how to get external dvd drive to work on acer laptop W11

[pandjbu]

driver for dvd external drive?

[NonSequitur777 · Accepted solution]

@pandjbu,

Welcome to our HP Community forum!

The good news is that your HP USB External DVD-RW Drive (F6V97AA) does not require any special driver in Windows 11. It uses the standard USB Mass Storage and optical drive class drivers that are already built into Windows.

If the drive isn’t working on your Acer laptop, here are some things to check:

1. Basic checks

   • Plug the drive directly into a USB port on the laptop (avoid hubs).

   • Try both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports if available.

   • If the drive has a Y-cable (two USB plugs), make sure both ends are connected for full power.

2. Device recognition

   • Press Win + X → Device Manager.

   • Expand DVD/CD-ROM drives. You should see something like HP DVD-RAM UJ8HC (name may vary).

   • If you see a yellow triangle, right-click → Uninstall device, then restart — Windows will reinstall the driver automatically.

3. Check for power/connection issues

   • If the drive’s light doesn’t turn on, test with another USB cable or another laptop/PC to confirm the drive itself works.

4. Windows Features

   • Note that Windows 11 doesn’t include DVD playback software by default. The drive will read discs, but to play DVD movies you’ll need a media player such as VLC Media Player (free) or Microsoft’s optional DVD Player app.

No special HP driver download exists or is required -once connected properly, it is supposed to be plug-and-play, Windows should recognize the drive automatically.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[pandjbu]

Thanks, that's very helpful, I've got the VLC now, and dvd player,. A home recorded dvdr works, but a commercial, IE, Disney fantasia, the audio plays, but the visual is scrambled....

[NonSequitur777]

@pandjbu,

My friend, I am glad to hear that your external drive is being recognized and works with home-recorded discs! Since those play fine but your commercial Disney DVD shows scrambled video, that points to a region or decoding issue, not the hardware itself.

• Region setting: UK DVDs are Region 2. If your drive is still set to Region 1 (US) or another region, playback won’t work properly. To check, open Device Manager → expand DVD/CD-ROM drives → right-click your drive → Properties → DVD Region. Set it to Region 2 (Europe/UK). Note: Windows only allows a limited number of region changes.

• VLC settings: If the region is correct, try opening VLC → Tools → Preferences → Video and disable hardware-accelerated decoding, then restart VLC. This often clears up scrambled video.

• Encryption: Many Disney discs use stronger copy protection. If needed, you can install the free libdvdcss library, which allows VLC to properly read encrypted commercial DVDs for PERSONAL use (disclaimer!).

Since home-recorded discs work, your drive itself is fine -it’s just a matter of getting the software/region set up for UK Region-2 commercial DVDs.

Hope this was helpful.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[pandjbu]

hi, that was very helpful thanks.

It is set to the right region

IO can't find the tab whichis about acceleration or decoding within VLC   Tools.>preferences>video.. cou;dn't get to that......... so not managed that.

However I now know that     these dvds wil play:   Mary poppins sing along (seems to be Disney) Frozen (ditto)

The thorn birds.... Fox??  some free films from the Daily mail years ago- Howards end, Heat & Dust...... commercially produced.. as well as home recorded off the telly

But Not-   rogers and Hammerstein sing alongs, Snow white Disney, Fantasia Disney----- (which was where the motivation started for the grandchildren, since hardly anyone has a dvd play facility these days)   

So we're partially successful, and partially stumped, unless theres a way to find that other feature you mentiond. within VLC

Have got VLC starting up auto when a disc is put in. But the prgress thermometer just oscillates from left to right without anything else happening.

[pandjbu]

hello again

It Works!!!

found the decelerate stuff in the inputs tab. 

Also changed to All from None , or was it the other way round? a thing about filtering just next to it.

Now the kids will be able to watch Mickey Mouse and the water buckets!

Mny thanks for your help. Peter

[NonSequitur777]

@pandjbu,

Outstanding!

Thank you for following up and confirming your issue is resolved -happy watching!

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777