Dell laptop will not play DVDs.

[writingmachine]

I have a Dell laptop (Inspiron 1545 Windows 7) that is about five years old. In the past I have had no trouble playing DVDs, but all of a sudden I started having issues. At first, the DVD would play to a certain point, usually about an hour in, and then the optical drive would click and sputter basically going berserk. The movie would freeze with the sounds still occurring. Now the DVDs won't even play. I pop the disc in and it immediately starts with the sputter and clicking sounds with no media playing.

I honestly can't figure this out. I know for a fact that the DVDs themselves are not the issue because they all work on other devices. It seems the only time I have an issue is when playing these on my laptop. I have tried installing different media players but the DVDs won't play.

 

[tman1]

Try cleaning the lens on the tray with a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol. If that doesn't clear it up, then you may just have to replace the drive or get a USB external drive.