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5 Optical drive
Your computer may include an optical drive that expands the functionality of the computer. Identify what
kind of device is installed in your computer to see its capabilities. The optical drive allows you to read
data discs, play music, and watch movies. If your computer includes a Blu-ray Disc ROM Drive, then
you can also watch high-definition video from disc.
Identifying the installed optical drive
▲
Select Start > Computer.
You will see a list of all the devices installed on your computer, including your optical drive. You may
have one of the following types of drives:
●
DVD-ROM Drive
●
DVD±RW/R and CD-RW Combo Drive
●
DVD±RW/R and CD-RW Combo Drive with Double-Layer (DL) support
●
LightScribe DVD±RW/R and CD-RW Combo drive with Double-Layer (DL) support
●
Blu-ray Disc ROM Drive with SuperMulti DVD±R/RW Double Layer (DL) support
NOTE: Some of the drives listed above may not be supported by your computer.
Using optical discs
An optical drive, such as a DVD-ROM drive, supports optical discs (CDs and DVDs). These discs store
information, such as music, photos, and movies. DVDs have a higher storage capacity than CDs.
Your optical drive can read standard CD and DVD discs. If your optical drive is a Blu-ray Disc ROM
Drive, it can also read Blu-ray discs.
NOTE: Some of the optical drives listed may not be supported by your computer. The listed drives are
not necessarily all of the supported optical drives.
Some optical drives can also write to optical discs as described in the following table.
Optical drive type Write to CD-RW Write to DVD±RW/R Write to DVD+R DL Write label to
LightScribe CD or DVD
±RW/R
SuperMulti DVD±RW
and CD-RW Combo
Drive with DL support
Yes Yes Yes No
Identifying the installed optical drive 15