HP Pavilion Laptop Will Detect Software Disk But Won't Detect DVD or CD

[Walt_3]

I'm running Windows 8.1 on an HP Pavilion Laptop.

It will detect and run a software installation disk without issues, but it won't detect a DVD or CD.

I tried installing the VideoLAN VLC player, but it doesn't play the DVDs or CDs.

I cannot read the files on the disk using the Command Prompt, except when it's just a data disk (like software installation disks). It eventually replied, "The disk is not ready."

I've tried reinstalling and updating the DVD/CD device driver.

I've tried reinstalling and updating the IDE ATP/ATAPI driver.

The Hardware and Devices troubleshooter doesn't find any problems.

Any ideas?

 

[Ralston18]

Could be running afoul of some protection scheme. I.e., Region code.

Do the DVDs and CDs play in any other devices that you have?

What error messages do you receive when trying to play a commercial DVD or CD?

For more information start here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code

Perhaps some mismatch between your location, the DVD/CD player, and the source of the DVD/CD's you are attempting to play.