MBP doesn't read DVD - software problem, not hardware

I have a MBP that I bought about a year ago. When I insert a DVD my mac doesn't recognize it. I diagnosed it as a software issue because I have parallels running on my computer and the CD does show up in Windows Explorer. I've had the DVD in my mac for about one week now and there are times when DVD Player automatically opens and starts playing the movie from where it left off. I've just never been able to replicate the sequence of events for it to do that.

I did check the properties in Finder and the "CD's, DVDs and iPods" tab is checked. Any ideas on why it won't show up in Finder and DVD Player/VLC can't find it in their "Open File" commands?

Cheers,

 

ah, bingo - that was it! Many thanks for the reply! upgraded Parallels, but I bought it when it was 3.0 and the upgrade is an additional $49 - not sure if its worth it as I just use Parallels to check school email which is a pain to setup in Entourage.

Thanks a lot for the reply! Much appreciated.