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. If your optical drive is an HD DVD drive, it can also read HD DVD
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
Write to HD DVD
DVD±RW/R and
CD-RW Combo
Drive
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
DVD±RW/R and
CD-RW Combo
Drive with DL
support
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
HD DVD-R Drive
with SuperMulti
DVD±R/RW DL
support
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
HD DVD-ROM
Drive with
SuperMulti
DVD±R/RW DL
support
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
LightScribe
DVD±RW/R and
CD-RW Combo
Drive with DL
support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Blu-ray Disc ROM
Drive with
SuperMulti
DVD±R/RW DL
support
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
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 or writing to a CD or DVD.
To prevent loss of information, do not initiate Sleep or Hibernation when writing to a CD or DVD.
4
Chapter 2 Using an optical drive