Windows locks up when reading DVD

Just looking for some help, for some reason when i insert any kind of dvd into my drive windows locks up. My drive was working fine a week ago and the only thing i think i did was download some windows updates, i uninstalled them and the problem is still there. I have tryed reinstalling the drives and even doing a firmware update and nothing is working. I would try installing windows again but the way to restore my laptop is to use the dvd's i had to burn when i bought the laptop. Also cd's play fine and i can burn dvds fine just if i try to read them my comp locks up. I also noticed that when i put in an enhanced cd it says i need 3mb or virtuall memory to run said program. Not sure why i would need virtuall memory to run it considering i have 1 gig of ram and i have more then enough disk space for the virtuall memory, wondering if this has to do witht he problem. Im hoping that the drive isnt bad, seems to me that for some reason it cant handle the high data rate. Any help would be much apreciated, thanks ahead of time.

P.S. sorry for all the errors in typing, am at work and need to type fast

 

Video dvds or data dvds?or as you said anykind?could be an error with windows recognizing your dvd decoder if video dvds,you can always try system restore.

 

Locks up on any kind of DVD tryed system restore, didnt work. Also if i boot with a dvd in the drive after the loading bar for windows xp it locks into a black screen.

 

I'm not quite sure this will solve your problem ... but are you sure you have virtual memory? right click my computer>properties>advanced tab>performance settings> should say how much in the virtual memory box at the bottom of the pop up ... you may wish to change this to a fixed amount but that is up to you

also when's the last time you scanned for spyware?

 

Says i have 1532mb of virtual memory, and i scan for spyware every few days did it last night.

 

do you have a known working drive that you either own or can borrow? could be the drives just gone bad

what codecs do you have installed?

 

Not really sure how to check on codecs havent messed with that stuff for a while will have to check later tonight, but i dont think this is the problem because i tryed a game dvd and it still locks up. As for swaping the dvd drive i will have to wait till the weekend till i can try that. Just seems weird to have a bad drive and the only problem is it wont read dvds.

 

what kind of drive is it? does the light blink or do anything odd after you insert the DVD?

 

Yeah it blinks and starts to read the dvd some times with a dvd it will let me choose what app to run to watch the movies and before it loads it locks up, with the game dvd it will open to the main install screen run for about 10 seconds and lock up even if i dont click on anything. Its a sony DVDrw/cdrw drive not sure of the model right now.

 

is your drive set to region 1? (assuming you live in the USA, I wouldn't know which region # if you live else where)