Laptop Won't Play DVDs

[skipper77]

My laptop, which is only a month and a half old, suddenly doesn't play DVDs. It will read disks with data on them, and CDs. But when you put any DVD in, it doesn't work. It's like the computer thinks there's no disk in there - it doesn't seem to recognize it at all. When you click on "My computer" and then look at "E Drive", the name of the DVD doesn't even come up - it still just says "E Drive".

I uninstalled the drivers for the drive, rebooted, and that didn't work. Tried Microsoft "Fix It" and ran the troubleshooter, and it still can't seem to recognize that there's a disk in there - it tells me that the disk type isn't supported. It also says that "the drive may be experiencing a problem", but doesn't go on to explain what that problem is or how I can fix it!

Please help with any ideas. The laptop is still under warrenty, but, first of all, trying to get a hold of customer service is a nightmare, and, second, there's no service center where I live, so I'd have to ship it half-way across Canada to get fixed, which I have no desire to do.

Thanks!!!!

 

[brandoncatz]

I'm guessing, since it is pretty new, that it is definitely a DVD-ROM drive, correct? Have you tried multiple DVDs? If "yes" to both of those questions, then you should contact the manufacturer since it should be under warranty. That is the best I can suggest. You can also pop the optical drive out and install it in another laptop to confirm that the drive is the issue. What is the model of the laptop?

 

[skipper77]

I'm guessing, since it is pretty new, that it is definitely a DVD-ROM drive, correct? Have you tried multiple DVDs? If "yes" to both of those questions, then you should contact the manufacturer since it should be under warranty. That is the best I can suggest. You can also pop the optical drive out and install it in another laptop to confirm that the drive is the issue. What is the model of the laptop?

Yep, it is a DVD-ROM drive, and, yep, I've tried a bunch of DVDs. I will for sure contact MSI, since it is under warrenty...my only issue is that there nearest service center is half-way across Canada, so, if it's a hardware problem, I'd have to ship it, and wait quite a while to get it back (I use it daily, for work, so that's a problem). If the drive needs to be replaced, and it's not super-expensive, I might just pay someone here to do it. Thank you for the idea of popping out the optical drive and installing it in another computer! That will solve the question of if it's the drive. I don't know how to to do that, but I'm sure my BF does, so I'll see what he can do.

It's an MSI A6200.

Thanks for your help!!

 

[brandoncatz]

I did a quick search on Google, but couldn't find any specific instructions for that model of Laptop. Normally there are some screws on the under side that you take out (3 or 4) and then you can easily slide out the drive (obviously you will want to power off the system and remove the battery when attempting this, and you may need to eject the drive first). They are very simple to remove and install new ones. If you don't want to go through the warranty process (I can understand why, since Toshiba had mine for over a month) then you can pick up a new drive on Newegg for between $30 and $50 dollars.

CD/DVD Slim Burners - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007589%20600003515&IsNodeId=1&name=Slim%20DVD%20Burner

Just make sure you confirm the connection of your current drive and the new one, if you decide to go that route. Most likely yours is SATA, and so are the ones listed on the link, but just be sure of that. And before you go through all of that, I would try throwing the drive in to another laptop just to be 100% sure. It most likely is the drive, but I thought thought that CD and DVD lasers were one in the same, so if 1 didn't work, the other wouldn't... but I could be off on that. Let me know how it goes