Good news: I found the screw for focus and started playing with it. Before long, i was able to transfer SOME files off the drives.

Bad News: I broke the screw to the focus. Although I was dead on about the focus screw, it's a moot point right now. My dad has an optical Combo drive that only the CD-RW works. I heard that DVD-Rs are more picky to pick up. Since the dye makes it harder to read, I will be using one to calibrate the other combo drive. I will let you know how it goes!