Question 1

Does the drive include mounting screws?

Accepted Answer

Yes, mine included 4 silver color screws.  I used the black ones that came with the case.

Question 2

Does this have any problems reading dual layer DVDs?

Accepted Answer

I have not burned any DL discs with this drive but was able to read one that I burned with another drive.  No issues reading DL discs.

Question 3

Does this play Blue-Ray discs besides burn them?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but you will need special software capable of playing Blu-Rays such as CyberLink's PowerDVD 14 Pro.

Question 4

Is this Windows 8.1 compatible?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Windows 8.0 Pro recognized it automatically.  After upgraded to 8.1 Pro, no problem been found. The software came with drive is not very useful but that is the only software that I used.  Sorry, could not answer questions with other burning software.

Question 5

what SATA cable do I need to connect?

Accepted Answer

Any SATA cable will work. They are all the same.  I just use the old one that were included an older motherboard I had lying around.  SATA 1/2/3 pretty much uses the same cable.

Question 6

Does this drive come with blu-ray software, or does that have to be purchased as well?

Accepted Answer

The drive came with the Asus BD SUITE disc that includes Cyberlink Power2GO 8, ASUS Firmware Update, E Green, and the Quick install guide.  I didn't use any of these since I use either VLC or Media Player Classic for almost all of my video playback on my Windows 7 computer.  I use CDBurnerXP and Infrarecorder for all of my burning needs and both of those recognized the BD-R media that I have used to record.  ALL of the software I use with this drive is FREE.

Question 7

Will there be any issues  between  window 10 and this drive?

Accepted Answer

I have installed win 10 and it works just fine. No issues.

Question 8

is this usable on Windows 10 machines?

Accepted Answer

Yes.

However, any form of disk drive will only be dependent on your motherboard. This BD drive requires a SATA port, so as long as you have a spare SATA port on your motherboard, you can install it.

Afterwards any modern operating system, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, or Linux, should recognize it.

Question 9

I have an Asus dvd burner in my desktop. will this fit below it?

Accepted Answer

Adding to Joshua - if you have an open slot, make sure there is nothing behind that would impede you from inserting it all the way.... example: Big and tall CPU fan.....

Question 10

Does it include the software to play blu-ray disks?

Accepted Answer

No.  The included software (I believe) does not offer that functionality.  To play Blu-ray discs, you can use VLC from
VideoLAN.

Then surf the web for the add-ons you will need.  You can search with "blu-ray vlc" to find sites with this information.

I believe this is how I enabled the functionality.  Do your research beforehand, however.

Questions & Answers