Perhaps some sort of lubricant in the CD-ROM drive got loose and crapped up the disc. I would say that it's probably not worth troubleshooting. Optical drives are cheap these days, just chuck this one out and buy a new one.
BlaRo, great story, that's gold!
Reminds me of another one. Not a direct quote, but it went something like this...
Customer: My computer doesn't work
Tech: What does it do?
Customer: It won't go on
Tech: OK, so what happens when you turn it on?
Customer: How do I do that?
Tech: See that button in the middle of the box, near the bottom?
Customer: Yeah...
Tech: Press it
Customer: OK .... nothing happened.
Tech: OK, is it plugged in?
Customer: of course it is, do you think I'm stupid?
Tech: No, sir, I'm just checking all of the possibilities. Can you please double-check?
Customer: Well, no, it's too dark back there
Tech: Well, can you turn a light on?
Customer: Uh, no.
Tech: What?
Customer: The power is out right now
.... pause ....
Tech: OK, sir, I think we've found the problem. You will need to disconnect your computer, put it back in the box and return to where you bought it from
Customer: Oh, it's that bad?
Tech: No, sir, you are too dumb to own a computer.
:lol: