Philips CD-RW/DVD CDD 5263

[SamUnreal]

I have two Dell laptops, both containing these CD-RW/DVD drives. One of them will always read every DVD, and the other drive will occasionally read some DVDs. I have no clue why, these laptops are less than a month old. It is not dirty, and will always read audio CDs. Does anyone have anything? Driver 5.1.2535.0

[the boss]

I have two Dell laptops, both containing these CD-RW/DVD drives. One of them will always read every DVD, and the other drive will occasionally read some DVDs. I have no clue why, these laptops are less than a month old. It is not dirty, and will always read audio CDs. Does anyone have anything? Driver 5.1.2535.0

if you swop the drives over, does the faulty drive work correctly in the other machine?

if yes = faulty windows software settup
if no = faulty drive

[SamUnreal]

I'm not going to try that -- not experienced enough. It says:

Status : No media.
Type : DVD.

This DVD most certainly contains media.

[SamUnreal]

I restarted it, and it read it. However, it rarely, if ever, does so.

I ejected it, put it back in, and now it does not read it.

BTW -- these laptops contain TV-out capabilties, does that effect it?

[the boss]

I'm not going to try that -- not experienced enough. It says:

Status : No media.
Type : DVD.

This DVD most certainly contains media.

don,t the drives just unclip (slide out) of the laptops? , if so just turn the machines off and press the clip to slide out the drive ,your instruction book will show you how to do this , if you feel that you are unable to do this ,then do a restore (from the restore cd)) this will put the machine in factory default mode.

if the problem persists , return it under warrenty.

[the boss]

I restarted it, and it read it. However, it rarely, if ever, does so.

I ejected it, put it back in, and now it does not read it.

BTW -- these laptops contain TV-out capabilties, does that effect it?

in a lot of occasions , the dvd will not play through an external tv screen (copyright reasons)

as stated earlier , the best way to resolve if you have a faulty drive (or a damaged windows settup) is by substitution.

you are in an ideal situation to try this.

however , if you choose not to try substitution , you have two options

1: reload windows from the recovery CD
2: return the item as faulty.

[SamUnreal]

One last thing, that drive is set on region 1 for the U.S.,

and this drive is set on an unselected region.

The one with region 1 works sparingly,

and this works everytime.

Do drives automatically set their DVD regions?

[the boss]

One last thing, that drive is set on region 1 for the U.S.,

and this drive is set on an unselected region.

The one with region 1 works sparingly,

and this works everytime.

Do drives automatically set their DVD regions?

One last thing, that drive is set on region 1 for the U.S.,
and this drive is set on an unselected region.
The one with region 1 works sparingly,
and this works everytime.

if you are not able/unable to try ideas suggested to you ,and you to inexperienced to simply "eject a drive from its case" I feel that further troubleshooting , would be a waste of time.
i refer to my previous comment

2: return the item as faulty.