PC DVD questions

[Mattyf]

Hi all
I know you may well have been asked these questions before but here goes any how.
I am new to using DVDs on a PC and have been recently playing around with mine. I understand about the regions etc and the locking of the driver after the 5th change.

I have windows XP and PowerDVD with that. When i looked in to my DVD drives in Hardware i seem to have 2 DVD drives?

Upon looking at the properties i have found that 1 of them has 5 region changes available and no region set and the other has 4 changes left and is set at the moment to region 2.

Is this possible to have 2 ? And could i use 1 for region 1 and the other for region 2?

I have only watched region 2 DVDs so far although 1 of them was a multiregion so i set it as region 2 , would this constitute a change of region?

Also how can i choose which driver to use? If this is at all possible !!!

Any help with these questions would be gratefully recieved.
Matt

[Quality's Proof]

Do you have two (2) dvd drives "physically" installed in your computer, or is one of the drives a "virtual drive"?

A dvd-rom frive : reads only.

A dvd writer drive : reads and writes (burns).

[Enchanter]

"I have windows XP and PowerDVD with that. When i looked in to my DVD drives in Hardware i seem to have 2 DVD drives?"

Let us assume that you have two physical drives installed in your system.


"Is this possible to have 2 ? And could i use 1 for region 1 and the other for region 2?"

Not a bad idea at all. However, you are limited to discs belonging to the said regions (forcing you to change the region code of one of the drives when you need to play discs from other regions).

A better idea would be to flash one of your drives so that it becomes region-free. You can then choose to do whatever to the other drive (i.e. keep it in the system, move it to another system, or whatever 'rocks your boat').


"Also how can i choose which driver to use? If this is at all possible !!!"

Don't bother. Manufacturer-supplied drivers are usually only required with older OS, such as Windows 95. The native drivers provided by Windows XP will work perfectly.


Regards.

[Mattyf]

Thanks for your reply lads
Im not sure what this virtual driver is?
Im not sure if i have 2 physical drives. What has led me to think this is that when i list the hardware in hardware manager it shows about 6 drivers, one of which is CD-RW and the such etc. 2 Of them however were DVD , with the before mentioned regions.

I have 2 places to insert discs, 1 is the CD-RW and the other the DVD-ROM etc

Any clearer.....i didnt think so, any extra help would be great
Matt

[Enchanter]

"I have 2 places to insert discs, 1 is the CD-RW and the other the DVD-ROM etc"


You have 2 physical drives.

However, only one of them will play DVDs, that being the DVD-ROM drive. The CD-RW drive will not play DVDs, unless it happens to be a combination DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive.

I would still suggest that you region-unlock your DVD drive so that you are free to play discs from any region.

Regards.

[Quality's Proof]

Mattyf,

That is why I asked about the 2 physical dvd devices.

Some of the newer cd writers are also dvd readers, though most of the posters aren't aware of this and is why I asked about the "virtual drive". Alcohol 120%,(a software) I think, can mount many cd devices as "virtual drives".

Sometimes Windows will list a Cd drive (as some dvd writers are capable of writing cd's).

Go into Device manager and post the manufacturer and # of ea.device. If you don't have a dvd writer, then to burn dvd's :

If you are going to burn dvd's, you will need a dvdwriter, also.

A firewire external Pioneer 07 is a good idea, if you have a firewire card, or you could get the external Pioneer 07 which has both firewire and USB 2.0 connections. This would be sensible and is less than $200.00 @ meritline.com.

[Quality's Proof]

Mattyf,

P.S. BIG P.S.,

If you do flash one of the drives : it would be best to flash the cd drive which has the "virtual drive" (dvd-rom drive). A good quality dvd-rom drive is usually more expensive than the usual cd drive (with dvd-rom capability). If you have a cheap DVD-Rom drive, then the dvd-rom (not cd drive) should be flashed.

The flashing can sometimes ruin your drive, so think about the uncertainty. There are region free dvd player software available which is much cheaper than a drive.

Enchanter has been around the block!

[Enchanter]

As far as I am concerned, DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drives cost more than plain vanilla DVD-ROM drives (albeit slightly). In addition, combo drives are inherently more useful, taking up only one drive bay and yet able to perform the separate functions of accessing DVD/CD discs and burning CDs. Considering those in mind, it is thus better to attempt flashing the 'more dispensable' DVD-ROM drive.

Of course, I have flashed a number of drives, from plain vanilla DVD-ROM drives to these combo drives, and am happy to report that everything went painlessly. Simply ensure that you get the right firmware for your particular drive and that power to the system is not disconnected during flashing. It does not come easier than that.

Regards.

[Quality's Proof]

Mattyf,

What does device manager say the manufacturer and model # of the "physical" dvd-rom drive is? If it is a high quality drive , then?

[Mattyf]

Hi lads
I am sorry but i wont be at the said PC untill Friday, so i will post the specs then if thats OK.
As far as i know the second of the drives is a CD-RW only since i placed a DVD in here the other week t0o try it out and it would not start up so i guess that is the case, would i be right ?

Perhaps we can carry this on when i get to my home PC?
Matt

Perhaps it will help if i tell you its a Packard Bell 5094 package bought last year.