DVD drive doesnt play in my laptop

[shashgo]

My HP Pavilion laptop is giving me problems playing DVDs.  I dont know know why.  I am running win XP.  I put my DVD in, and nothing happens.  If the light on the DVD doesnt come on does it mean the drive is broken?  Or am I missing a driver?

The other problem is with my wireless connection.  I have a wireless router, and my computer keeps saying that I am connected to it, but ..... I cant connect to  the internet.  Why?

[b2051758]

Data dvds or video ones? Try another dvd/cd first of all to rule out the media. Then I would go to device manager and uninstall the drivers for the dvd drive and restart windows. The drivers will be installed automatically again after you restart windows. See if that helps. If not then try and update the firmware on your dvd drive. If still no joy I'm guessing you will need a new dvd drive.

[patio]

XP should not need drivers for any optical drive...follow the advice above and also power down and re-seat the drive in it's bay.

[shashgo]

okay, Ill try reseating the drive in its bay,  by this im assumiing unscrewing and rescrewing the screws that hold the drive in place in the computer.  How do I update the firmware of the drive?

[patio]

It's most likely not a firmware upgrade you need as it was working before....
The drive should have a release button that ejects it...shouldn't be any screws involved on most laptops.