DVD Drive not reading DVDs but reading CDs only!!

Eclipse95

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Feb 17, 2011
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Hi guys, I have this problem since a week already. My DVD drive has not read any DVDs anymore except CDs.
I tried the ''Deleting Upper Filter and Lower Filter in regedit'' method to solve it but I couldn't find any stuff is named Upper Filter or Lower Filter.
Hope you guys able to help me to solve the problem, THX
 

billybgame

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Jan 21, 2010
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I have the same problem....but it might be to my own ignorance.....I bought a used/wiped XP desktop......it will not run DVDs.....I downloaded VLC Media Player, after realizing, doh, being wiped, maybe it needs something to allow it to read DVDs. But, even after reboot, it still doesn't work. In Win Explorer, the DVD drive still shows no contents.

I did a ton of reading, prior to realizing I might need a decoder, thinking maybe I need a new drive. But, don't want to go that route, until I'm sure.

What do I need to do, for this back to defaults, XP computer to get the DVD drive to read DVDs?



Thanks in advance.
 

billybgame

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I would've replied sooner, as I have mail notification enabled, but I got no emails of replies.....

Anyhow, I read in some places about the separate lasers for CDs vs DVDs, so know that's a possibility. But, if a computer is not "new" from a store, etc, is there not something you need to add to play DVDs?

I'm somewhat skeptical of it being the drive, because I bought two XP desktops off Ebay, and neither one plays DVDs in the DVD/CD combo drive. Too coincidental for me. They both play CDs in these drives fine. DVD's do nothing and show no contents in Explorer.
 
AIUI, data DVDs should show up in Explorer, but video DVDs won't play until you install appropriate application software plus the required audio/video codecs.

In fact I have a newly built bare bones Win98SE system with a DVD writer as its only optical drive. I have installed no additional multimedia related application software. If I open Explorer, I see a video DVD containing AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS directories. The latter contains VOB, BUP, and IFO files.
 

billybgame

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Ok....and these are game DVDs..so I am guessing not data DVDs...Titan Quest was the main one I tried to install. Star Wars Battlefront the other. Would not play on either.

I downloaded and installed VLC Media Player.....should that not take care of the codec? From what I read it should have. Maybe I'm just missing something? I did that and it still didn't work. Or do I still need some sort of drivers/dvd software? I know they come resident with new computers, but what do we do with these wiped ones?

 
Game DVDs are just software/data DVDs. They should contain a file system that is recognisable by Windows.

In Explorer, if you can see the file system on a CD but not on a DVD, then AFAICS there must a physical problem with the drive.

R-click the drive's icon and select Explore. If you can see a file system, then perhaps you have some peculiar autorun issue. You could also check the Properties of the disc.

Other than that, I have no more ideas.
 

billybgame

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I hear you there, but if it was just this one used XP computer, I'd buy in....but not when I buy two of them, from separate Ebay sellers, both wiped with Windows reinstalled, and neither reads DVDs. I'm still holding out hope there is something else I can do. I don't buy that both drives on both computers are bad.
 

sanchaliza

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Hello, thank you for information about "upper filter and lower filter". and Best luck ! thank you once again.
 

billybgame

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Here I am again on this topic...been over 2 years, but still can't play DVDs on this desktop. I hate computer hassles so much, I give it some effort, then I just move on and live life. But, wanted to run a DVD, so here I am again.

I even found a Microsoft fix page that led me to edit the Registry, which I did. First it had me look for the aforementioned "upper and lower filters". I had neither. Then, it had me add a registry subkey...which I did.....sigh....still no dice.

Any ideas? This is pretty ridiculous. Still reads no DVDs...reads CDs fine.
 

Frederic Jeanbart

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I'm in the same situation as you. Maybe for another reason rhough, but give a try to the following (if you can), I'll explain further down :

    ■Try your DVD reader/burner on another system which you know is playing DVD flawlessly.
    ■Try to read a DVD that is zoned for let's say Spain (I live in North America thus my systems are zoned for 1, same zoning between USA and Canada)
In either case, if you have a positive, then it may be related to the motherboard itself (wheter it would be an internal DVD driver would change nothing). Point 1 - My DVD drive has no issue and plays DVD flawlessly on another ASUS X58 I have since a couple of years rtunning Windows 7 fully updated. Point 2 - I can play Opera Flamenco Historia de Un Amor DVD (Live @ Palau de la musica Catalana) without any hiccup, which came from Spain, but every time I try to play Led Zeppelin DVD Live at the Royal Albert Hall (From Atlantic video and zoned for 1), or whatver DVD that I bought here in Montreal (zoned for 1), my system freezes and I have to do a cold boot.

I've had this issue with an MSI H97 Gaming 3 motherboard I bought from Newegg Canada, which I had to RMA after a BIOS update bricked it. Newegg replaced it with a newer one having an updated version of the BIOS and it worked fine.

Now, today I have the exact same issue with another MSI motherboard, the H97I ac - for building an HTPC - that I ordered from Newegg (!!! I will never ever buy MSI again, and willl never recommend that brand anymore to any of my clients, as MSI maked me lose time and money) : the same spanish Flamenco DVD plays fine via a USB DVD drive, but Led Zeppelin would freeze the computer fo a cold boot (and yes that DVD drive works fine on my other ASUS X58 system)... And I still haven't found what to look for in whatever configuration/device driver, I found nothing on the Web in regards to that specific issue...
 

orgwood

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I've had many problems with Windows XP Pro and Home about DVDs not being loaded...tried all the fixes from Microsoft including their hardware/software downloadable wizards...some worked for awhile but eventually failed...most never worked ever. So I decided to go get some newer freeware apps for DVDs and found one that has worked flawlessly for me for about a year now. I'm at my other laptop right now where I don't do any burning so I never installed it. I use DL R/W drives so I know it's a good program. If anyone needs the name, respond and I'll get the request on my laptop where it's installed and I can give you the name. Dave
 

radiospotz

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I'm dealing with the same situation only reverse my... DVD player will play in the DVD's whereas it will not see CDs it won't recognize the CD is in there at all.
and this is my second DVD player that I installed in the same thing is happening so I know its not the player itself it's something in the software or maybe permissions I don't know.,???

 

orgwood

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Dec 7, 2014
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orgwood

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I just moved on to a newer program - Free Easy CD DVD burner from koyotesoft and my problems were solved.
 

seta

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Hi all,
I am going to add on to this thread because I am experiencing the same problem. The device reads and opens CDs and CD-ROMs but if I place a DVD or DVD-ROM in it doesn't read it.

I have a Samsung Chronos 700z model bought in 2012. Windows 7.
Matshita DVD RW UJ8A7AS

In the past (after installing DVD decoder programs and ANY DVD) the computer wouldn't even recognize the dvd drive. I solved that problem with help from this forum by first uninstalling the dvd software I had installed including ANY DVD and then fixing the registry edit upper and lower filters.

The DVD driver was playing fine until a week ago when it stopped reading some DVDs but not all, and now it won't read any of them at all.

I have tried the registry and no upper and lower filters.
Here is what it says:
Default REG_SZ DVD/CD ROM drives
Class REG_SZ CDROM
ClassDesc REG_SZ @%SystemRoot%\System32\StorProp.dll,-17001
EnumPropPages REG_SZ storprop.dll,DvdPropPageProvider
IconPath REG_MULTI_SZ @%SystemRoot%\System32\imagers.dll, -30
Installer32 REG_SZ storprop.dll,DVDClassInstaller
NoInstallClass REG_SZ 1
SilentInstall REG_SZ 1

Virus scans did not find anything.
I have tried uninstalling the Matshita from the Device Manager and on restart it automatically reinstalls.
The Device Manager reports that the device is working properly. It identifies the matshita but sees it as just a standard cd-rom drive. Is this normal?
The driver file is
C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\cdrom.sys
Provider: Microsoft Corp
File version: 6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm090713-1255)

I have also cleaned the drive with a cleaner.

Can anyone out there help me?
 

orgwood

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