Multimedia forum: combo cd/dvd drive does not detect or play dvds

I too have the same problem. I have a Liteon LTD163 DVD/CD Rom - XP Pro Desktop & in the past no problems using any of the programs you mentioned above as well as buying and installing the nVidia DVD codec for Windows Media Player. As well, only music cds & games are recognized.

As with you, after inserting a DVD into the drive it prompts me to insert a disk if I try to explore or play disk.

I upgraded the firmware on the DVD player to the most recent version & get the same results. The region is set for Region 1.

I have searched all over the internet for some answer & yet have I found any to solve this problem. All I see are people saying that they go out & buy a new DVD drive. To me that's not a solution. I have cleaned the drive & the PC has never been dropped so I know it is not damaged. I have removed the drive and reinstalled it & same thing.

If you find any solution or fix, please post it here to help myself or others in the future.

Thanks!

I am suspicious that these combo drives just employ too much technology to keep up with themselves.
If I boot up with a cd in mine, it knows it has a cd and cd drive.
If I boot up with a DVD it usually knows that too.
BUT, if I swap during a session, it blows the drive's mind and sometimes it doesn't even show that I have a drive!
PLUS sometimes it cannot even read perfectly good CDs. I move them to another computer and they read fine.
While I was writing this, I opened the drive, took out the CD that was in it, inserted a good DVD with my backup files on it, and checked to see ... Sure enough, it says it cannot read the CD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shutting down with a restart is the only fix I have found. I've upgraded the firmware, software, blah blah ...

I'm planning to install a separate CD-RW drive and just keep the stupid things apart! Hope that will solve my problems.

thanks for your help I think I've got it now, the biggest problem is I'm workin on a relic of an ibm, when the hard disk works it sounds like it's chipping a stone tablet, thanks again.