Laptops For Dummies
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Today’s laptops offer two types of CD/DVD drives: the slot type and the tray type. With the slot type, the disc is inserted into a slot. At some point, the computer "grabs" the disc and pulls it all the way in. With the tray type, you push a button, and a disc tray pops out of the laptop's body, or the tray might pop out when you use an Eject command in Windows. You pull the tray out the rest of the way and snap the CD or DVD into the tray. Then you gently push the tray back inside the laptop.

Your laptop may have a label that tells you what kind of drive it contains. CD drives can be labeled as CD, Compact Disc, CD-RW, or CD/R-RW, or some combination of those. The word disc can also appear on the drive.

DVD drives use the DVD logo. Combination CD/DVD drives might use some mishmash of the logos. And, of course, some drives might not use any labeling.

When using your drive, whether slide-in or pop-out, make sure you have enough room to insert or remove the disc. For the pop-out tray, also be sure that you find and recognize the tiny button you press to eject the disc.

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