I had the ability to play it before my hardrive crashed and it had to be replaced... so I never had to pay for it. How do I get a DVD Decoder and is it free?
2006-12-30 17:46:49 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
A DVD decoder is the software needed to be installed on your computer in order to view dvd's. If you install a dvd viewing program they usually also install a decoder. I am not sure if there are any free ones out there, do a yahoo or google search. I use PowerDVD or windvd......
2006-12-30 17:49:47 · answer #1 · answered by Taba 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you own a DVD drive and you have the CD/DVD disk that came with the DVD drive then you already have the decoders you need. All you need to do is install the free DVD player software that is included in the free software disk of your DVD ROM drive. That will automatically install the decoders for you and then any player will be able to locate the decoder to support DVD playback. In case you do not have the disk or cannot find it, try the manufacturers website and check out the Downloads Section. They may have the updated DVD player software for download.
VLC or Videolan player is ok, but it comes with its own decoder which is like a hack, it does the trick but you don't really need to use VLC to play DVDs if you have Windows. All manufacturers include decoders for Windows on the Disk I mentioned earlier. Look for that disk and the Playback software should be there.
2006-12-30 18:01:07 · answer #2 · answered by vangel_sg 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
DVD decoder is just basically a software to play the DVD, you can use any software such as Windows Media Player, if you go into it's option you can have it check to play DVD if it's not set to already, if you want to use something more specifically for playing DVD's, something like windvd or better yet Cyberlink powerdvd will do , alot of them are free or have basic free version so it's your choice.
2006-12-30 17:58:35 · answer #3 · answered by l.v. 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hate to rain on others' parades, but...
There are many "free" DVD decoders on the internet - and they ARE legal. So you can scratch that one off the list from above. Just do a search. There are some crappy ones, and then there are some good ones. I can't remember off-hand, but here's just one example from a quick search:
http://www.download.com/MPlayer-CygMP-/3000-2139_4-10518773.html?tag=tab_pub
Also, if you have a name-brand PC like Dell or HP, it should be on a Software Recovery CD somewhere. Double-check or call them. I know HP has WinDVD for most of their desktops, which scans the BIOS before fully installing.
2006-12-30 17:57:51 · answer #4 · answered by SirCharles 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well it could be software or hardware! Sounds like it's software for your computer! You need to find the sofware for your DVD player and install it. The player and or decoder was not installed when you replaced you HD.
2006-12-30 17:53:23 · answer #5 · answered by iamrlk 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
DVD decoders are not free, at least not legally. You can find free ones on places like frostwire.com. Be careful, some are spyware or worse.
You can also go to NVIDIA's website and use their decoder free for 30 days, but after that you have to pay.
Yeah, VLC works, but for some reason it stopped working on my computer after a day.
2006-12-30 17:51:05 · answer #6 · answered by trixwagen 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Go to http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Search/dvd_decoder.html
for free DVD Decoders
Or use a dvd playing software like POWER DVD for which you have to pay.
2006-12-30 17:55:33 · answer #7 · answered by raj k 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Download VLC media player. It is a free movie player that doesn't ask for the decoder (or already has it...not sure). I had the same problem and downloaded the program and it worked fine.
2006-12-30 17:50:22 · answer #8 · answered by spacekitty57 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well, see, a DVD is encoded sometimes-that is its in a code. so you just need a player or a decoder "codec" for that code. to start hunting for one, just look up the file extension*. go to "my computer" and right click the DVD icon. go to "explore". then you should see some files. right click on one and go to "properties". then look up the extension on the web. thats all i can say from the given info. good luck!
* (ex: for a word document, the extension is .doc, so it would say "mystory.doc" if you right clicked and went to properties)
2006-12-30 18:16:07 · answer #9 · answered by cppdungeon 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You could go to free-codecs.com and download the dvd codec for your media player. that should do the trick.
2006-12-30 17:50:09 · answer #10 · answered by Titan 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋