Issue with disk drive

[Diehardwalnut]

I had no issues with disc reading when I had windows 7 but recently I updated to windows 8.1. now my disk drive wont read my discs. At first I thought it was a driver issue so I checked and I have the latest driver. Then I thought it was a firmware issue and I did see new firmware so I updated by still wont work. The disk im trying to read (Fresh Prince) wont play in the auto-play option. With no disk in the reader I see "DVD RW Drive(D )" then when I close the tray I see "DVD RW Drive(D) Fresh_Prince 0 bytes free of 6.64 GB" so my disk drive sees the disk but wont play. Any ideas?

 

[photonboy]

Can you view the FOLDER in the disc and the files inside that?
Can you access DATA discs?

If so, your issue may be that you just can't play the video as you don't have the proper software. In that case, I suggest installing the K-Lite Pack: http://codecguide.com/download_kl.htm

However, you should NOT even see the drive letter in Windows Explorer with no disc inserted.

If you still have issues ensure:
1) motherboard MAIN CHIPSET driver was installed (motherboard support site)
2) other motherboard drivers if relevent (audio, SATA...) again from motherboard support site
3) main video driver (likely you have)
4) Look at DEVICE MANAGER for conflicts

 

[Diehardwalnut]

Thanks for the help. You're right I needed some sort of playback software because apparently windows 8 doesn't come with one. In the end I decided on VLC media player.

 

[photonboy]

I prefer K-Lite (WMPC-HC player) to VLC. I've tried VLC many times and it just didn't work as well overall though you may not notice.

There were a bunch of little things that made WMPC-HC better such as being able to REMEMBER the DVD or File position when you pause (not STOP) so it starts where you left off the next time you launch it.

Actually, here's the exact setup:

1. Uninstall VLC
2. Download and install K-Lite (Standard, Full, or Mega) and install it

3. Open WMPC-HC by launching a video or manually and make the following changes:

a) Options-> Player-> check "Remember DVD position" and "Remember File position"
b) Options-> Player-> check "Limit windows proportions on resize" (to resize by dragging the side so it stays the same shape)
c) Options-> Player-> check "Process priority above normal" (probably don't need to but it doesn't hurt)

You can also reduce the CPU usage by using video hardware acceleration when supported by checking MPEG, H264 and VC1 under "Internal Filters" however I recommend you leave that blank unless your CPU is so under-powered it's causing stutter which is unlikely in most computers now.

The problem with hardware acceleration is it sometimes causes issues with quality depending on your video driver settings so it's really just best avoided.
a)