How to Open a Jammed DVD or CD-Rom Drive
Unjam a desktop or laptop CD/DVD drive.
by
Doug
Updated December 28, 2009
Bent Paper Clip used for open CD / DVD drive manually.
Pin sized hole on the front of a CD-rom drive, used for ejecting the tray door open using a paper clip.
Paper clip pushed into CD Drive pin hole.
CD-Rom drive opened manually using a paper clip and a small screw driver.
You're not out of luck if the CD-rom drive on your desktop computer or laptop does not open when you push the button on the drive to eject the CD. You can manually open your computer's DVD or CD-rom drive using a paper clip when the computer is turned off.
- Turn off your computer (and unplug it, just in case).
- Get a paper clip and unbend it so most of the paper clip is straightened out.
- Now locate a small pin-sized hole on the front of the DVD or CD-rom drive (it's NOT the large headphone jack).
- Carefully push the paper clip into the small hole about a 1/2" to 3/4" of an inch until you hit the eject mechanism at the end.
- Apply pressure gently and work the paper clip around until the CD tray opens up.
- Now grab the CD tray on either side and pull the tray out the rest of the way (then remove any CD that may have been stuck in the drive).
Note: The drive that I had to unjam seemed to be more stuck than I anticipated, so I actually also needed to use a small screw driver to pry open the drive, while pushing the paper clip into the small hole on the CD-rom drive. I almost broke the front of the CD tray off while doing this, so definitely be careful when prying open the tray door. But since the door did not open when just using the paper clip technique, I had to improvise a little and use a screw driver for a little more leverage.