DVD/CD-RW drive My DVD drive is unable to read DVD movies and music CDs, DVD roms and CD roms work fine. Also my DVD drive is making a strange whirring sound every time I put a DVD or CD in it.

Try the following:

1. Go to the Dell.com support site and be sure you have the latest updates for your computer's operating system and the DVD drive, especially the DVD drive's drivers BIOS.

2. Make sure you have the software to play the movie, like Sonic, Windows Media Player, Power DVD, Quicktime, etc. and be sure they are the latest versions.

3. Depending on the movie format, not all DVD drives will play all DVDs. The most common discs are DVD-R and DVD+R and file types like *.avi, *.mpeg, *.mp4, *.mov and then commercial formats. Also try the movie in another machine or DVD player and see what happens.

Hi mikey7420 ,


The drive name itself is the clue to know whether it can burn dvds or not.

• In your case it's a CD-RW (read and write or rewritable) and DVD-ROM (Read only memory and not read and write or rewritable as in the case of CD)
• Perhaps the one who told you did not understand your question properly , and understood it , in the sense that it can read CDs as well as DVDs , as far as Dvd-ROM drives are concerned many shopkeepers who are especially new working in the shop just make a guess and answer our question which could lead to this misunderstanding or incorrect information being passed on.
• So the next time you buy a DVD drive which should have a read and write functionality as well , then look up for a CD_RW,DVD-RW drive.
• Also remember that DVD-RW drive can by default read and write CDs as well , but it's not true for CD drives..
• So usually a DVD-RW drive can read and write Cds as well as DVDs but a CD-RW drive can either read or read and write a DVD depending on whether it's a DVD-ROM or DVD-RW.

Hope this helps.

If your drive is truly just a ROM drive, then all it can do is read. Most systems today ship with DVD-RW drives, but yours might be read-only. Some systems came with combo drives that would burn CDs but only read DVDs. If you find you can burn files onto CD but not DVD, that could be why.

If your system has a DVD-RW drive, it's not unusual for them to develop the strange problem that they can burn one type of disc but not the other. This is because of the optical system, which is like two systems in one package to handle the two kinds of media.

If the drive has been working properly and now just won't burn at all, make sure you have the settings correct in whatever burning software. Then replace the drive. New drives are so inexpensive now that if they stop working it's not worth any effort to try fixing them.

may be it's only a DVD ROM drive not a combo,
you will need a combo to read both DVD and CD
if it was reading CDs earlier then the CDs might have scratch in them, try with new CD.
did u make changes to the cables inside, if you did check if the cabels are connected properly to the drive

my acer 4520 cd rom is not working well when i press cd roms butten its not *** out & also in my computer its tht cd rom icon is not showing so plz give me the solution asap....

first reinstall the operating system and then you use either nero 6 or NTI CD? DVD maker

Hello Rfd832,
What I see from the description is that the drive is a combo drive. Combo drives are CD-RW and DVD-ROM drives means
CD-RW = Compact Disk-Read Write
DVD-ROM = Digital Versatile Disk - Read Only Memory
so these drives can read and write CDs but can only read DVDs (Cannot write or burn DVDs)
If you want to be able to burn DVDs then you need to have DVD RW drive (either DVD+RW or DVD-RW)

You said that you are able to burn DVDs on other computer so please check the label on the DVD drive.. it should be DVD-RW/DVD+RW drive


Hope that helps.. :)

Thanks and Regards,
Srinivas

Hi,

if your DVD Drive ( ROM ) read-Only-Memory. then it will only read DVDs And Not Write Them. You need a DVD RW Drive, to be able to write. If Your CD Drive Is A CD/RW That means its a CD Re-writable drive. try a Burn To CD.

Mike @ Compurepair.

the combo drive you listed above is a cd-rw/ DVD-ROM....meaning that it will play and burn cd, cd-r, and cd-rw disks. the dvd rom will only be able to play dvd-rom and dvd-r disks providing they are in the proper format. check that the disk in question is not a dvd-rw or (+2) disk. the drive will not recognize that a disk is in the drive if the disk isnt compatable. try a dvd movie, if that works then a dvd-r, if that works then try a dvd-rw +1. if the last option doesnt work then you will have to stick with the dvd-rom and dvd-r, or purchase a dvd-rw drive to install.

GOOD LUCK AND DONT FORGET TO RATE MY POST!! :D

Assuming you have tried different makes of cd or dvd disks, it's a classic drive failure problem where the laser can no longer burn or read dvd's, but may still be able to read cd's only. You will have to replace the drive, they are quite inexpensive, and very easy to fit.