I have a Toshiba laptop Model No-PSLC8A-02000Y.Now,i'm not computer literate by any means and there are many things i don't understand.But i've come across a problem that has me pretty baffled and pretty crappy aswell.Basically,i wanted to play a normal DVD in my laptop and some would work,some wouldn't.The ones that didn't work,a message would appear saying'Wrong region.Switch to Region 2'.I didn't know this at the time but apparently all Toshiba DVD players and computers are in Region 4 due to copyright laws.This is what a Toshiba representative told me.Which is strange because i could swear that all these cheap a$$ DVD players that you can buy for peanuts these days read all regions.Now,i changed my laptop's 'Region 4 to region 2' so i could play that DVD and then it tells me that i have only 3 or 4 changes before the last one becomes permanent.What crap is that?
Anyway,i was playing DVDs in region 2 format then 2 weeks ago,i try play a DVD,it would read or play.I'd put a DVD in the disk tray,it would go in the laptop,it would make two beep noise and then it would make a sound like when you get an answer wrong in a TV game show.It just woudn't read.
So,Toshiba tell me that it always should be in Region 4(i live in Australia),now they tell me that programs that i have downloaded have corrupted my DVD drive so i have to uninstall every program from my computer which is simply Bollocks!!I can only play CDs,music is no problem.There was another thing i was told but i think they were having me on.Has any anybody heard of the expression 'Thermal Modifications'?I was told that i could have done this to my computer setting due to my downloaded programs.I've only downloaded a few programs from the net and from respected sites.
That Sly fox program,Any DVD any region trial,i downloaded it and that's when the trouble started.Well,i uninstalled that program but still it did nothing.There has to a simple answer/s to this.All i want to do is play a simple DVD.How can i make my DVD drive working again?Is there anybody out there who can help me out here?
wildhogs

Oh my!

& LoL@"Thermal Modifications"

I can't answer your main question, about how to get your laptop to work, however...

I did look up thermal modifications on Google, and saw that there is a problem seemingly mostly in Dells called, "Thermal Events"



I hope those pages help

Yes, you can use AnyDVD to remove RPC region code, but mostly used to remove copy protection so you can back it up on disc.

Stick to playing region 4 (Australian origin) DVDs and shouldn't have any probs. This is not any different from me.
In North America, we play region 1 discs. Normally you can only change the region a limited number of times (usually 4). Once it reaches zero, you won't be able to change regions even if you format windows.

You can check how many changes left by going to Control Panel..System Properties..Device Manager..Select name of your CD/DVD ROM drive and view region tab under its properties.

Not sure about "thermal modifications", but hopefully the links posted by previous poster will help. Like many software/hardware manufacturers, Toshiba discourages hacking DVD copy protection by altering factory installed devices and voiding possible warranty and causing them to malfunction.