Newly installed DVD drive won't play movies

[swee'pea99]

Another in my 'back to the stone age' series...

Ok, basic setup: Thinkpad 570 running W98. 366Mhz, 192 ram. Just replaced the cd drive with a dvd, and thought I'd succeeded when I saw it come up during the reboot. Sure enough, it's there in My Computer. If I check for Device hardware under system, there it is, as a sub-set under CD-Rom drive: Toshiba DVD-Rom SD-C2512. Fine. Except when you put in a DVD, it recognises it - ie, the title comes up - but when you double click on it, it doesn't play - just opens up a folder and shows you the contents.

I've tried deleting it - it just reinstalls itself the same way on restart. I've tried downloading an 'update for DVD drives' from the Lenovo site, which goes thru' the whole Installshield etc bit and ends up by telling you it's done. No difference. I've tried extracting onto the desktop, so I can see what's actually unpacking. There was one icon called 'Setup', which I thought looked promising, but when I double-clicked it, it said I didn't have the thing it needed to update loaded - DVDExpress I think it was called. Googling that got me nowhere.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd really appreciate them. Thanks.

 

[MadoneRider1991]

192mb ram old school computing

im not sure the computer is powerful enough to use a dvd RW

PS wat operating system u using??

 

[swee'pea99]

W98. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm hanging by me fingernails...but I have read somewhere that it's just about possible.

 

[MadoneRider1991]

[quote name='swee'pea99']W98. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm hanging by me fingernails...but I have read somewhere that it's just about possible.[/QUOTE]

is the DVD drive compatible with W98, some arnt, if it is compatible then take it to a computer repair shop and they can take a look at it for u

 

[swee'pea99]

White Screen of Death now, so I think it could be All Over. Boo hoo.

 

[Carwash]

If it shows you the folder contents, it sounds like the drive is working okay. What DVD playback software are you using? Have you tried VLC?

 

[swee'pea99]

Now there's a damn good question! I'm probably not using any! D'oh! It was a fresh instal of W98, which doubtless predates DVD drives and the like. If I can get past the White Screen of Death (any hints & tips appreciated) I'll give this VLC a try.

 

[Carwash]

<facepalm>

You may need to download an older version - not sure the current version supports Win98.

 

[ACS]

SP99 - try here

 

[Mr Pig]

VLC seems pretty good although I don't think your computer will run DVDs. It might try but I think it'll run out of memory and freeze all the time.

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks but I think it's deid anyway. Damn. Got so close and then it all went tits up. Oh well, back to the drawing board...

 

[simonali]

Did you set the region code on the drive? Also PC drives have to have a software decoder on them too which work in conjunction with a media payer e.g WMP. Good luck finding one that is 98 compatible, though!

 

[swee'pea99]

I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, but thanks anyway!

It's all by the by in any case: it's deid. White Screen of Death. Boo and also hoo.

 

[Night Train]

Bit late and not much help but when I first reinstalled Vista on my laptop I found that everything worked but the DVD drive would do everything except play films. I went through the 'drivers' CD and installed the correct drivers for everything and, although the software was now there, it still wouldn't play films.

It took me ages looking at all the controls, tools and options before I found one little tick box that needed to be ticked to activate the drive for playing films through the installed software. Can't remember where it was though as it didn't happen again.

I think it is a good time for you to get a more up to date laptop. Look for a low energy, recyclable one that doesn't contain nasty chemicals and heavy metals.

 

[Mr Pig]

Look for a low energy, recyclable one that doesn't contain nasty chemicals and heavy metals.

Look for a cheap one that works! ;0)