# laptop dvd player

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-dvd-player/508330>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 31, 2009, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-dvd-player/508330 "2009-08-31T05:35:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tzimmerman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@tzimmerman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tzimmerman)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-dvd-player/508330/1 "2009-08-31T05:35:14Z")

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I’ve got a laptop with dvd drive that stopped working. The weird thing is it just won’t play dvd’s anymore. CD’s and cd-roms work fine. It happened grdually over time.  
For a while it would only play certain dvd’s. The strange thing is that it could be the most scratched up dvd and it would play it, but a brand new one out of the box might not play. Anyway, no dvd’s play now. I suspect it’s a hardware problem but I’m hoping someone out there might have a software fix.

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-dvd-player/508330/2 "2009-08-31T12:45:47Z")

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> [@tzimmerman](#):
>
> For a while it would only play certain dvd’s. The strange thing is that it could be the most scratched up dvd and it would play it, but a brand new one out of the box might not play.

There may have been something different about the ones that played and the ones that didn’t, like dual layer-ness or different copy protection schemes.

> [@](#):
>
> Anyway, no dvd’s play now. I suspect it’s a hardware problem but I’m hoping someone out there might have a software fix.

I suppose you could try playing/reading a DVD using a different program.

It also might be worth a try cleaning the drive’s laser lens.

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**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-dvd-player/508330/3 "2009-09-01T03:43:57Z")

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This isn’t unusual. I find that as the laser and/or positioning mechanism fails, they usually quit reading DVDs first. You can try blowing it out with some canned air, or using a good quality cleaning disk. It (usually) can’t hurt, and may help.

The good news is that you can usually replace the DVD drive for $50 or so. And unless it’s a Mac, they’re usually a snap to replace. Like 5 minutes easy with nothing but a small Phillips head screwdriver. Even the ones that require you to open the case are usually not too bad (again, unless it’s a Mac, they are a bugger to work on).

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**Author:** ![tzimmerman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@tzimmerman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tzimmerman)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laptop-dvd-player/508330/4 "2009-09-02T22:13:44Z")

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Thanks for the help I’ll try that.