My Cd/DVD drive on my laptop has stopped working

[FairyFay]

Basically although it 'whirs' when I put a Cd in, the computer (laptop) doesn't recognise that there is anything there. I really don't want to spend a fortune on a repair and was wondering whether buying an external Cd/dvd reader/rewriter which plugs into my USB port would be a good option? Any advice very much appreciated. thank-you

yep - pretty cheap now as well for a drive that will basically play/write nearly anything.

Thanks, I will get one of those then

Hmm. a friend has just told me to chec in Device Manager to see what it says about my CD drive. It says that it is 'working properly', but it clearly isn't as the laptop thinks there is no disk in there. I have tried several CD-Roms. Is there any hope for it or should I just fork out for a new one? I am a techno-idiot so any help will be appreciated