I just got a brand new Dell. After 2 weeks, my DVDs would not play. I tried using Cineplayer that came with the machine. I then tried Windows Media Player and got an error about a possible copyright problem. So I called Dell and they said there was a bug with Codec that both Cineplayer used as well as WMP. They said a fix should be out in a week.

They said the temp fix was to roll your system clock back to Nov 1.

I was gonna suggest to make sure you have the correct codec for whatever software you were using to try and view the DVD.

Another way to learn more would be to try a couple other different DVDs... could help show whether it's something with the one disc, or whether the drive's behavior has changed.

jd

If you haven't yet, try playing it with VLC (http://www.videolan.org/). It's free and usually plays anything I can throw at it.

I've seen this happen before. What usually works for me is removing and reinserting the disc a few times.

A couple of things you can try:
1. Try removing the DVD device from device manager, reboot and let windows reinstall it.
2. Run DVD Decrypter and point it to the disc in question, that will tell you if there is something on it.

Scott/Joe: I don't think it is a codec. If it was - I'd see the files but not be able to play it.

John: This DVD was used on a DVD player an hour before I tried it on the PC - but it is worth a shot.

Boyan: I'll give that a try.

Some possibilities:
* See if you can play another DVD movie disc in the drive.
* Search online to see if the specific DVD uses a new/different anti-copy technology.
* Try loading it on your Mac, see if the disc works there.
* See if there are any scratches on the disc.

Sounds like some crappy DRM to protect the Movie Industry from your computer. ;)

I've seen this a number of times. I've have a mac and a pc under my desk. If a disc will not play on the pc, I can throw it in the mac and it will work every time.

Think its bad now? Wait till folks try watching dvds on Vista.

Ray,

Can your DVD Player play DVD+R and DVD-R...I know some players can only do one or the other

So I tried removing as many codecs as possible - rebooted - still no go. Put it in my Mac and it played right away. I _really_ can't wait till I'm completely off PCs.

Chris, it was implied that this was a pressed (off-the-shelf) movie disc, which is not affected by the +/- issue.

Damien, yes, it is a off the shelf movie disc.

Ray, sometimes the lasers go out of alignment or loose their accuracy, have you tried playing other movies in that drive or tried that movie in another PC or Mac?

Those butterflys are just flaky like that, use a penguin and that will take care of most of the problems. ;)

I agree with Damien. Long ago I had an HP 2x CD writer. Apparently the laser was attached to the drive assembly by plastic clips. Eventually the laser fell out of alignment because the heat of the drive partially melted the clips. It could read but it couldn't write, then, eventually it died completely.

Try AnyDVD:

http://www.slysoft.com/en/a...

There is so much BS going on in Windows when it comes to playing DVDs. I have intermitten problems with some DVDs and not others. Turning this on usually takes care of everything, as long as it isn't a codec problem.

Stop letting the kids play with the discs.

Try all the above , but definitely try another movie, especially one from you collection AND made around the same time as the failed movie.

Believe it or not sometimes certain discs are not playable on certain hardware. Oh almost forgot, on the packaging for the disk does it mention inbuilt player software. Some DVDs have this and that could be the issue.

haven't seen a response to whether or not other DVDs play in the laptop (or ever have), i'm voting codec.

my winXP didn't come with codecs installed for media player to play DVDs.

i downloaded one from http://www.microsoft.com/wi... (i forget which...don't have my laptop with me to check...but i do remember it was $10 or $20).

no problems after that. well, except for i can't remember sh!t. but i mean no DVD playback problems after that :)

I was pointed at this codec pack by a friend ages ago.
http://www.cccp-project.net/

They get updated fairly regularly and contain copy of Windows Media Player Classic and a.n.other player that I forget the name of.

But anyway, they've always been good for me. That said Windows XP shouldn't be reporting a bought DVD as blank when its not.

I'm considering just picking up a new drive, making a copy, and then just formatting. I'd love to get rid of the 10 min bootup time. Of course, I'd need to find my Win CD and lord knows where that is.

Forget your XP CD! Go Vista!

Raymond,

Believe it or not, the very first comment above, from David, is probably your solution. Change the date on your PC to November, and your DVD will work fine. It worked on the Dell I have at work, and my home-built PC here at home, both of which run Win XP SP2. Doesn't matter if I use WMP or a third-party movie player, if the PC's date is December, it won't work.

Give it a try.

I'll give that a try actually. I'm out of the office tomorrow but will try it Monday.

My problem is DVD-RW work fine. Regular DVD's and I've tried a few do work but run very slow. I've tried about everything I can possibly think of.

Yes i have the same problem. I changed the date back to October and it works fine. I don't know what the perm fix is.

Oh I forgot to mention. I forgot to change the date - but I tried a second DVD. This one played video, but not audio. I'll have to try the date thing.

We had the same problem and changed the date to October and now the DVDs play fine. Crazy, but it works!

same with me, changed the date to october and no problems...