Cd Drive Problem

[Proper Bo]

Sometimes when I put a CD into my CD drive, it begins to read it (or at least sounds like it is) and then just stops altogether. The "disc in" light goes off and it refuses the read any other discs until i restart. It doesn't switch itself off though as it still opens and closes.
Can anyone tell me what's wrong with it??

P.S This usually happens with CD's which were written by someone else on their computer ie my friend
The thing is though, they work on my brother's computer but not on mine

[CornerPocket]

What cdrom do you have and what does your brother have? Some older model cdroms will react this way.

[Proper Bo]

Mine is a Philips CDRW1600 Series and my brother's is some crappy old standard basic thing! That's what's so frustrating about it!