I recently discovered this problem. After burning a few DVDs using the drive, I reinserted them to ensure that they were burnt correctly but nothing happens. I can't browse the discs that I burnt. I tried these same DVDs in three other drives from other computers and they work perfectly. So what's the problem with the drive that did the burns in the first place? How can I fix this?

Drive Specs:
NEC DVD_RW ND-3550A
Driver version: 5.1.2535.0

Hello PC love & hate,

The writing function of the DVD-RW is obviously a seperate process and a seperate laser to that which reads DVD media, and also CD media. The first thing you should try is a cleaning CD. Have you tried DVD media which has been burned from another PC? When did this problem start?

Media from other computers doesn't work either. I discovered the occurrence a few days ago.

That pritty much confirms it. You can normally buy cleaning kit from your local supermarket or hardware store. You can also buy them online, for example: Maplin > CD Cleaning Kit

Hopefully it's just a bit of dirt or dust. Is the PC/Drive still under warranty otherwise? There's little other than cleaning the drive you'll be able to do yourself, as it's a laser device, and even if there was a failed component, such as the DVD Laser Reader (otherwise known as 780nm laser), it would cost as much to replace as a new drive itself.

If it comes to replacing the drive itself, it is very easy to do, only a couple of screws and two plugs, and can talk you through this no problems.

EDIT: Marked as Answered.