Windows needs a retract CD function

[thanatoid]

My computer is sitting on my right side and on the floor.
The eject button is on the right and on the bottom of the
DVD. When the door is open, the tray is blocking the
button.

Understand now?

Yes.

But allow me to say you could have designed your workspace a
little better. You should see mine - ugly but superfunctional.
Work surface lifted an extra foot or so off the floor, 2
computers on a tiny coffee table to the left, 17" CRT (LCDs
suck) KVM, small stereo system - all reachable without getting
off the high architect's chair (so I can also type etc. standing
when I get tired of sitting...).

Besides, if you can get at the disc, what is so hard about
curling one of your fingers over the tray edge? Is it just 1
inch too short or what? (Rhetorical obligatory jerk question...)

 

[Char Jackson]

Which can be difficult if you're older and/or disabled.

If a person has the dexterity to press the little button to open the
tray, and the dexterity to insert or remove a disc from the tray, then
the person also has the dexterity to nudge the tray and watch it close
by itself.

 

[Ken Blake]

Which can be difficult if you're older and/or disabled.

Nah! Pressing the tray is no different from pressing the button.

 

[XS11E]

nudge nudge

wink wink

 

[Char Jackson]

wink wink

Say no more.

 

[SC Tom]

Say no more.

This parrot is dead

 

[charlie]

This parrot is dead

So quit bickering over the feathers! <G>

 

[thanatoid]

So quit bickering over the feathers! <G>

Actually, I recall reading that pushing (nudging, fudging, if
you will) the tray is NOT very good for the lousy cheap
mechanics of these disc drives, just like "emergency paper clip
tray open" is to be used only as a last resort.

Remember when you had to use caddies? Remember waiting an hour
for a Syquest disc to complete? Ahhh... the good old days...
[wipes tear...]

 

[XS11E]

This parrot is dead

 

[Andy]

Using the tray as a close button works but does slow damage to the tray
loader mechanism and over time stretches the belt out most new systems have
an open close button on the key board i know my hp's do

 

[SC Tom]

No belts on mine. The two I have in my PC and the really old one (~10 years)
I have on a shelf are all gear driven. Or did I misconstrue something due to
the lack of punctuation ;-)
--
SC Tom

Using the tray as a close button works but does slow damage to the tray
loader mechanism and over time stretches the belt out most new systems
have an open close button on the key board i know my hp's do

 

[Char Jackson]

Using the tray as a close button works but does slow damage to the tray
loader mechanism

That's an unsubstantiated claim. I don't believe it has any basis in
fact.

and over time stretches the belt out

Optical drives don't have belts.

most new systems have an open close button on the key board i know my hp's do

Forgive me if I've misinterpreted your gibberish. I suppose the
meanings could change if a person were to parse it differently.

 

[Chris S.]

Nah! Pressing the tray is no different from pressing the button.

And don't forget to take your Slurpie out...

 

[Ken Blake]

Using the tray as a close button works but does slow damage to the tray
loader mechanism

That's not correct, as far as I know. But if you can provide a
citation that supports your claim, please post it. I'd like to see it.

 

[SC Tom]

That's not correct, as far as I know. But if you can provide a
citation that supports your claim, please post it. I'd like to see it.

If you get pissed at it and punch it in, it will get out of sequence, and is
not real easy to realign. Don't ask me how I know ;-)

 

[Ken Blake]

If you get pissed at it and punch it in, it will get out of sequence, and is
not real easy to realign. Don't ask me how I know ;-)

LOL! I have no doubt that you are right.

 

[XS11E]

Using the tray as a close button works but does slow damage to the
tray loader mechanism and over time stretches the belt out

Uhhh..... no.

new systems have an open close button on the key board i know my
hp's do

Sorry, HP dropped that on their current keyboards, I wish they hadn't.

 

[Ed Cryer]

If you get pissed at it and punch it in, it will get out of sequence,
and is not real easy to realign. Don't ask me how I know ;-)

Did you ever realign it? I'd like to know. I've been trying for years
with an old CD-player unit on an old hi-fi system. The tray opens and
closes. Press the button again and it opens and closes again. That can
happen ten to fifteen times before it stays open and I can put a CD in it.

Ed

 

[SC Tom]

Did you ever realign it? I'd like to know. I've been trying for years with
an old CD-player unit on an old hi-fi system. The tray opens and closes.
Press the button again and it opens and closes again. That can happen ten
to fifteen times before it stays open and I can put a CD in it.

Ed

I did, but it took many an evening after work. I would have just chalked it
up as a loss, but CD writers were not real cheap back then.

The way I did it (IIRC) was to pull the drive gear, then work it by hand to
see how things were supposed to be. Once I had all that set up, I put the
main gear back on the motor shaft and it worked OK until I bought a faster
one. Mine was the opposite of yours, though- every once in a while, it would
take the CD, pull it in, then cycle in and out a couple of times before it
would finally stay in and play. I didn't have to touch it; it would cycle a
few times on its own. Of course, the OS didn't care for the cycling much,
and would sometimes lock up for a couple of minutes when it happened.

 

[thanatoid]

Did you ever realign it? I'd like to know. I've been trying
for years with an old CD-player unit on an old hi-fi
system. The tray opens and closes. Press the button again
and it opens and closes again. That can happen ten to
fifteen times before it stays open and I can put a CD in
it.

I have the exact problem. If I am REALLY fast, I can put the
disc in the tray befor it closes, but I finally just started
grabbing it and not letting go until the disc is in place. Sigh.