First off I apologize if this has been answered before, and in that case a link to the appropriate thread would be much apprecitated.

I'm currently running anydvd 6.1.3.6 and clonedvd2 2.8.5.1, my DVD drive (Matshita UJ-850S) is set to region 1 and I am currently in Japan surrounded by region 2 DVDs. However, when I put my DVDs (region 2) in the drive anydvd gives me an error saying it cannot read the disc. With that said, I am unable to backup my DVDs with Clonedvd2. I have never had an issue with region 1 discs in the past.

Thanks!

Matshita and only Matshita (Panasonic) drives are flawed in this way. You have to get another drive. And this has been asked may times before. Do a cdf search: keyword "Matshita" for more information.

Whisperer

Indeed I apologize for posting something I continued to read about and realize. I am looking into getting a new drive for my laptop. As posted above, I'm currently in Japan for one more week, and I've got one change left on my drive to go back to region one after I get back to the U.S. I haven't decided if I'd like buy a drive here in Japan or wait 'til I get back to the U.S. I looked on Newegg and was looking at the NEC AD-5540A and the Liteon SSW-8015S. But it appears that neither of those have firmware updates. I'm open to any suggestions for drives. But also, as long as Anydvd can support the drive, multi regions shouldn't be a problem, is that correct?