How to play a mini DVD in a laptop

Many laptop DVD drives are capable of loading and playing the 3-inch mini-DVDs by simply loading in the drive like regular DVDs. Some, however, are not. This is especially true of any slot-based, vertically loading DVD players like the ones all Mac laptops have; mini-DVDs will get stuck in these drives and can damage the drive. It is still possible to play mini-DVDs on such a laptop, but you will need one of two possible devices to work with the computer.

Connect an external mini-DVD drive to the laptop. Such a drive can be found at many computer retailers and needs to connect via the laptop's USB or FireWire connection.

Install the driver software for the mini-DVD drive, which will be included on a normal CD-ROM you must load into the laptop's drive. In addition to the driver software, the disc may include a DVD viewing application designed specifically for the new drive.

Load the mini-DVD of your choice into the drive and look for the disc to appear either in the list of drives in the "Computer" window (for Windows systems) or on the desktop (for Macs).

Get a mini-to-DVD adaptor piece, which looks like a flat, circular ring. Make sure the adaptor you get is designed to work with your DVD drive; some don't work with drives like the slot-like Mac drive.

Connect the adaptor to your mini-DVD; the adaptor is usually made of two semicircles that you clasp together around the disc. This adaptor will now give the disc the applied shape of a full-size DVD.

Load the disc and adaptor into the drive and look for it to appear as described above. Your DVD viewing software may also automatically boot up.