What software do I need to play Blu-Ray disks on my Inspiron?

[balane]

Edit: Apologies, posted in wrong forum. Reposted in Inspiron forum. Moderator please delete this post as I seem to be unable to. Thank you.

Hello.

I purchased an Inspiron N7010 17R. I replaced the hard drive and did a fresh install of Windows 7 using my own Windows 7 Disk.

I went to Dell's support site to download drivers and necessary software but the options for restorative applications seem to be slightly limited.

What I'm missing is;

Webcam software.
Blu-Ray software.

I can't find it anywhere in their download driver/software listings using my service tag.

I put in a DVD disk and it plays fine in WMP.

I put in a Blu-Ray disk and it makes the usual disk drive noises and, after a short while, nothing happens. I can see the contents in Windows Explorer. In WMP it tells me that there's no playable content.

I'm assuming I need to get Dell's software for these two pieces of hardware to function properly.

Can anybody please tell me where I can download or acquire the required Blu-Ray and webcam software for my laptop?

Thank you.

[Tsunade_Hime]

Did you still have your Drivers and Applications disc?

Dell Webcam Central is for the webcam. I don't know about the Blu-Ray software.

[balane]

I have the Windows 7 disk but it does not seem to be any kind of system restore disk. I believe all of this might have been on a hard drive partition with the original drive but that is no longer available to me.

I'll search for Dell Webcam Central.

Is it possible that WMP doesn't support Blu-Ray and I need a software player that does? It would seem odd to me if MS did not support Blu-Ray media but I thought I would ask just in case.

Thanks for your reply.

Edit:

Webcam is now working perfectly. Downloaded Webcam Central. Thanks!

Now I just need to get my Blu-Ray playblack sorted out and the computer will be 100%

[spacejamz]

You are looking at $80-100 for any decent playback software...I use Nero HD...Fry's had it on sale 2 weeks ago for $40 after 2 Rebates. Regular price on Amazon is $110...

[balane]

Whoa, so Windows 7 doesn't natively play Blu-Ray disks? Not even on computers that come with a Blu-Ray disk drive installed? Right off the top of my head that kind of strikes me as awful, I must be missing something here.

[spacejamz]

Correct...you need the appropriate software...

Here are some reviews for you:

Blu-ray Player Software Review 2011 | Compare BD Player Software | Best Blu-ray DVD Player Software - TopTenREVIEWS

From that article:

Even if your computer is equipped with a Blu-ray drive, you still need a third-party application that supports Blu-ray playback to watch BDs since Windows operating systems do not have native Blu-ray support. Blu-ray player software allows BDs to play on any desktop computer, notebook or home theater PC (a home theater system integrated with a personal computer used to manage video and music content).

[balane]

All righty, got it. Thanks for the link, I'll start doing some research.

This is just a guess but since this Dell laptop was shipped with a Blu-Ray player it probably had included Blu-Ray playback software installed? Am I off base with this assumption?

And since I no longer have access to the partition on the disk drive with the restore software, and the download isn't available from Dell's site I now have to purchase playback software in order to use this aspect of my drive?

I'm assuming Blu-Ray data disks will work just fine as I can see the contents of the disks in Windows Explorer.

[John Ratsey]

This is just a guess but since this Dell laptop was shipped with a Blu-Ray player it probably had included Blu-Ray playback software installed? Am I off base with this assumption?

And since I no longer have access to the partition on the disk drive with the restore software, and the download isn't available from Dell's site I now have to purchase playback software in order to use this aspect of my drive?

You may be able to get an installation disc from Dell. It is worth explaining your situation and asking. It must be a frequent problem.

I'm assuming Blu-Ray data disks will work just fine as I can see the contents of the disks in Windows Explorer.

I can't see why you would have a problem with accessing data.

John