Buzz Out Loud Lounge: Copy-Protection on DVDs
Copy-Protection on DVDs
by o2mcgovem - 8/28/07 4:55 PMHi! I try to listen to the show as and when I can but I'm not a religious listener. Whenever I do listen, DRM is nearly always most-of-the-time mentioned so I just wanted to ask whether anybody can help?
I'm having a lot of trouble playing DVDs on my laptop lately. They used to play, but now they don't. When I insert a (store-bought, genuine with the little hologram on the back) DVD, Windows Media player pops up with a message informing me that "Windows Media Player cannot play this DVD because there is a problem with digital copy protection between your DVD drive, decoder, and video card. Try installing an updated driver for your video card."
Anybody know how to fix this? I've updated my driver and installed the K-Lite codec pack and I still can't play them. 
Windows can't play DVDs.
by R. Proffitt
- 8/28/07 7:25 PM
In reply to: Copy-Protection on DVDs by o2mcgovem
Until a DVD player is install. Due to www.mpegla.com you don't find a free DVD decoder in the US but VLC PLAYER is not from the US and will play your DVD just fine.
Bob
It was fine
by o2mcgovem - 8/29/07 4:56 AM In reply to: Windows can't play DVDs. by R. Proffitt
It used to work fine though. Windows Vista Home Premium is supposed to include everything needed to play DVDs.
Btw, I'm not in the US I'm in the UK. :s
The codec pack can kill DVD playback.
by R. Proffitt - 8/29/07 5:52 AM
In reply to: It was fine by o2mcgovem
GO BACK to when it worked. Remember that Vista except for the media versions do not play DVD unless the maker supplied a DVD player. The legal issues of DVD play is not something I'll write about at length since you can research that on your own.
-> Bottom line? Reinstall your DVD player software. Sorry but you are not sharing the details so I can't do more than give the generic answer.
Bob
Okay...
by o2mcgovem - 8/29/07 1:36 PM In reply to: The codec pack can kill DVD playback. by R. Proffitt
I didn't have any DVD player with it? When I got my laptop, I installed the Combined Community Codec Pack and everything worked fine.
When it stopped working I did a little research online and removed the CCCP and installed the K-Lite codec pack. I also tried setting the clock back to December 2006 which was apparently something that would solve the problem. But nothing worked.
You say I'm not sharing the details... what details are you after? I'll share 
(Btw, thanks for all the responses I've got so far.)
The words in red type details.
by R. Proffitt - 8/31/07 12:38 PM
In reply to: Okay... by o2mcgovem
When you post it asks for some basic information. Since you didn't share this I can't check what instructions might be ready to resolve the issue.
Bob
Right
by o2mcgovem - 8/31/07 6:22 PM In reply to: The words in red type details. by R. Proffitt
Okay, I apologise.
So, I'm running Windows Vista Home Premium on a Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop with a AMD Turion 64 X2 processor, 1GB of RAM (I need an upgrade) and an ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 graphics card. Um... I'm trying to watch Family Guy Series 2-5 and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth amongst other things. They're all genuine with a hologram on the back of the box. It's WMP 11. I'm in the UK which is a PAL area, region 2 for DVDs.
I can't think of anything else, but if there's anything I've left out just say. Thanks for all the support so far.
Michael
Dell tells us you get WinDVD with that model.
by R. Proffitt - 8/31/07 6:31 PM
In reply to: Right by o2mcgovem
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&docid=4C2BDE52ECCD4004B24013A142F62990&journalid=C15536B2582A11DC89FF1DB45BA22EB2&Query=V2luRFZE&SystemID=INS_PNT_1501&Se rviceTag=&contenttype=-1&os=-1&component=-1&lang=-1&doclang=en&toggle=false
It's either a full WinDVD or WinDVD is on one of the supplied CDs.
Reinstall that.
Bob
Is it?
by o2mcgovem - 9/4/07 2:37 PM In reply to: Dell tells us you get WinDVD with that model. by R. Proffitt
I don't see it installed on my system, and it's not on a CD. I have a disc for Works 8.5, a Windows Anytime upgrade DVD, a Roxio DVD burning thing, a Dell Drivers disc and a Reinstallation DVD for Windows Vista.
I did try and install Roxio when I first got the laptop, but I uninstalled it since I didn't like it. (I could watch DVDs fine before & after installation) I then bought Nero and installed that instead. DVD playback worked fine too.
Too many Dells.
by R. Proffitt - 9/5/07 3:03 PM
In reply to: Is it? by o2mcgovem
The ones I deal with have that CD. So the next stop is for you to call Dell and find out where the DVD player is.
Microsoft does not enable it in all versions since there is a royalty payment...
Bob
Oh right, Okay thanks...
by o2mcgovem - 9/5/07 4:31 PM In reply to: Too many Dells. by R. Proffitt
Perhaps it's because I'm in Europe and you're in the US (I'm guessing)? Maybe they send different discs or something.
Okay, right I'll get in touch with them... I've not had good experiences with tech support in the past so that's why I didn't want to contact them first.
Thanks for all the help and advice anyway.
Try VLC instead
by Nicholas Buenk - 8/29/07 5:42 AM In reply to: Copy-Protection on DVDs by o2mcgovemIt works, sorta...
by o2mcgovem - 8/29/07 1:29 PM In reply to: Try VLC instead by Nicholas BuenkI can play DVDs in VLC, but they still refuse to work in WMP. I mostly use my laptop as a Media Centre, but when WMP stopped playing DVDs... Windows Media Center stopped playing them too.
Are you running Vista?
by Renegade Knight - 8/29/07 11:58 AM In reply to: Copy-Protection on DVDs by o2mcgovemOne of the steps backwards that Vista did was to require that drivers allow for DRM.
I'm not sure how it works but it's an extra laywer of Crap between your operating system and actually using your computer. It's part of the reason drivers from a lot of vendors were delayed.
If you are using Vista you may very well be seeing what this driver issue can do to people just trying to watch a movie when Vista thinks the driver is not working per spec.
It sounds like your solution is to install updated drivers and hopefully things are back on track.
I wonder if the next gen Mac OS is going to have this issue?
I have updated
by o2mcgovem - 8/29/07 1:27 PM In reply to: Are you running Vista? by Renegade KnightWell, originally I was using the graphics card driver that Windows got from Windows Update but then when DVD playback mysteriously stopped working I downloaded one from Dell's website which added an "ATI Control Center" to my computer.
:s
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