First, let's make sure you have sound at all. Digital sound like the Windows startup noise working, etc? If not, you've got a bigger problem, like bad sound drivers or a toasted soundcard, though sometimes it's as simple as a cable needing to be wiggled wherever it plugs into the sound card.
If .wav stuff is playing, check your mixer to make sure the CD Audio slider is not at minimum, and that the CD Audio is not muted. If that's good then let's check to see if the CD-Rom is working. Throw in an audio CD of any kind and see if it plays. If the CD player application is running like it's playing the CD but you have no sound, try plugging headphones into the headphone jack on the CD-Rom and see if you have sound from there. If so, you need to power off the system and check the cable running from the CD-Rom to the sound card and make sure it didn't work loose. If the cable is seated correctly at both ends and reseating it does not help then you may have a problem with the sound card or a defective cable. Try replacing the cable first, they're cheap. If that doesn't work and a driver reinstall doesn't fix anything, then your sound hardware has a problem. You might try moving the CD-audio cable to a different input if your sound card has more than one CD audio input and see if that helps. If not, either your aux output on the CD-Rom is bad, or the CD input circuit on the sound card is bad. If you have onboard sound, you've got a problem. CD-Roms are cheap and easier to replace, so if it's a "shot in the dark" decision try that first.
If you have no sound from the headphones jack, or the CD won't recognize at all then eject the CD. Try putting a data disc in and seeing if Windows will recognize that. If not, eject that CD, and note which way the label is facing. Close the CD tray. Wait for a minute, then eject the CD again. Try this a few times, noting the label position each time. If the label is facing identical to how you put it in each time, then the CD's spindle motor is shot and the drive has to be replaced. If the CD has been turned, then try using a cleaning disk and seeing if that helps to get disks to recognize. If the disks refuse to recognize but the drive letter exists under My Computer then you probably need to replace the CD-Rom drive. If the drive letter does not exist under My Computer check the boot screen to see if it's showing up when the system starts. If not, power off the system and check the data cable to the CD-Rom to make sure it's not worked loose either at the drive or the mainboard. Try reseating the cable. If this does not help, the drive probably needs to be replaced.
If your disk fails to eject then check the power cable to the CD-Rom. If the power cable is firmly plugged in then try swapping power connectors. If the disk still fails to eject the CD-Rom is bad, replace it.
Hope that helps.
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