Problem with watching DVDs on Laptop

[BlondeSandman]

I have a Dell Latitude D600 laptop with a NEC DVD+RW ND-6100A DVD/CD drive. I have had this laptop for 7 months now. I have watched nearly 100 DVDs on here. I also have been backing my extensive DVD collection using DVD shrink. I have successfully back-uped 85 DVD's without a problem.

This week I encountered a strange problem. I watched 2 DVDs and when I placed the third one in the drive failed to recognize it. So I tried 2 more at random. Same problem. I placed other DVDs in the drive both original and copies they worked fine. I placed the 3 DVDs in question in my wife's laptop; all played fine.

A co-worker mentioned that DVD drives can only change regions (possibly 5 times). What he meant was that if I play a movie made only for Region 1 (I live is USA) that is fine. But if I play a movie that is coded for region 2 that my drive will change the region code of my DVD drive. After 5 times whatever the last region code of the DVD I was playing is forever locked to that region. So I am afraid that my DVD drive is locked to region 2 and will only recognize movesi from there or movies coded all regions.

Does this make sense. I would appreciate any help.

Thanks

[BlondeSandman]

I have downloaded DVD43, DVD region killer and the 6100A RPC1 patch. The NEC drive is now region free. I assume the WinDVD4 is. However, I still cannot get this DVD drive to recognize these 3 DVDs at all.

Any suggestions??

[Experi-Mentor]

welcome to the forum

afaik, there should have been a "pop-up" stating a region change was about to take place, & if there were those instances, then i guess you may have used the 5 lives up. try searching for firmware that resets the region count (back to zero).

(a longshot) - your drive may just be dirty, have you tried using a lens cleaner ?

[BlondeSandman]

Thank you.

Yes I have used a lens cleaner. However, it was a Scotch brand that said Cd/DVD lens cleaner. After using it, it appeared to be mainly for audio. I think I am going to look for a lens cleaner specifically for DVD only (that actually says for video cleaning). May not find one in this city. Do you recommend a brand?

A side note. The CD function of this drive still works flawlessly. Both playing and burning. So it it localized to the DVD lens. Upon a closer listen, it appears that the DVD lens is clicking against the side of the drive.

I appreciate your opinions.

[setarip]

"Do you recommend a brand?"

Maxell makes a DVD/CD cleaning disc (That I've used effectively for years) that retails for approximately $10US...