You place a new disc in an optical drive and receive an error message stating that the drive is not accessible. What should you do first?

When experiencing an error message indicating that the optical drive is not accessible immediately after inserting a new disc, the most logical first step is to wait and then try again. This may occur if the system is not ready to read the disc due to a brief delay in initialization or if the disc has not been properly seated in the drive. Waiting allows the drive enough time to recognize the disc fully, and then attempting to access it again can yield a different result without the need for further action.

While replacing the disc might seem like a solution, it should not be your first instinct, as the issue may not be with the disc itself. Checking for a system update or restarting the computer are also valid troubleshooting steps but are often more time-consuming and might not directly address a minor temporary issue like drive readiness. Thus, giving the system a moment to reestablish the connection with the optical drive is the most straightforward first action to take in this scenario.