DVD rom reads only regular CD's

[beholder121]

Hello. I ran a quick search, and I am sure it's a common problem, but I don't know exactly what to look for.

Basically, my DVD rom reads only CD's, and when I put a DVD in, it doesnt' read it at all (it refers to it as a blank CD).

I used to a copyright problem bug with mediaplayer a month ago, until I downloaded WinDVD, and then everything worked fine. I uninstalled winDVD the same day, and I could still see movies - even after I restarted the computer. Right now though, the drive doesn't read DVD's anymore.

I tried what
http://www.digital-digest.com/suppor...age&page_id=33this link says, but nothing. (I removed the DVD, and windows found it again, but nothing.)

Any suggestions?

[cynthia]

Could try to reflash your drivers firmware.

[beholder121]

reflash your drivers firmware.

This is complete Chinese to me. Care to explain what is firmware, and what does reflashing mean?

[beholder121]

Still not sure what I'm looking for. I don't remember what DVD rom I have, it doesn't say anything on it, and in the driver's section it just treats it as "normal" DVD rom. it's not Sony or anything else which is familiar, can't find a labal anywhere. Help? And what is firmware? How do I fix my problem?

[ormonde]

"can't find a labal anywhere."

Go to "Device Manager" to find the make and model of your DVD ROM drive. On your desktop, right-click on the "My Computer" icon and select "Properties". Then click the "Hardware" tab and click the "Device Manager" button. You will see a "Plus" sign by the category "DVD/CD-ROM Drives". Click the plus sign to expand the list. Then you can right-click on your particular DVD drive and select "Properties" for more specific information such as driver info etc.

[beholder121]

I did that, and I didn't see anything but "dd1601". I ran a search on goolge, and that lead me to find optrite, which have firmware and stuff for dd1601... so I downloaded an update they have for a firmware, but nothing happens. I still can't use my DVD rom, it says "insert disk to drive" when there is a diks there, the same disk I was able to watch about 2 weeks ago! I don't get it - I can't think any program I installed in that time that would affect my DVD drive.

[beholder121]

so now what?

[cynthia]

Is it a region-free firmware you are using?

[beholder121]

have no idea... I just clicked on the one that had my DVD rom number on it. I could say though that my drive doesn't play *any* DVD's, and it used to play these DVD's I tried before.