DVD drive problems

[spressman]

Two days ago my internal DVD drive (NEC ND-1100A) was working just fine. Yesterday, it suddenly stopped recognizing any DVD files, including all of my stored .AVI files from past PrEl projects. The only change to my computer during that time was updating my version of Windows Internet Explorer.

The DVD drive will recognize files on CDs (photos, etc), but absolutely nothing on DVDs. Very frustrating!

Anyone have any experience or suggestions with this kind of problem?

Happy new year all.

steve

[roadsideron]

The DVD player could be fried. You could try and update the firmware if it has any updates and see if that works. If it doesn't you could try plugging it into another motherboard port and using a different power plug in the back of it. I know it's a stretch but these are all the things you can do to try and solve the problem short of taking it apart. If none of these things work, the last step would be to put it into a different computer and see if it works there, if not it's time for a new DVD player.

[Ron]

You could also try a "System Restore" choosing a date just prior to when it was working fine.

[Steve Grisetti]

And very strange that it will read CDs and not DVDs. That could well mean a driver problem rather than that the drive is fried.

Can I offer one more suggestion? Turn off your computer, open it, unplug the DVD drive and start the computer -- so the computer sets itself up as if it has no DVD drive. Then power down, plug the drive back in and restart. This will generate a whole new driver for your drive. Just in case the old one somehow corrupted.

You also don't say if you're using Vista (not that that should make any difference) but you may want to go to the NEC site and see if your drive has new firmware available. If you don't have your computer specs, the Belarc Advisor will tell you which model of drive you have.
http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3c0572c0

[spressman]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm not using Vista (still on XP), and I also tried the Restore option (setting the point prior to the Internet Explorer update, but to no avail).

It is part of a 5-year-old machine, so maybe it just decided that celebrating another New Year's Day was not in the cards! Thanks again for the helpful suggestions.

And best wishes for the new year.
steve

[Chuck Engels]

Hi Steve, sorry to hear about your drive. One good thing is that you can probably get twice the drive for almost nothing these days.

[spressman]

And, indeed, it looks like I'm heading for a new drive.

I tried Steve's suggestion -- removing the DVD drive, starting up without it, and then shutting down and reinstalling the DVD drive. But still no go. I also seem unable to install the firmware update that I downloaded from the NEC site -- the firmware utility doesn't recognize my drive.

Oddly, the drive still reads CDs but of course that doesn't help me work with all those AVI files that I've archived on DVD disks.

I guess it's time to hit the after-holiday sales.

best,
steve

[Chuck Engels]

I guess it's time to hit the after-holiday sales.

Sounds like fun to me

[Steve Grisetti]

Here's one other thought, Steve. Just so you can say you exhausted every option.
http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3c05612d

[spressman]

Thanks, Steve, for flagging to this. I also ran across it myself but I have to confess that I'm a little nervous about tinkering with the registry.

For what it's worth, the very helpful folks at my local computer shop think my recent Windows IE update might very well have messed with my DVD drive. On the off chance that it would help, I've been trying to restore my computer to an earlier time, but I've been unable to do so (getting that "computer is unable to be restored" message). I know about the restore conflict with Norton anti-virus, but even temporarily deactivating my Norton anti-virus program will still not allow me to do a Restore. The hole just gets deeper and deeper...

steve

[spressman]

By the way, Steve, regarding the registry edit approach that you flagged to, my DVD drive is not missing. It definitely shows up under My Computer and, as I mentioned earlier, it also reads my CD photo files just fine. Weird...

steve

[Bobby]

Steve, could you provide some more details on "not recognizing"?

DVD drive firmware is pretty smart, and it does the determination of what the medium is, not software. If the drive reads CDs, it is physically connected OK and the drivers are highly probably OK. You might try loading new firmware, but I don't think this is your problem.

Once the medium is recognized, then it is up to the software to decide what player to use. If nothing plays, perhaps you have lost the association for that medium type. For example, if the system knows to play DVDs via PowerDVD and PowerDVD is for some reason not starting up, nothing will happen, perhaps.

More details please.

Bob