Optical drive (select models only)

Depending on the type of optical drive and software installed in your computer, the optical drive plays, copies, and creates CDs or DVDs.

Identifying the installed optical drive

▲Select Start > Computer.

Using optical discs (CDs, DVDs, and BDs)

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 (BD) drive, it can also read BDs.

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-

Write to DVD

Write to DVD±R DL

Write label to

Write to BD R/RE

 

RW

±RW/R

 

LightScribe CD or

 

 

 

 

 

DVD ±RW/R

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DVD-ROM Drive

No

No

No

No

No

 

 

 

 

 

 

DVD±R SuperMulti

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

DL LightScribe

 

 

 

 

 

Drive*†

 

 

 

 

 

Blu-ray ROM DVD

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

±R SuperMulti DL

 

 

 

 

 

Drive*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blu-ray R/RE DVD

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

+/-RW SuperMulti

 

 

 

 

 

DL Drive*

 

 

 

 

 

*Double-layer discs can store more data than single-layer discs. However, double-layer discs burned with this drive may not be compatible with many single-layer DVD drivers and players.

†LightScribe discs must be purchased separately. LightScribe creates a grayscale image similar to black-and-white photography.

CAUTION: To prevent possible audio and video degradation, loss of information, or loss of audio or video playback functionality, do not initiate Sleep or Hibernation while reading a CD, DVD, or BD, or writing to a CD or DVD.

Selecting the right disc (CDs, DVDs, and BDs)

An optical drive supports optical discs (CDs, DVDs, and BDs). CDs, used to store digital data, are also used for commercial audio recordings and are convenient for your personal storage needs. DVDs and BDs are used primarily for movies, software, and data backup purposes. DVDs and BDs are the same form factor as CDs, but have a much higher storage capacity.

Optical drive (select models only) 53