is there a free program to allow me to play dvds using windows media player?

Question

i just got a used pc from a friend it has a dvd rom in it from creative. when i got it i installed my hard drive and reloaded xp now windows media says i dont have the codecs to read the disk any help on finding a free program?

Answer 1

You don't actually need a codec, you need a DVD-decoder. Windows Media Player 11 now has one built in, so all you need to do is upgrade to that version. Here is the link:http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/11/default.aspx

Answer 2

Windows Media Player will play unencrypted DVDs as is.

CSS Encrypted DVDs, which is just about every DVD you can buy, can only be played if you have either a hardware or software decoder.

Most Nvidia and ATI video cards come with hardware decoders so you can play DVDs using any software player.

Free software DVD Decoders would be Windows Media Player 11 with DVD decoder plug-ins installed.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/plugins.aspx

What is a DVD Decoder?

Currently DVD players are becoming standard devices on computer systems. They allow a user to play CD-ROMs as well as DVDs. However in order to play DVDs, the DVD must be decoded by software on the computer before it can be played.
A decoder performs three functions:

1. It unlocks the CSS copy protection applied to the video files on a DVD movie disc;
2. It decodes the MPEG2 formatting applied to video content;
3. It displays the video through a viewer program installed in Windows.

Developing and certifying a DVD decoder requires that additional licensing and royalty fees be paid to the various patentholders of DVD technology. This is why DVD decoders are not available as "free" software. Usually when you buy a DVD player for a computer it comes with DVD decoder software, but what if you bought a second-hand computer or purchased a refurbished computer and it didnt come with decoder software. What are your options then?

Is there a free DVD decoder available?

Although there isnt a standalone DVD decoder that is free, there is a free solution. VLC is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, ...) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.

The VLC media player does not need a decoder to play DVDs, so its the best free solution for using a computer DVD player with no DVD decoder software.

What are the disadvantages of using VLC?

You'll only be able to use the VLC media player to play your DVDs, if you have other media players that will player DVD's including the Windows Media Player, the InterActual player, or others, then you'll want to purchase a DVD decoder to allow these other players to work.

VLC media player: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Answer 3

Install Windows XP Service Pack 2, then install Windows Media Player 11. It has a new cool interface and plays just about anything.

Answer 4

Seek around for Media Player Classic, or download it from here :
http://www.free-codecs.com/Media_Player_Classic_download.htm
This poor-looking Media Player ( resembles Windows 98's Media Player ) has the ability to play DVD discs, DivX, XviD, MPEG and much more. You don't have to waste any money for PowerDVD, WinDVD or any DVD player/codecs out there. Good luck!

Answer 5

u can use windows media player but a better player u can download is realone player from download.com for free which will play ur DVDs perfectly for u

Answer 6

No but you should download VlC media player, it is free and can play DVDs, Find it at http://www.videolan.org/

Answer 7

here download the codes from here

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/plugins.aspx

or download from here for free

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Media_Player_Classic.htm