Actually, I chose this one because it was well-rated at Newegg.  But
for about $30 I can replace it if that's what it takes. (Do you have a
favorite brand in lieu of Lite-On?)  I guess I'll try cleaning it
first and if that doesn't do the trick, I'll replace it.  Thanks.

Reply-to address is real
John

(Apologies to John, the OP if we're slightly off on a tangent here, but I
assume he's rec'd sufficient responses to resolve his problem)...

(SNIP)

Malke:
I was interested in your comment re Lite-On optical drives. The computer
shop I was associated with over the past couple of years dealt nearly
exclusively with Lite-On optical drives during that period (having gotten
some attractive pricing incentives from our distributor re that brand). I'm
no longer associated with that shop but to the best of my knowledge they're
still carrying & recommending that brand.

I would guess that during that time we installed a few hundred or so of
various Lite-On models including both IDE & SATA interface units and I'm
under the impression we experienced remarkably few problems with those
units. Certainly not to any significant degree that it would cause us to
discontinue using those units.

(I'm not considering DOA units since, as I'm sure you know, that's an
unfortunate occurrence with virtually any major PC component, but even there
I can't recall that we experienced any significant DOA defect rate with
Lite-On units.)

Was your negative experience re Lite-On optical drives confined to any
particular model or group of models?
Anna

John:
Well, as far as ever hearing about a problem like the one you described -
yes, many, many times...

As you've heard from Malke and I guess from others it certainly sounds like
a defective optical drive. The fact that Device Manager indicates the drive
is "working properly" is virtually irrelevant. That indication will
frequently appear in DM even when a component (it need not be an optical
drive) is defective.

You could try installing the drive on the other IDE channel (I'm assuming
your motherboard has both Primary & Secondary IDE channels) and/or changing
its position on its present IDE channel from Master to Slave (or the
reverse) just to see what happens. I'm not particularly hopeful that will
resolve the problem but I suppose it's worth a try. Also, might you have
another data cable you could substitute for the present one? And you have
checked to determine that all the current connections (data & power) are
secure, right?

I don't suppose you have another machine available in which to install the
drive. When all is said & done the only reliable way to tell if you're
simply dealing with a defective component is to replace it with a known
working one.

As you probably know, optical drives are relatively cheap nowadays so at the
worst your replacement cost won't be terribly onerous. My general experience
with Lite-On optical drives has been quite positive - unlike the experiences
you have heard from Malke and I believe others. But obviously the choice is
yours.
Anna