Unable to play DVD Movie in WinXP

[gparrish]

I have Winxp SP1 and I have installed a DVD+-RW. It will cut data CDs no problem so the burn feature works well. Also I have used it to read data and play music with no problem.

When try to pop in a DVD and watch it, the audio will play but I get no video. I have tried a couple of DVDs and they do the same. I am using a trial version of WinDVD and another free player called Cliprex. The show the same behavior though. The only time I see video is when I press stop or eject and I will get a flash of the video that must be playing since I hear the audio.

The DVD is an NEC 8x +-, a 2500 i think and was new about 2 weeks ago.

Any ideas on what the problem is?

Thanks,
Greg

 

[cdogg]

It could be a conflict between the two video players or a corrupted MPEG-2 codec. I recommend you uninstall both DVD video players and only reinstall the trial version of WinDVD. If you have the same problem, then at least we can be pretty sure it's not the video software player.


~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[gparrish]

Okay I will try this. I did install Cliprex first and had the same problem and added WinDVD second. Will attempt this and get back to the thread here.

Greg

 

[gparrish]

Okay I uninstalled those two, rebooted and installed PowerDVD and it started playing and I got the Artisan intro screen on the DVD. It appeared to be buffering the video from the DVD and once the buffered filled I got a message popped up from PowerDVD.

The message said - it appears that there is a problem with the TV out port on your video/display card. When I click OK it then says this DVD has copy protection that prevents it from being played when the TV out port is enabled.

First I am trying to watch this on the computer and second I dont have a TV out port! Is this normal or what? Is it just this DVD, two of them are doing this but I will try a few more to test.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[cdogg]

Well, it's not really related to the DVD, since most will use Macrovision copy protection and exhibit the same problem. First, this link seems to describe your problem as well as providing a possible solution. See if it applies to you:

http://www.applied-computer.com/myweb/FAQ/00000259.htm

=======================================================
If not, then read on...

Other sources on the net seem to indicate that the problem normally has to do with certain Nvidia cards and the driver version they're using. Make sure you have the latest driver first. If you already do and continue to have the same problem, the suggestion is to resort to an older driver and/or apply the latest PowerDVD patches.

Some interesting reading on that problem:

http://forum.digital-digest.com/archive/topic/22489-1.html

http://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?s=eb14366dbd8d64aa42d513d10c4be406&postid=42819#post42819

~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[gparrish]

Okay that did it. Rather than go for the old NVidia drivers which have less Macrovision checks I just installed the Region Free utility and that fixes it.

http://www.dvdidle.com/download.htm

Thanks!
Greg