dvd drive wont read disc's

[jhmotard]

gateway 500gr
dvd-rw drive will not read dvd's or cd's in windows media player BUT iTunes will recognize cd's.

i'm really trying to restore this computer with the restore dvd that came with the computer. the disc that deletes everything and reinstalls the factory drivers, applications and operating system.
but when i insert the restore dvd then restart computer the restore menu does not come up...just restarts the computer.  any help??

[Quantos]

Have you reset the boot device to the optical drive in the BIOS?

[jhmotard]

i should say i'm a beginner...

i dont know how to do that please explain

[Quantos]

Is this a fairly new computer?

[jhmotard]

no, i think build date was in 2005, it has windows XP

[Quantos]

Have you tried with a second optical drive that is known to be good?

[jhmotard]

no i have not.  with a dvd or cd in, the drive blinks a few times then stops.   but somehow itunes will still allow it to rip songs...

i just want my 'restore dvd' to read so i can start from scratch

[jhmotard]

any idea?

[patio]

Try the DVD player in another machine...10 minutes to swap in and out...
If it does the same thing then the DVD laser is shot and you need another drive...

[jhmotard]

well just my luck lol
i got some nasty spyware last night and spent about 4 hours trying to get rid of it, end result:  crashed!   guess i need to get a new computer!   or if the drive is bad i'll just replace that and restore the pc

[patio]

We have a section devoted to just that...
Clik Here  and follow the instructions at the Top of the page...

[GX1_Man]

Even with a bad infection, scrapping the system is not required. At the most extreme, you just have to reinstall Windows. The affected DVD drive may well just be shot. It happens.