Soundcard: Realtek (onboard)
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT 500Mb
HDD: C: 500Gb NTFS SATA II drive - 231Gb free space (main drive)
External HDD: I: FAT32 500 Gb USB - 46 Gb free space
HDD: K: 1000 Gb NTFS SATA II - 681 Gb free space
AntiVirus Prog: AVG Free v9

Your dvd drive firmware needs to be updated to read your disk. Some drives will not read certain manufacturer's disks.

Try this and see if it helps:

Your CD or DVD drive cannot read or write media
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Related Knowledge base article

• 982116 - Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs