I have a Philips DVD+RW 416 series which I installed on my old computer using the installation CD. The device worked fine. I bought a new computer and the seller installed the DVD rewriter but didnt use the disc that came with it. I have been playing and burning CD's using Windows Media Player 10. I decided to play a DVD a couple of days ago and find that I cant. I don't think Windows Media Player supports DVD play. I still have the installation disc and want to know if I can just run this in the drive to install the necessary software - I think it will install the rewriter as well - will this matter as its already present on the computer. Bet you can tell I am a beginner when it comes to computers! Can anyone help me please.

Windows has native R/RW support for CD writers, you will need the software, as you have found out, for the DVD Decoder and if you are going to burn DVD+R/RW disks (atleast My Plextor was that way!) You should be find with installing the software that came with the drive as long as its compatible with the Windows OS you have.

I cant separate the software installation from the hardware installation on the disc - is it ok that I will have the hardware installed twice over. Thanks for your help and for replying to my initial query so quickly

If you put the installation CD in, it will either autostart into the installation program and give you the choice of install the hardware or software, or it it will give you a menu of programs to install.

Most installation CDs have drivers and applications on the CD. if you insert the CD and it doesnt autorun, just go to (ex: D:\setup.exe) the setup or installation program on the CD and you will get your options.

You remember how it worked on your old computer? It will be not much different than that. The current OS will decide if the drivers being installed are more recent and if not will not use them os its a win-win for you.

Thank you. I will give it a try.

Hi. Me again! Installed the disc and everything is now working perfectly. Thank you for your help, you're a star.

You're very welcome. Thank you for the feedback. Come again if you need help!