Windows does not detect some DVDs

[Jeff Mulb]

I reinstalled Windows a couple of weeks ago and started having this problem where for some DVDs, Windows does not even recognize there is a DVD in the drive (these are DVDs not DVD-Rs and they are not scratched). The odd thing is that some DVDs are always recognized and some are never recognized even after I take it out, wipe it, and put it back. So far, I have not had a similar problem with CDs.

To test whether it was a problem with the drive itself (NEC ND-3550A), I attached the drive to another computer and put in a DVD I could not play on the first computer. Windows on the second computer recognized there was a DVD in the drive and could play it.

Thanks for any help.

[Baldrick]

I would try remove the NEC ND-3550 from the Device Manager->DVD/CDROM Drives and restart windows. It should automatically be reinstalled.

If it wont help,
When did this start happen? Direct after you reinstalled windows? Have you installed any windows updates or other software recently?

[jman98]

Baldrick's suggest is worth a try. It's also possible that the DVD laser (this is different from the CD laser) in your DVD drive is going bad. I had similar symptoms to what you report on my 2nd DVD burner on a PC and eventually it reached a point where it could no longer burn or play any DVDs. CDs were completely OK. Again, note that I stated that the laser for DVDs is different than the one for CDs, which is why you don't have a problem with CDs - that laser is OK. If this is happening to you, the only fix is to replace the drive.

[Jeff Mulb]

I removed the drive from Device Manager and restarted the computer, but that didn't solve the problem.

Before I reinstalled Windows a few weeks ago, I never had this problem. I haven't installed any Windows Updates; the only software I can think of that's new is maybe some anti-virus software. What kind of software could interfere in this way?

It's possible the laser is going bad but I don't understand why attaching the drive to a different computer solved the problem.

[Stiiv]

My Pioneer DVD-115 reader stopped detecting most commercial DVD's after the very last WinME update...certain, older "protected" DVDs still work fine, can be ripped, etc. (like my A&E Monty Python set, The Prisoner, a few others), but discs that I'd been able to play & rip previously suddenly aren't detected. Around the same time as that last ME update, I'd also "upgraded" the DVD-115's firmware to version 1.33. I'm positive that one of these 2 updates sabotaged either Windows' or the drive's ability to detect commercial DVD's. Opinions?

[disturbed1]

Could be an ASPI error. If you've recently installed a burning app, especially one that does packet writing, this could be your culprit.

You might also want to check the values in "allocatecdroms" in the registry. If it's 1, it needs to be 0.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE->SOFTWARE->Microsoft->Windows NT->CurrentVersion->Winlogon

[Stiiv]

Unfortunately, I'm running ME....I checked for a similar entry, & found none. Thanks for the reply, though.

[disturbed1]

Unfortunately, I'm running ME....I checked for a similar entry, & found none. Thanks for the reply, though.

I see. Have you installed an ASPI driver? 2000 and XP don't need one but 95/98/ME do. I've had good luck with forceASPI on Windows ME.

[Stiiv]

I do have ASPI installed...& Nero's Info Tool reports that it's working correctly....which, in this context, may or may not be good. lol

I even uninstalled the Intel "Application Accelerator" UltraATA controller package, & reinstalled the original bus mastering controller setup...after setting a restore point, of course. Ah....now let's throw a dvd in, &....hey, the drive sees it! I can play it! And rip it! Oh, wait....it's one of the original Star Trek TOS dvd's, the 2-eps-a-disk ones....that worked before, & never stopped working. Tried a more recent, double-layer dvd...no joy.

I am getting joy, however, from your prompt responses & genuine desire to help...& that's good indeed. Thanks pal!

Let me give you more info on this antique I'm using.....

Intel P3 @ 933mHz
Intel Fedora mobo (Gateway, circa late 2000)
512mb memory (the max on a Fedora!)
75gb ibm hard drive, always at least >25gb free
Radeon AGP 4x vid card with....sigh...32mb sdr memory
SBLive oem pci sound card
WinME, patched to the hilt (until they stopped support)
Pioneer DVD-115 dvdrom
Philips 8x4x32 cd/rw

Hope some/any of that's helpful. Again, thanks for your efforts.

[disturbed1]

Here's a couple of other thoughts.

Without a disc in the drive, hold down shift, then insert the DVD while holding the shift key down. This will bypass any autorun
^Not likely to work, but hey, it's easy to try.

Windows ME should be able to create a bootable floppy disc that includes CDROM support. However, I don't know if this would allow the reading of the DVD-VIDEO secondary UDF 1.02 file structure, but it should allow you to read the primary iso9660 file structure. You could try that with both a known working DVD and one that is no longer read doubt that proves anything either, but hey it's worth it.
Or download one here - http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

About the Nero Info Tool, it's hard to tell/know if it is only reporting on the Nero ASPI or a system wide ASPI. Nero installs it's own ASPI driver that only Nero uses, but the info tool may report on both. DVDDecrypter/IMGBurn will tell you if ASPI is installed or not.

[Stiiv]

Re: holding shift - that was among the first things I tried.

I'll research the other points now. Thanks yet again.