Problems playing DVD's on Dell Inspiron

My computer comes with a DVD-ROM drive, which is usually functional.  However, every year it stops working around December 15-20 and starts working again in February, around the 20 to the 23.  I've tried debugging the system, restoring it to a former date, calling Dell support, and there seems to be no solution to my problem.  Is this a system error, or is it a problem with the drive?