Use the laptop's built-in optical drive and a media player to watch a DVD on your PC. If you have a laptop with Windows XP or 7 installed, you only need to insert the DVD in the laptop and use the Autoplay option. However, if you have a Windows 8 laptop without a DVD drive, you need to purchase a USB-enabled drive for viewing DVDs or listening to CDs.
- Insert the DVD
On a laptop with a built-in DVD drive with a disc tray, press the button on the disc tray to open the drive. Insert the DVD, and push the tray toward the keyboard to close the drive. On a Windows 8 laptop, use an external USB-enabled drive. Plug the USB into a port on your computer, and open the tray. Insert the disc, and close the tray.
- Use the Autoplay option
Click the Autoplay option in the pop-up dialog box to open the DVD in the default media player. If the dialog box does not appear in Windows, click My Computer in the Start menu. Right-click the DVD drive, and click Autoplay.
- Choose a media player
If the dialog box has an option for choosing a media player, choose the default Windows media player. If the DVD does not play, download VLC Player or another media player from the Internet that contains the necessary codecs to play the DVD.
