DVD R/RW Drive Would only read CDs not DVDs

Question

My laptop has a Matshita uj8b1as DVD/r/RW drive, and recently it started refusing to read data from DVDs, I thought there was something wrong with the setting of the software so I reinstalled Windows 7. But even with Windows 7 freshly installed, it still wouldn't read from a DVD.

I wanted to know if this is a hardware failure, so i tried loading a boot CD when the computer booted up. The drive read the boot CD without problems. but the Drive wouldn't read the DVD I put in there.

I also looked into •HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE •SYSTEM •CurrentControlSet •Control •Class •{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} and did not find upper and lower filters

When a DVD is loaded, I double clicked on DVD/CD RW drive in My Computer, the DVD R/RW ejects and says "Insert a disc, Please insert a Disk to Drive F:" I tried everything I knew how to do (reinstalling Windows 7, Uninstalling the driver and reinstalling it in Windows Device Manager) but I still couldn't fix the problem. I want to be able to use the drive again. I really appreciate your help!

Solution

DVD/CD combo drives use different lasers for each disk type. I've seen MANY combo drives over the years where the DVD reading sub-system fails, yet the CD reading sub-system still works, it's the most usual failure reason for DVD combo drives (in my experience).

If the usual remedies (like cleaning the drive of dust/debris, checking the disks for damage, etc.) don't help, then the fix is to replace the DVD combo drive; which is a pretty cheap/easy repair in most scenarios.

Comments

[Ramhound]

When I had a simi;ar problem I soon discovered a few months later that the drive simply stopped working entirely both in Windows and would refuse to be booted from.

[Callen L]

Possible Upper/Lower filters issues, try the fix described here, you have to be comfortable with editing your registry, but I know this used to do the trick for me all the time! superuser.com/questions/472462/…

[user22105]

@CallenL Thanks for your answer! i opened my Registry, but I did not see any of the 4 names (UpperFilters LowerFilters UpperFilters.bak LowerFilters.bak) listed there..

[TOOGAM]

You mention DVD R/RW. Umm, if you're using recordable media, older drives may care about whether you're using DVD-R(W) or DVD+R(W). It would be interesting to see if any other operating systems (perhaps booted from a LiveCD, if the system allows the boot media to be ejected) can read DVDs. Or, try moving the DVD drive to another system (probably easier to do with some systems than others, like laptops). These steps can help determine if the problem is software or hardware. DVDs are often handled different in software, e.g. typically using UDF rather than ISO9660.

[user22105]

thanks for your answer, I tried the Fixit tool, but it didn't fix the problem..