HP DV7-3173NR manual Optical drive, Identifying the installed optical drive, Using optical discs

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 in your computer, including your optical drive. You may have one of the following types of drives:

●LightScribe DVD±RW/R and CD-RW Combo drive with Double-Layer (DL) support

●Blu-ray Disc ROM Drive with LightScribe/SuperMulti DVD±R/RW 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+RW DL	Write label to
				LightScribe CD or DVD
				±RW/R
SuperMulti LightScribe	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
DVD±RW and CD-RW
Combo with DL
support
Blu-ray Disc ROM with	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
LightScribe/SuperMulti

14 Chapter 5 Optical drive