My dvd drive on laptop will not play dvds but will play cds- what is wrong?

Question

My dvd drive suddenly stopped being able to play dvds. It worked 2 days ago, but not last night. The drive recognizes that it is a dvd and loads the software to play it- but will not actually play when play is pressed. This happens with 3 different software applications. I have tried the device manager and it says it is working fine. The drive does still play audio cds. I have tried reloading drivers and uninstalling the drive itself- but it still will not play dvds. I was chatting with dell tech support last night and the girl kept saying that it was a software issue- but can 3 softwares fail at the same time??? My laptop has not been connected to the internet- so it has had no updates that might have screwed it up, and the fact that it suddenly stopped working makes me think it is something else wrong. Secondary Question: I asked if it could be a video card and was told no because it still played audio cds?? Does that make any sense? What is wrong with my computer? Suggestions please

It gives me either unknown error (WMP) or nothing (cineplayer). I use either cineplayer or windows media player which both came installed on my laptop. The laptop is less than a year old. Only region 1 discs- no copies. No video or sound from players. According to diagnostic test- dvd drive is fine.

Answer 1

I am having the same problem!! I've had my Dell Laptop for 6 months and watched DVDs using Cineplayer 100s of times. This morning I put one in that I watched last week, and all I get is the black screen and then goes back to the home page to pick play, resume, eject.

I called Dell and tried to do a system restore to last month since it worked then (which you can try, but it didn't work for me). They sounded sure that it's a software issue, not hardware, since the DVD player is recognizing the content of the DVD in Windows Explorer and will play audio cds. So now they want me to restore back to day one. I'd rather not.

I'm planning on calling the Sonic customer service line on Monday to see if they have any helpful information, although Windows Media Player isn't working either and it's giving me an eroor message about digital copyright infringment (C00D1163)? Someone please help!! I'll post if I find anything.

Answer 2

Hmm...

So, Windows Explorer is noticing that it's a DVD, but your program won't play it?

If it was a video issue, then you more than likely would hear sound, but not see video.

Does your program say anything about why it's not working? Is there an error message? What programs have you tried?

How long have you had the drive? Have you tried using a CD Cleaner? Sometimes that can help.

If none of this works and your computer is older, then it is possible that your DVD Drive has started to burn out. Quite similar to the infamous PS2 Disc Read Errors, the optical drive just may be giving up the ghost.

If it's new, then it's possible that your computer has a defective DVD Drive, and you should talk to tech support and tell them that you called before and the situation. They might exchange, especially if you are still under warranty.

Wish I could be of more help!

Answer 3

Laptop Not Playing Dvd

Answer 4

Right Click My Computer, Properties, Hardware, Device Manager, Right Click on your DVD rom, Properties, DVD Region, Make sure the region is the same as your DVD's your playing, you can change the region only 4 times if I'm sure. So if you watch pirated movies from Asia or Europe, it automatically change the region, when the number comes to 0 you are in trouble. If so, there are way to change that, with software firmware etc. A whole process on its own. So first see if this is you problem.

Answer 5

Try Mannie's way, if that doesn't work call tech support.

Answer 6

Our laptop did exactly the same i think its a common fault with them.