I have an Acer Aspire 1692-WLMI which I bought last November and upgraded to Windows Xp Pro SP2. After a few months the laptop stopped taking dvds, when i try to insert a dvd it will hold it for a few seconds and then spit it back out at me. It takes and reads cds fine its just dvds that it has problems with. The internal dvd is a Pioneer DVR-K05RA. I would like to know if anyone else has ever had a problem like this and if its a hardware problem which means sending the laptop back to be fixed (which i really dont want to do because it will be gone a month and i need it for work) or if its a software/driver problem which can be resolved by some means. If the dvd drive needs replacing does anyone know how to remove the old one and change it as I would rather do that than send it back and lose it for a whole month. I would really appreciate any help that anyone can offer. Thank you.

Most combo DVD/CD drives have two distinct lasers: one for DVD one for CD. So it could be a mechanical issue with the DVD laser.

If it is a driver issue the quick test is to go to the Device Manager and Uninstall the Device. Not the driver but the Device itself.

Start/Run/ devmgmt.msc

Then reboot and XP will reload the drivers.

As to replacing the drive:

http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/for...ords=&areaid=7

Of course opening the computer will most likely void the warranty.