optical drives Archives

Winsage

January 11, 2026

Windows Media Player’s ‘find album information’ functionality has been removed — you’ll have to find other software for playing and ripping CDs with relevant track information

Microsoft has removed the 'find album information' and 'update album info online' functionalities from the Media Player applications in Windows 11. Neither the Windows Media Player Legacy nor the latest Media Player app can connect to retrieve data such as album artwork, track names, and details when an audio CD is inserted. The built-in 'Find Album Information' service, which relies on musicmatch-ssl.xboxlive.com, is unreachable. Users attempting to update album information in the latest Media Player app receive an error message indicating a connection issue, despite having a stable internet connection. The removal of these features is disappointing for users who still appreciate physical media, especially as optical drives are becoming rare in new computers.

Winsage

October 18, 2025

Optical drive demand surges amid Windows 10 retirement — Japanese users switching to Windows 11 are buying up Blu-ray drives | Tom’s Hardware

Microsoft has officially concluded support for Windows 10, leading to a surge in demand for Windows 11, particularly in Japan's Akihabara district. This increase in interest in Windows 11 has coincided with a revival in the popularity of optical drives, as consumers seek to retain access to their physical media collections. There is a notable scarcity of internal Blu-ray drives (BD-R) in the market due to this demand. A representative from Dospara Akihabara Main Shop noted that many consumers prefer internal drives for their writing speed, despite modern PC designs often not accommodating them.