There are a variety of reasons that can prevent the drive from ejecting the tray. Please try the suggested method fitting your situation before using the emergency eject button.
The eject button can become jammed or broken, preventing the switch to be properly activated. Try to have Windows eject the tray for you.
To eject the DVD tray from within Windows
open “My Computer”
right click on the DVD drive
left click on “Eject”
Certain programs lock the tray from ejecting to prevent damage to the disc. In the cause of a faulty program, or unexpected crash, this could prevent the drive from becoming unlocked.
To remove any software lock on your drive, simply restart your computer. While the computer is at the boot up screen, try to eject the tray.
The power cable to the drive could of become loose, or damage. Open up “My Computer” and check to see if your computer is still registering the drive.
If the drive is not registered in Windows anymore, turn off your computer and try a different power cable to the drive.
If the drive has power, and none of the above methods has worked, you could have a broken belt. The belt is what turns the gears to open up the tray.
To fix a broken belt, follow this guide.
A lot of motion while the drive is in use can cause a disc to get stuck and prevent the tray from ejecting. If this is the case, follow the emergency eject button instructions.
On the front of the DVD drive, there should be a small hole. Insert a long thin stick, or straighten paperclip to force the tray to open.
For Windows 98 or ME, Microsoft has a troubleshooting guide to help people who are having trouble with their CD/DVD drive reading.
Inspect the disc to see if there are any scratches or visible defects. Other times, the disc could have been improperly pressed or burned. If your drive has no problems with other discs, then this might be the case.
If there are scratches, you can try various disc scratch removal kits.
If there are visible defects, it may be a bad disc.
The laser lens of the DVD drive could have dust, or other particles preventing the laser from working correctly.
To clean the lens, follow this guide.
For Windows XP, Microsoft has a troubleshooting guide for users having trouble writing to their optical disc.
If you failed writing a disc more than once on the same brand of media, try using a different brand.
Check to make sure the disc is a writable and re-writable. Writable discs can only be written on once with the exception of multisession formats. Re-writable discs can be written on and erased to be used again. Check the supported formats section under specs to see if the type of disc you are using is supported by the drive.
For Windows XP, Microsoft has an advanced troubleshooting guide to help users who are having trouble installing their CD/DVD drive.
If the OS is not detecting the drive, and the drive won’t eject the tray it may not be getting any power.
Turn off your computer, and try using a different power cable to connect the drive.
If the drive is getting power, and still not being detected in your OS try using a different IDE cable. If possible make sure it is the only device on the cable as some IDE cables allow you to hook up two drives with one cable. Remember to turn off the computer before unplugging/plugging any cables.
