Old computer drive don't play dvd any more

[wink]

i have a old window 98 os, 300 mhz dell inspiron note book that i use to play my store bought dvd.

but a while back i used a stand alone dvd recorder to record on +rw dvd & put it in my computer for playback.

it did not playback but also screw up my computer now that when i put any store brought dvd in my computer the drive spins for a while with the light flashing & then hang up with the status light on.

when i put a cd in the computer it work fine.

is the dvd read portion of my drive broken?

[kevdriver]

Your notebook drive might not recognize the +rwblank media that your stand a lone recorded to. Also perhaps the old drive is in need of a firmware update or it could be cooked altogeather. It is 8 years old now.

[wink]

yes, i found out later that it didn't reconize +rw etc, just store brought dvd.

but the dvd rom drive does play burn or store broght cd.

but my store brought dvd don't work anymore.

i am tyring to figure out if it is a registry problem or my drive is fry .

since the cd work, i suspect it is a software problem and not hardware.

i did reload the dvd software also but the drive never get to see the dvd because it hang up when a dvd is loaded into it.

any ideas on what is going on?

[JimS]

...
Is there any free dvd drive diagnostic software out there?

I used Nero 6.x's Toolkit to check the dvd rom drive in my old Dell 4100.

I have since replaced the drive.

Good luck Wink.
...

[MikeyBK]

yes, i found out later that it didn't reconize +rw etc, just store brought dvd.

but the dvd rom drive does play burn or store broght cd.

but my store brought dvd don't work anymore.

i am tyring to figure out if it is a registry problem or my drive is fry .

since the cd work, i suspect it is a software problem and not hardware.

i did reload the dvd software also but the drive never get to see the dvd because it hang up when a dvd is loaded into it.

any ideas on what is going on?

That are some symtoms of a drive on it's death bed. I had a DVD-Rom/Combo drive that all of a sudden would only recognize CDs. Needless to say I had to replace it.
I've also had a 16X DVD-RW drive that started to go bad and only could see 8X and 16X Verbatim discs as 4X. It's still hanging in there, but is installed in an older PC now.

[Kabuchan]

I have a 2 yr old Gateway, had a cd-r and a cd-rw. I replaced the cd-rw with dvd-rw. 6 weeks later the cd-r burned out, wasn't even recognized by the pc. Replaced it with the same dvd-rw (nec) and life is beautiful again.

Now I have to replace the 3 1/2 inch floppy on my work pc!

[wink]

say if i replace my dvd-rom with a current spec, would my old computer processor be able to handle it?

since i am at 300 mhz chip.

[Chewy]

say if i replace my dvd-rom with a current spec, would my old computer processor be able to handle it?

since i am at 300 mhz chip.

most likely not as you are almost half as fast as minimum for dvd playability