My CD/DVD drive wont work

Hey, I'm trying to burn a CD for a friend and when I insert the CD-R into the drive, it makes a whirring sound as if it was loading and then suddenly stops and I cant do anything with it.
But i've also noticed that it does the same with normal music CDs that aren't even damaged.
So I went on the Troubleshooter (for Windows 7) and tried to diagnose the problem in the
Hardware and sounds section but when I tried to it just told me that the disc is not recognized by the drive and it may be damaged or inserted wrong. Well the thing is it isn't inserted wrong or damaged at all and I have no idea why it wont let me do anything.
I would normally do what I usually do and just put it off or forget about it but this disc I have to burn is actually really urgent so any help would be really appreciated.
Thanks.