DVDRom problem

Maybe one of ya'll can help me out...

I'm having a problem with my DVD/CD-RW drive...it can read audio CDs, and data CDs no problem. But it will not recognize DVDs. I've double (and triple) checked, and it *IS* a DVD rom, so it should be able to read DVDs. I've been to windowsupdate, i've tried re-installing the drivers and nothing seems to work. I'm a little frustrated at this point...

Whenever i put a DVD in, nothing happens. So I open Intervideo WinDVD (or Windows Media player, etc) and it says "no valid drive/disc found" -- when i go to "My Computer" to open it that way, it says "please insert a disc into drive D" grrr.... :scratch:

any suggestions?

Have you tried multiple DVD's? What type DVD is it? It could be +R or -R or it could have region information your drive doesn't recognize. Also, sometimes drives just will not play disks made by certain mfr's (memorex, verbatim, etc)

If all else fails, go to the drive mfr's website and get the latest firmware (probably require a flash).

You could always try a firmware update.

i'll check for the firmware...but after speaking with a bunch of people in my class (we all have the same crappy computers, same crappy IT dept) -- a bunch of them have had the same problem, and the IT dept said the only way to fix it is to get a new DVD/CD-RW drive. So f*ck it...this is just a loaner computer anyway. I just wanted to have something to watch at night...

such is life...thanks for the help.