DVD Player Won't Work

I bought this laptop in Nov 2017. Dell 15 inch.

I have not bothered to use the DVD player since I have owned it.

I inserted a DVD tonight and it did not automatically start like I expected it to do.

I did the usual troubleshooting and nothing worked.

I read some information online and it said that there was no media player installed.

Done to save money.

I downloaded VLC and it did not work.

I tried using Windows Media player and it did not work.

I opened and closed the DVD drawer numerous times and I heard it 'wind' but it won't start and I don't see a window.

Is my problem the software or is it hardware....the DVD drive?

It's still under warranty.

Any suggestions?

Can you see the DVD drive in Explorer?

Steve C said:

Can you see the DVD drive in Explorer?

No........and I can't find it under anything else......docs, download, video, audio.......etc.........C or D........

I went to MY PC and found the and D drive.

I reinserted the DVD and clicked on the D drive and the 'bar' started downloading at the top of the page.

It reached the end and told me to insert a disc.

It was already in the tray but I reinserted it and nothing happened.

It works now.

I clicked on the D drive numerous time and reinserted the Disc just as many times....10+.......and it works.

It is running on the VLC player.

Thanks

Hi there
1) check device manager -- and re-install driver (properties etc).

2) ensure DVD drive is clean i.e no dust in it etc -- you don't see them very often but those old fashioned DVD head cleaners are good (DVD with a little tiny soft brush on the surface). If you can't find one of those then blow some air (gently) into the slot.

3) If still no good open laptop and ensure electrical connections OK

Those devices don't fail very often unless you drop laptop etc.

cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

Hi there
1) check device manager -- and re-install driver (properties etc).
2) ensure DVD drive is clean i.e no dust in it etc -- you don't see them very often but those old fashioned DVD head cleaners are good (DVD with a little tiny soft brush on the surface). If you can't find one of those then blow some air (gently) into the slot.
3) If still no good open laptop and ensure electrical connections OKThose devices don't fail very often unless you drop laptop etc.cheersjimbo

I checked the device manager and my drivers are updated.

I blew through the drive and it may have helped......it has not been used so it should be clean.

Whatever was keeping it from working, it seems to be good now.

Now...........if it does not work the second time I need it, then I will have a problem.

DVD players are passe'. Everything is basically online.

That is the way it should be.......online...enter a code and ....there it is.

I don't know how things are moving in Iceland or the UK,but in the states DVD sales are plunging and so is cable tv.

A lot of people are canceling their cablevision to save money . Why pay 90-100 dollars a month for cable vision with200, 300 channels when you only watch 8,10 with any regularity?

People, to include myself; subscribe to Netflix or Amazon Prime and get movies for 7,8,10 dollars a month.....streamed on demand to your tv. So you can watch it when you want to and now when HBO or your cable provider insists you watch it.

A lot of laptops don't even have a DVD player.

It won't be much longer before they are completely gone, just like pay phones and dial up internet.

Thanks

Good news it's working now. I just bought a cheap external USB Samsung DVD drve for my laptop for the few times I need to access a DVD.

Steve C said:

Good news it's working now. I just bought a cheap external USB Samsung DVD drve for my laptop for the few times I need to access a DVD.

Hi there
Glad you got it all working.

I only have a DVD device (external USB model) if I need to rip a blu ray or "classic DVD" . With KODI on my remote devices I can play .iso DVD files with all menus etc directly.

Most movies / TV I watch now are via NETFLIX / AMAZON PRIME. If I want to keep any of these I just use my Video hardware capturing device to capture in 1080p. I play via an AMAZON Fire TV box (older model with ethernet cable) and capture it via HDMI splitter --the "el cheapo chinese" ones work best as they strip off any DRM stuff. The "better" ?? !!ones respect DRM and don't pass the video. You need though HDMI cables to be HDMI 2.0 compliant.

I also still rip some old rare classical music CD's (rip to FLAC via gold old fashioned "Winamp" which tags them too). That sort of music isn't available on things like Spotify etc - also I prefer for at home decent uncompressed flac music rather than essentially compressed .mp3 versions -- even at 320 kbs on high quality studi reference type Hi-Fi speakers you can still hear some artifacts even at 320 kbs although perfectly good enough for "on the move" type listening.

Cheers
jimbo