Laptop DVD playing problem

[ThePMonkey]

My Laptop has a DVD player that often gets stuck when I try to play DVD's on it. Most often I'll be trying to watch Family Guy (store bought, not burned) and every few seconds it'll stop, I'll hear the disc whirring around real fast, it'll play another little bit, more whirring . . . But these DVD's have worked in other DVD player's I've tried to play them in. Also, I've watched movies, all of which have worked fine without a single error. Today I tried to watch Chapelle's Show (again store bought) and everything worked fine through the warnings, and disclaimer's, but that as soon as I got to the menu screen it was freezing up. Any suggestions?

P.S. - I know this story is very long, I'm just trying to be as specific as possible.

[Epicurus8a]

It could be a faulty DVD-ROM....

However you might try this:
1. With the laptop turned on, go to "Device Manager" and remove the driver for your DVD-ROM.
2. Shut off the laptop.
3. Carefully remove and re-install the DVD-ROM, and if possible carefully clean the contacts.
4. Turn on the laptop, and allow the driver to re-install. (If you have an updated driver, be sure to use it.)
5. Test the DVD-ROM with a DVD.

(If this doesn't solve your problem, hopefully someone else will have some other advice.)

Good Luck!

[ThePMonkey]

So I went to Device Manager, uninstalled it, shut down, removed the DVD Drive, reinserted it, and restarted. The computer (I guess automatically) installed it, and I still get the same problem. Thanks for trying though.

[wayne421]

If you're using WinDVD that could be the problem also.

We have WinDVD all over the place at my office, and I've noticed that with some DVDs it will do the pause-play-pause-play thing you described as if it's stuttering on the disc.

You can try a freeware tool called Media Player Classic, which I find plays everything wonderfully.

<<<<<<<--------------- It's in the TOOLS section to the left.

Good luck!

-W

[ThePMonkey]

If you're using WinDVD that could be the problem also.

We have WinDVD all over the place at my office, and I've noticed that with some DVDs it will do the pause-play-pause-play thing you described as if it's stuttering on the disc.

You can try a freeware tool called Media Player Classic, which I find plays everything wonderfully.

<<<<<<<--------------- It's in the TOOLS section to the left.

Good luck!

-W

No luck. I had been used InterActual Player, but also tried Windows Media Player, and neither worked.

[wayne421]

The only other things I can suggest are to try the problematic DVD in a different player to see if the disc plays correctly... if not, it's defective.

If the disc plays fine elsewhere, your DVD-ROM drive may need a firmware update. You can get the model of the drive in the Device Manager, and you can get current firmwares from www.rpc1.com.

Be aware that flashing the firmware incorrectly can kill a drive, so if you proceed down this route be sure to read any instructions carefully.

-W

[redwudz]

If it's anything like my laptop DVD player, I would suspect dirt on the laser lens. The drive is trying to find the track,and is having a hard time locating or seeking it.

Sure sign on my player is the disc is very warm when you pop it out. This usually occurs on burned discs or cheaper quality discs, at least with my laptop, not as common with pressed discs. If it works OK on burned discs, but not pressed discs, then I would suspect the disc.

You might ry a little blast of canned air and see it that helps. Laptops are a lot more susceptible to dust because of moving them around than most PCs. Mine is easy to clean as the laser unit extends with the tray.

[ThePMonkey]

Old news: I talked with Dell and determined it was a fualty drive so they sent me a new one which works fine.

[redwudz]

Thanx for responding. It's good to know the resolution of a problem.

[ThePMonkey]

Yeah, this only happened recently, I was waiting for classes to end because I just never had the time to do a tech support call, but once I had the time, it got fixed.