How To Play Dvd

[annieigma]

Hi,
I have dvd writer/player etc in my secondhand/new to me computer, but when i put in a dvd it thinks its a CD and thats it.nothing happens.
any clues please??
annie.

[Buenchico]

Are you sure that it's actually a DVD drive in your computer, and not simply a CD drive? If so, please tell us:
(a) which version of Windows you're using ; and
(b) which video-playing program it's got on it.

[annieigma]

aha, I think you have nailed it. What dvd player programme??? I re-loaded windows, as the one with the machine was dodgy, but only re loaded drivers for things that were needed to make it run. Do I need to see what make the dvd player is or will some other software work?
Thanks for a quick answer,
annie.

[Buenchico]

Trying to play DVDs with Windows Media Player (which is likely to be the only media player on a secondhand computer) can be a nightmare. The most popular media player (with the technical press, etc) is VLC:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

DVD drives are usually 'plug & play' which means that they don't need their own drivers, as they use the default drivers that come with Windows anyway. So hopefully you simply need to sort the software issue out.