I have an HP Pavilion a1310 desktop with a DVD+- writer/cd-writer. Whenever I put in a program on a DVD-ROM my drive will not recognise there is a disk in the drive. What can I do to fix this?Not sure but, if it is a DVD Writer, it should be able to read DVD's right?

Drmondo, does the DVD work on another computer?

Also, what Operating System?I have Windows XP. The movie DVD's work on my DVD player. I can't get DVD-ROM or movie DVDS to read on my computer, though. It acts like its just a CD ROM drive, even though it SHOWS up on My Computer as a DVD/CD drive. DLoad and install VLC media player and see if it plays them...if it does you are missing some codecs for WMP...

Did i mention VLC is FREE ? ?

VLC didn't work. Error came up as "unable to recognize drive e:". The problem isn't that it won't read movies. It's that it won't read any DVDs. None of the bought programs on DVD-ROMs will read. DVD movies won't read. Its as if my DVD writer thinks its only a CD writer. I uninstalled the drive then reinstalled it with no effect. The hardware manager says there's nothing wrong with the drive. I've tried updating the drivers with no luck. The device manager tells me they are up to date.Try swapping it into another machine....if the problem still persists then the drive has gone South.

New DVD dual layer BURNERS are about 40 bucks shipped from newegg.com if you're in the States...Try one of these:
1. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060
or...
2. http://aumha.org/downloads/cdgone.zip
or...
3. Go to Device Manager, click a "+" sign next to IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers.
You'll see two items:
- ATA Channel0 (or Primary Channel)
- ATA Channel1 (or Secondary Channel)
Right click on each of them, and click Uninstal. Confirm.
Restart Windows. They'll be automatically reinstalled.I've tried these things and it still will not read DVDs. Either movie DVDs or DVD-ROMs. I even took out the drive and replaced it with another and the new drive will not read DVDs. It must be the registry, but the Microsoft link seems to be for a drive that is just not working at all (mine will read CDs but not DVDs) and the second did nothing. Any other IDEAS?Check registry entries from step 1, anyway.
Did you try step 3?
Can you hear DVD spinning? Does the light come on, when you put DVD in?The problem is actually worse now. I removed the DVD drive and put in one that I knew worked. The second one didn't read DVDs either. I took it out and put back in the original (it fit the space better). Now it won't read anything. CDs no longer work now as well as DVDs. I tried uninstalling the primary and secondary IDEs (2 each) then rebooting. That hasn't done anything. I'll look at the Microsoft one again, but I'm ready to throw the whole system against the wall!! I'm pretty sure, you did, but recheck all cables.I ran the microsoft program, but still had no luck. Nothing reads.Go Start>Run, type in:
sfc /scannow
Click OK.
Have Windows CD ready.

If that doesn't help...
Windows REPAIR: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm