Need Advice Recomendation for repair

Hi! I have two HP computers that I need repaired. My main one is a a1310y and the CD-ROM and DVD drives do not work - at all! (and haven't for awhile)The device is listed in the computer, but neither reads nor plays cds or dvds. I have read that this was problem when Windows XP was upgraded. I tried Microsoft's hotfix to no avail. It's not critical, but a nuisance.

The other computer is a a1209n. When started is says:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows setup using the original setup cd-rom.

I bought the system recovery disks from HP and that cd-rom won't read it. (It was working before this.)

I'm looking at some to look at these and give me an estimate for repair. I know most tech people would say it's time to upgrade, but that is not in the cards at the moment, so I'd like to try and salvage these.

Thanks in advance!

 

I don't know any local good places. You can try buying a new DVD drive, that would only set you back about $40, could try that before costing out a tech company to look at it. You could also use the same dvd drive in the other computer to try and get the restore to work. Both of those computers are pretty old (2005 from a quick search) so make sure you try to get a free quote before getting any work done. If the quote is too much, like you mentioned - just upgrade and buy a new system.

Now one last option if you can wait until January. Feel free to bring your systems to the monthly Broadlands Tech Committee meeting and we'll try and fix it for free. Just let us know before hand so I can bring a spare cd drive. We would be more than happy to take a look at it during our meeting. I say Jan because we've canceled our Dec meeting.

 

Will at Ask1Expert is a great technician and quite reasonable. We've used him for various computer related issues and have never been dissatisfied with his services. http://www.ask1expert.com

 

Thank you both for the information!

 

How old are the systems?

You may be able to uninstall and reinstall the devices and then download new drivers from the internet and reinstall. CD/DVD drives last a very long time as long as the drivers are current.