Half an hour ago, I loaded a CD-ROM into my second computer, and it got stuck inside! What's the best way to remove it?

is it a normal tray load drive, mounted flat or on its side, or a slot load?

shut the computer off, set the computer so the cd-rom would be on the top side of the tray (in other words if the drive is a vertical mount, turn it on its side), grab a paper clip, straighten it out and carefully stick it in the little pinhole in the face of the drive tray. this will release the drive manually, just pull the tray out carefully and try to make sure the cd isn't caught on anything

...if its a slot load you are probably gonna have to take it apart - look for a user manual online for instructions

I had to open it up to remove the CD. It's a Dell Optiplex GX60 computer.

was it ruined ?

the manual release hole is right beside the eject button - almost every cd/dvd drive has one there for just such a situation

was it ruined ?

No.