making VLC the default for playing DVDs

[Jo-Anne]

I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a DVD in
the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC Media Player, I
close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and click on the DVD
drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the default DVD player. I'd be
grateful for instructions on how to do this or even for a link to a website
that explains it.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

 

[VanguardLH]

I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a DVD in
the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC Media Player, I
close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and click on the DVD
drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the default DVD player. I'd be
grateful for instructions on how to do this or even for a link to a website
that explains it.

Not a hardware question. This is a software configuration issue or, at
best, an issue with filetype associations in the operating system.
VideoLan's forums are over at http://forum.videolan.org/.

Right-click on the .vob file (or whatever you open to play the movie),
select Open With, and browse to the VLC program's executable. Make sure
you enable the Remember option in the browse dialog.

Or you could set the file associations within VLC Player. Alas, for
some reason, its designers decided that not all the simple options will
be present in the advanced options. To set file associations in VLC's
preferences, use the simple interface for its Preferences dialog. Then
look under the Interface category of options. Enable the extension for
whatever is the video file you are trying to open in VLC.

 

[Patok]

I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a DVD in
the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC Media Player, I
close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and click on the DVD
drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the default DVD player. I'd be
grateful for instructions on how to do this or even for a link to a website
that explains it.

From my limited understanding, it seems that it's not possible. For
some reason, VLC does not register itself as a DVD playing
application. You can set it to play specific file types, but not devices.

To see which programs will play DVDs upon insertion, right-click on
the DVD drive, and in the AutoPlay tab you can see and set them. I
personally see nothing wrong with the default PowerDVD for that
purpose, and haven't changed it (but then, I don't usually play DVDs).
For example, Media Player Classic registers as a DVD playing
application - see if you'll like it instead.

 

[BillW50]

In

I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a
DVD in the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC
Media Player, I close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and
click on the DVD drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the
default DVD player. I'd be grateful for instructions on how to do
this or even for a link to a website that explains it.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

I am not 100% positive this will work, but it is worth a shot. There is
a program called "USB Safely Remove". And one of the things it can do is
to run a program when it detects a given device. "USB Safely Remove" is
handy for much more than this too, so it is worth looking into even if
you can't get this to work for this purpose.

http://safelyremove.com/

 

[Jo-Anne]

Not a hardware question. This is a software configuration issue or, at
best, an issue with filetype associations in the operating system.
VideoLan's forums are over at http://forum.videolan.org/.

Right-click on the .vob file (or whatever you open to play the movie),
select Open With, and browse to the VLC program's executable. Make sure
you enable the Remember option in the browse dialog.

Or you could set the file associations within VLC Player. Alas, for
some reason, its designers decided that not all the simple options will
be present in the advanced options. To set file associations in VLC's
preferences, use the simple interface for its Preferences dialog. Then
look under the Interface category of options. Enable the extension for
whatever is the video file you are trying to open in VLC.

Thank you, Vanguard! I did look at the interface categories in VLC, and all
the options are checked--but still PowerDVD opens the files. I wonder if
PowerDVD can be uninstalled...

Jo-Anne

 

[Jo-Anne]

From my limited understanding, it seems that it's not possible. For some
reason, VLC does not register itself as a DVD playing application. You can
set it to play specific file types, but not devices.

To see which programs will play DVDs upon insertion, right-click on the
DVD drive, and in the AutoPlay tab you can see and set them. I personally
see nothing wrong with the default PowerDVD for that purpose, and haven't
changed it (but then, I don't usually play DVDs). For example, Media
Player Classic registers as a DVD playing application - see if you'll like
it instead.

Thank you, Patok! I've had trouble with PowerDVD from the first time I tried
playing DVDs. In one case, a DVD that was set up for the United States
(where I live) wouldn't play until I "changed" the area to the United
States. In another case, the sound wouldn't play at all. I had no problem
with the sound on that DVD in VLC.

Jo-Anne

 

[Jo-Anne]

In

I am not 100% positive this will work, but it is worth a shot. There is a
program called "USB Safely Remove". And one of the things it can do is to
run a program when it detects a given device. "USB Safely Remove" is handy
for much more than this too, so it is worth looking into even if you can't
get this to work for this purpose.

http://safelyremove.com/

Thank you, Bill! I had already bookmarked USB Safely Remove (I think from
one of your earlier posts). I'll definitely check it out for this
issue--although I wonder how it reacts if the media in the DVD player is
simply a data CD/DVD.

Jo-Anne

 

[BillW50]

In

Thank you, Vanguard! I did look at the interface categories in VLC,
and all the options are checked--but still PowerDVD opens the files.
I wonder if PowerDVD can be uninstalled...

Jo-Anne

All versions of PowerDVD that I know of, can be uninstalled.

 

[BillW50]

In

Thank you, Bill! I had already bookmarked USB Safely Remove (I think
from one of your earlier posts). I'll definitely check it out for this
issue--although I wonder how it reacts if the media in the DVD player
is simply a data CD/DVD.

Jo-Anne

Just curious, have you ever tried to change under Explorer (file
manager) under Tools->Folder Options and select the third tab called
File Types? Here the third one down is called DVD Video. Select this one
and press the Advanced button. It should list something like this:

Play
Play with PowerDVD (in bold)
Play with VLC media player

Select the VLC one. Then press the Set Default button (now this one
should be in bold). That should now open DVD movies with VLC instead of
PowerDVD.

 

[Jo-Anne]

In

Just curious, have you ever tried to change under Explorer (file manager)
under Tools->Folder Options and select the third tab called File Types?
Here the third one down is called DVD Video. Select this one and press the
Advanced button. It should list something like this:

Play
Play with PowerDVD (in bold)
Play with VLC media player

Select the VLC one. Then press the Set Default button (now this one should
be in bold). That should now open DVD movies with VLC instead of PowerDVD.

Hi, Bill,

I set VLC as the default, but PowerDVD still came up. I restarted the
computer; PowerDVD still came up. I deleted PowerDVD from the "list." It no
longer comes up--but VLC doesn't either. I have to open VLC, click on Open
Disc, and click Open. This is all on a DVD I had run earlier. So I tried a
new DVD, and it makes a strange sound spinning, doesn't stop spinning, and
VLC isn' working at all with it. I inserted one of the DVDs I had run
before, and it works OK--although I still have to open VLC and manually
start it.

From what I can see, this SHOULD have worked. I can't understand why it
hasn't--and I don't know what to do about the DVD that won't run at all.

Thank you for the suggestion, though!

Jo-Anne

 

[Jo-Anne]

Hi, Bill,

I set VLC as the default, but PowerDVD still came up. I restarted the
computer; PowerDVD still came up. I deleted PowerDVD from the "list." It
no longer comes up--but VLC doesn't either. I have to open VLC, click on
Open Disc, and click Open. This is all on a DVD I had run earlier. So I
tried a new DVD, and it makes a strange sound spinning, doesn't stop
spinning, and VLC isn' working at all with it. I inserted one of the DVDs
I had run before, and it works OK--although I still have to open VLC and
manually start it.

From what I can see, this SHOULD have worked. I can't understand why it
hasn't--and I don't know what to do about the DVD that won't run at all.

Thank you for the suggestion, though!

Jo-Anne

Addendum: I did finally get the new DVD to play. I don't know what went
wrong the first time. So the only issue is having to start VLC rather than
having it automatically play the DVDs.

Jo-Anne

 

[Patok]

Addendum: I did finally get the new DVD to play. I don't know what went
wrong the first time. So the only issue is having to start VLC rather than
having it automatically play the DVDs.

Duh. As I wrote before, the only application that will play DVDs
upon inserting them, is the one listed in the AutoPlay tab of your DVD
drive, under DVD movie. (You never said what applications you see
there.) The entry you've been setting in Folder Options, following
Bill's advice, is for right-clicking an already inserted and
identified DVD disk, it is *not* for automatically playing it.

 

[BillW50]

In

Addendum: I did finally get the new DVD to play. I don't know what
went wrong the first time. So the only issue is having to start VLC
rather than having it automatically play the DVDs.

Jo-Anne

Try this, Win+R and paste in this line (including quotes):

"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" --started-from-file dvd://d:

The last part "d:" change to whatever your drive letter is for your DVD
drive. In this example it is drive D. And that should start VLC and play
the DVD. If that works and it should if your path for VLC is the same,
let me know and we will go on from there.

 

[BillW50]

In

Duh. As I wrote before, the only application that will play DVDs
upon inserting them, is the one listed in the AutoPlay tab of your DVD
drive, under DVD movie. (You never said what applications you see
there.) The entry you've been setting in Folder Options, following
Bill's advice, is for right-clicking an already inserted and
identified DVD disk, it is *not* for automatically playing it.

Thanks Patok for the information. Here is something that should work if
you have TweakUI installed.

My Computer
AutoPlay
Handlers

Here you can select VLC to autoplay DVD movies.

You can do this without TweakUI too. Right click on the DVD drive in
Explorer and select properties. AutoPlay tab, DVD Movie (drop down
menu), and Select an action to perform. Then select Play DVD movie using
VideoLAN VLC media player.

 

[Jo-Anne]

In

Thanks Patok for the information. Here is something that should work if
you have TweakUI installed.

My Computer
AutoPlay
Handlers

Here you can select VLC to autoplay DVD movies.

You can do this without TweakUI too. Right click on the DVD drive in
Explorer and select properties. AutoPlay tab, DVD Movie (drop down menu),
and Select an action to perform. Then select Play DVD movie using VideoLAN
VLC media player.

Bingo! That did it, Bill. I do have TweakUI installed, but I didn't see an
Autoplay option under My Compuer. So I followed your directions starting
with right-clicking on the DVD drive. It worked! Thank you very much!

Jo-Anne

 

[Jo-Anne]

Duh. As I wrote before, the only application that will play DVDs upon
inserting them, is the one listed in the AutoPlay tab of your DVD drive,
under DVD movie. (You never said what applications you see there.) The
entry you've been setting in Folder Options, following Bill's advice, is
for right-clicking an already inserted and identified DVD disk, it is
*not* for automatically playing it.

Thank you for the information, Patok! I did manage to get Autoplay to work
with VLC by clicking on the AutoPlay tab of the DVD drive, as you suggested
and as Bill instructed. It works!

Jo-Anne

 

[Jo-Anne]

In

Try this, Win+R and paste in this line (including quotes):

"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" --started-from-file dvd://d:

The last part "d:" change to whatever your drive letter is for your DVD
drive. In this example it is drive D. And that should start VLC and play
the DVD. If that works and it should if your path for VLC is the same, let
me know and we will go on from there.

Thank you, Bill! I'll copy this post to my hard drive for future reference.
As it turns out, your earlier instruction on how to set up Autoplay for the
DVD drive (right-clicking on the drive, etc.) worked perfectly.

Jo-Anne

 

[Patok]

In

Thanks Patok for the information. Here is something that should work if
you have TweakUI installed.

My Computer
AutoPlay
Handlers

Here you can select VLC to autoplay DVD movies.

You can do this without TweakUI too. Right click on the DVD drive in
Explorer and select properties. AutoPlay tab, DVD Movie (drop down
menu), and Select an action to perform. Then select Play DVD movie using
VideoLAN VLC media player.

But can you do that? For some reason, I don't have VLC in the list
of autoplay handlers, and I don't see any option in the VLC
preferences to set that association. Maybe it asked once, when I was
installing it, and I said no?

In the meantime, I see that Jo-Anne was able to set VLC to play her
DVDs; apparently on her system, VLC had added itself to the list of
DVD playing programs, and all she needed to do was select it in the
AutoPlay tab.

However, I found that in TweakUI one can Create a new association
in the Handlers list, and I was able to add VLC to play DVDs. So, in
case someone doesn't have it there, here's how to do it:

- In TweakUI, in My Computer -> AutoPlay -> Handlers, click on "Create"
- check the desired checkboxes - DVD, etc.
- click "Change program", find and select the desired program - on my
comp, VLC is in "Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\"
- in the "Args:" field, enter "dvd://%L\"
- write something memorable in the Description and Using fields
- exit TweakUI, and then right-click on the DVD drive in Win Explorer
- in the AutoPlay tab, select the desred type (DVD movie, etc), and
then choose the new entry for "Select an action to perform"

 

[BillW50]

In

But can you do that? For some reason, I don't have VLC in the list
of autoplay handlers, and I don't see any option in the VLC
preferences to set that association. Maybe it asked once, when I was
installing it, and I said no?

In the meantime, I see that Jo-Anne was able to set VLC to play her
DVDs; apparently on her system, VLC had added itself to the list of
DVD playing programs, and all she needed to do was select it in the
AutoPlay tab.

However, I found that in TweakUI one can Create a new association
in the Handlers list, and I was able to add VLC to play DVDs. So, in
case someone doesn't have it there, here's how to do it:

- In TweakUI, in My Computer -> AutoPlay -> Handlers, click on
"Create" - check the desired checkboxes - DVD, etc.
- click "Change program", find and select the desired program - on my
comp, VLC is in "Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\"
- in the "Args:" field, enter "dvd://%L\"
- write something memorable in the Description and Using fields
- exit TweakUI, and then right-click on the DVD drive in Win Explorer
- in the AutoPlay tab, select the desred type (DVD movie, etc), and
then choose the new entry for "Select an action to perform"

If you use custom install of VLC, I believe you need to check Discs
Playback to have the handlers created. Not 100% sure though.

 

[BillW50]

In

Bingo! That did it, Bill. I do have TweakUI installed, but I didn't
see an Autoplay option under My Compuer. So I followed your
directions starting with right-clicking on the DVD drive. It worked!
Thank you very much!
Jo-Anne

Oh that is great to hear. I'm using TweakUI v2.1. If you have the same,
it should show up if you click the + to the left of My Computer.