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How do I know if I have a DVD reader on my PC?

I just got a new computer from my folks and have been unsuccessfully trying to watch a movie. My Dad insists it has a DVD drive, but I can't tell. How do I ascertain what kind of hardware I have on my PC without tearing the thing apart?

Dave's Answer:

You're not the first person to be a bit baffled by how Microsoft Windows XP hides your hardware configuration details, but there are a couple of ways you can try and figure out whether your lack of DVD capabilities is a problem or just a non-DVD compatible drive. The easiest is to simply open up START -> Settings -> Control Panels -> System:

Then you'll want to click on the Hardware tab, at which point you'll see this:

As you might expect from the descriptions, you'll now want to click on Device Manager and then wait a few seconds while it launches:

I have opened up the "DVD/CD-ROM drives" area by clicking on the tiny "+" icon adjacent. Hopefully you'll see something called "DVD" or with "DVD" in its name, as I do on this PC which has both a CD burner and a DVD reader installed.

Double click on the individual hardware device you want to learn more about and you'll get a quick summary of its capabilities and featureset:

Notice carefully the text in the middle box to ensure it indicates it's all functioning correctly. You want to see "This device is working properly" as demonstrated here.

Oh, while you're here you can also check that you have your DVD player set to the correct region for movie playback too:

That answers your question of how to ascertain if you have a DVD drive, but the bigger question of why you can't watch movies, well, if you do have the DVD drive and can't get it to work, that's probably something else and your first step would be to test out the DVD in question in someone else's PC to make sure that it's PC compatible.

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Categorized: Windows Help (Article 7153)
Tagged: dvd burner, dvd player, microsoft windows xp, windows dvd, windows hardware report
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Comments

It may be even simpler than looking in the device manager.

On every one of my computers, the DVD drives say "DVD" somewhere on the faceplate. (It may say "DVD-ROM", "DVD-R", "DVD-RW", or "DVD-R/RW", depending on the writing/re-writing capabilities.) The CD drives only say "compact disc".

Note that a DVD drive may have both "DVD" and "compact disc" labels, as they can read both.

Posted by: Ken at January 26, 2007 4:33 PM

Your system may also need some software in order to play the DVD. I believe Microsoft itself does not include dvd-playing software. Usually pc manufacturers will bundle a program with the system.

Posted by: Alan at February 5, 2007 3:31 AM

I have a DVD system but cannot read a DVD with photos on it?

Doesn't even start???

Posted by: John at April 24, 2007 11:16 AM

Thank you, i finally found out hat i dont have a DvD Rom :(

Posted by: Thanks at February 8, 2008 1:14 AM

how can i run such tyoe of dvds which having five or more then 5 movies. becoz some times my PC is unable to detect this kind of dvds.
kindly sugges me any solution

Posted by: amit at April 1, 2008 1:16 AM

i want to read a dvd but no success

Posted by: das at May 19, 2008 7:38 PM

I recently installed a second drive, DVD-RW. my first drive is a CD-RW that came with the computer. When I go into Device Manager it only detects the CD drive. Not the DVD drive. I have checked the wires, and verified I installed all the software that came with the hardware. Why won't my computer detect the new drive, and more importantly, how do I make it detect the new hardware?

Posted by: Cristy at January 2, 2009 1:15 PM

hi there. im having problems loading a cd and dvd to my laptop. I wasnt having problems before but now i seem to be. I went into the Device Manager and under the dvd/cd-rom devices i have a yellow circle with an exclamation mark and when i go into the prperties all i get is the following:-

Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware but cannot find the hardware device. (Code 41)

Click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter for this device.

ive tried troubleshooting but its not giving me anything. do you know what is wrong?

Id appreciate any help regarding this matter. Thanx.

Posted by: Laighanne McLaughlin at March 18, 2009 2:03 PM

Hi,
My computer will not read DVD-R. I had several digital camera video clips that I copied to a DVD-R. It seemed to copy fine, I went to look at them on the disc, they popped up for a minute and then my computer froze. After a restart and putting the disc back in, the disc is now saying that it is blank. I have read the comments and answers and also did your suggested check to see if my device is working properly. I dont know much at all about computers but at this point I think I might need software to read the disc. I have heard of Nero and AVS. Help,I dont know what is safe or not or if there is free safe software out there. And do I just download the software and Im immediatly able to read my discs? I appreciate your help. Thank you.

Posted by: Stephanie at June 21, 2009 10:50 PM

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!