How to play DVD on computer

[Oscar Vogel]

How can I get my computer to play a DVD (as if it were a TV)?

I have a HP Pavilion laptop with XP Media Center. When I insert the DVD;
-if I choose to play the DVD using Windows Media Player, I get an error
message that says, "Windows Media Player cannot play the DVD because a
compatible DVD decoder is not installed on your computer."
-if I choose to play DVD video using Media Center, I simply get a blue box
that says "Video Error".

I really don't care what it uses to play the video, I just want it to play
it. How do I make that happen? Thanks!

 

[Dana Cline - MVP]

You need dvd decoder software. If your computer came with Media Center, it
should already have it. If you loaded Media Center yourself, then you have
to buy one somewhere. The nVidia one for $20 seems to be the most popular.
To find out which decoder you have, go to www.microsoft.com and enter
"decoder check" in the search box. Their utility will tell you which you
have installed and let you select the default one.

Dana Cline - MCE MVP

 

[Oscar Vogel]

Thanks, but I don't understand "If you loaded Media Center yourself, then
you have to buy one somewhere." Why would that matter?

I suppose I DID load Media Center myself because I recently replaced the
hard drive & reloaded all of the recovery software that were on the HP CDs
that came with the system. I really don't know what "media center" is all
about. The only reason I bought this model was because I liked the
widescreen and big keypad. But I assume that anything called "Media Center"
edition would automatically play a basic DVD disk.

Anyway, if you say I've gotta pay an additional $20, that's not a big deal.
But I suspect that I haven't loaded something correctly. If anyone can
advise as to what I may have done wrong, I'd appreciate it. If no one has
an answer w/in a few hours, I'll assume that I'll need to go ahead and buy
nVidia.

 

[Malke]

Thanks, but I don't understand "If you loaded Media Center yourself,
then you have to buy one somewhere." Why would that matter?

I suppose I DID load Media Center myself because I recently replaced
the hard drive & reloaded all of the recovery software that were on
the HP CDs that came with the system. I really don't know what "media
center" is all about. The only reason I bought this model was because
I liked the
widescreen and big keypad. But I assume that anything called "Media
Center" edition would automatically play a basic DVD disk.

Anyway, if you say I've gotta pay an additional $20, that's not a big
deal.
But I suspect that I haven't loaded something correctly. If anyone
can
advise as to what I may have done wrong, I'd appreciate it. If no one
has an answer w/in a few hours, I'll assume that I'll need to go ahead
and buy nVidia.

Your HP Media Center machine came with a DVD player. It will be
something like PowerDVD or WinDVD. Look at the CD's you got with the
machine or call HP tech support for instructions how to reinstall
preloaded HP software.

Malke

 

[Jaime]

The reason it doesn't automatically come with a DVD decoder, is that there
are licensing issues and most decoders must be purchased. When you buy
something like PowerDVD, you are mostly paying for the decoder license. MS
sees the decoder as just another component or accessory software for the MCE
system and not a basic part of the OS. Many people have strong opinions
about which decoder is best, so rather than adding to the cost and being
accused of bundling their preferred decodere, they leave it up the
individual PC makers to include the one they feel works best with their
system. When you buy the MCE OS separately, you are the PC maker and it is
your responsibly to install a decoder.

But as "malke" mentioned, if you could play DVD's before, then your old
system came with a decoder and it may be compatible with MCE. So if it came
with some setup CD's, you might check those first.

 

[Guest]

If you need a basic decoder that works with MCE, there's a guy on eBay who's
selling WinDVD decoder for about 8 bucks (with shipping). I bought one from
him and it works great with my system.

Go here: http://stores.ebay.com/id=730692&ssPageName=VI:SIB:StoreView

--
Joe Pastori
Gigabyte mainboard w/AMD Sempron 2200+
Avermedia UltraTV 1500MCE
GeForce 5200
InterVideo WinDVD 5.0 Decoder
786MB RAM