Dell Laptop plays cd's but not dvd's

[Stargazer]

I have a Dell Laptop and it plays cd's but not dvd's. When I put in a dvd it clicks but a cd it recognizes and plays fine. What could be causing this and is there a way I can fix this?

 

[charper1]

What is the device's make & model number? Are you 100% sure that it is a CD/DVD device? You could also run Belarc Advisor on it and it will tell you all the system info.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

If you are 100% sure it is a CD/DVD, then what are the listed formats it supports versus the DVD you are trying to play. Not all drives support all formats and not all DVDs are the same. Even pre-recorded/store bought movies.

 

[Stargazer]

I know it is a CD/DVD device. I have played those same cd's and dvd's on it before and even burned cd's and dvd's with it. It is a CD/DVD player/burner. It used to work with DVD's but no longer works with them.

 

[Ilya]

Do you have correct drivers installed? Any DVD player software installed?
Perhaps you installed some software recently that now prevents your old DVD software from running. Try starting the program manually and then inserting the DVD.

 

[vurbano]

maybe its the DVD

 

[cdru]

The DVD laser may have gone south. I had a stand alone DVD player that was not able to play CD-Rs. Thanks to my wife disregarding the warning, she still tried to play a CD-R on it and it fried the CD laser. Something similar may have happened to yours such that CDs may still play fine, but the DVD side of things is not functioning.

 

[Stargazer]

Its not the DVD, it does it on any DVD I put in the drive. Those same DVD's works fine in other DVD players. I wonder if it would still be able to burn DVD's if it cannot play them or does that use the same laser beam as what is used to read the data?

 

[mdonnelly]

You need DVD player software to use a DVD in a PC. On my Dell desktop, it's Intervideo WinDVD. Check the Dell support website to see if there's an original equipment software package available for download to your laptop.

 

[charper1]

I totally agree with the above. If you are 100% sure that you have a DVD player, and that there is no problem with the DVDs, then you need to tell us if you have a DVD software decoder installed yet, like WinDVD or the DVD pack for Windows Media Player 10. If not, then you NEED one. If you do have one installed, then replace the drive.

 

[rallen122]

CD not DVD

I would uninstall/reinstall the drive and reload the DVD Software. If it still will not recognize the DVD, replace the drive.

 

[Ilya]

Welcome to the forum, rallen122!

 

[Stargazer]

Thanks, I am going to try to see if the DVD software is on the laptop. Mine came with the Intervideo DVD software too I do believe. Since the reinstall software comes on a cd then I can at least reinstall all the software back to the factory settings if need be if the DVD player/burner part of the device does not work. Maybe I can go on their website and find an update for it and install that.