Hello, Tech Support? How do we get dd's DVD thing open on her new Windows 8 computer?

[milovany]

It's a non-touch W8 laptop from Dell.  There's no little button thing to push on the door itself to have it pop open, and then when we go to "My Computer," all that's there is the OS, there's no DVD option to right-click to eject/open.  We've been searching the Dell website and will call tomorrow, just wondered if there's something you know of that we're missing.  I have a W7 Dell and am very familiar with it -- thought I'd be able to figure hers out. 

[Liz CA]

Not sure about Dell and non-touch but if it's Windows 8, you may have to download 8.1. This gives you back the lower left start-up menu and you may be able to find it there. The non-touch feature does not seem to be a time saver.

[milovany]

Not sure ... we can get to My Computer now, is that what you're thinking of with the Start Menu? The DVD drive just isn't listed next to the OS.

[Mergath]

Did you try just pushing in on the door?  I've never seen one that doesn't have some way to manually open it, but I have seen some where you just push in on the DVD door and it'll pop open.

 

ETA:  Google says that some Dells have the eject button somewhere above the F12 key, too.  

[milovany]

Yes, we did just try pushing on the door with no success. And unfortunately I checked and there's nothing above the F12 key. Ergh. I was hoping. I'll also check into the 8.1 update mentioned above.

[milovany]

Just found this:

 

 

Upgrade to Windows 8 and you may be surprised to find that you can no longer play video DVDs. Unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows 8 doesn’t include built-in support for playing DVDs. Microsoft opted not to include DVD support because so many new computers – especially tablets and ultrabooks – aren’t coming with DVD drives. Microsoft pays a licensing fee for each copy of Windows that ships with DVD support...The easiest way to play DVDs in Windows 8 is by installing a third-party DVD player.

 

Ah.

 

ETA -- So we did this, downloading the one they recommended, and while it would play a DVD should we insert one -- it still doesn't open the door for us.  We'll call Dell tomorrow. 

[mamaraby]

Maybe this might help? http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/us/en/19/kcs/kcsarticles/articleview?docid=265546

From what I could tell by other people's descriptions, it's maybe a touch sensitive button rather than a "button" - a line with a little arrow under (or above?) it.

But yes, the fact that it doesn't show up as recognizable by the OS would seem to indicate that there's something not quite right, so I'd definitely give tech folks a call.

ETA: some slot drives still have the manual eject hole where you can stick a paperclip in to do a manual eject. I'm not familiar with your particular computer cuz I have a Mac, but if it had it, it would be somewhere near the drive (usually below and nearish to a corner).