Modern computers do not have DVD drives built into them and I have found a lot of new DVD drives do not seem to work at all. However, if you have an old laptop with a DVD drive in it, you can salvage the drive and use an adapter cable to convert it to an external DVD drive easily. This method also works with laptop Blu-Ray drives.
Laptop DVD drives
Unlike Desktop DVD drives which need to be powered using 12v and use standard 15 pin SATA connectors, laptop DVD drives use a slimline SATA connector that can be powered from a USB port.
Amazon sell a Slimline SATA to USB adapter for just £5.
You just plug the connector into the back of the DVD drive and plug the USB into your computer, and your computer will recognise the drive.
If you need free software to play discs, then look at VLC. If you need free software to write to recordable CDs, DVDs or Blu-Ray then look at imgburn.
