DVD player on a gateway notebook?

[SLbread]

I was trying to play a DVD on my new M-6755 gateway notebook. when i put it in the DVD drive, nothing happens. so i click on windows media center, go through and click on DVD and hit play but it tells me that windows cannot detect a video DVD in the DVD-ROM drive. but there is one in there.

Why does this happen? How can I get my DVD player to work?

[EL]

It sounds like either you do not have the DVD software, or your DVD drive is busted.

If you click on My Computer, and it recognizes there is a DVD in the drive then it is ok. I tried searching for free DVD decoder software, but no luck. Maybe you uninstalled it by accident. Does WinDVD ring a bell?

[MMM]

The DVD may be in a format that Windows does not recognize.
The disk may be defective.
The disk may be upside down! (seriously, a friend did this just today!)
Try it in another computer.
Try a different disk.
Try a CD to see if the drive is working.
If still no-go, open Device Manager and check for any alerts or errors regarding the optical drive.
Check the Gateway Support site for any info regarding same.