PLEASE REPLY WITH HOW TO GET THE DVDS described below to play ON MY PC **OR** how to make copies (with an appropriate SW utility) that will play ON MY PC. Telling me to have my friend make the copies with (whatever) SW utility IS 100% NOT an acceptable answer; he will not do that I assure you. Your answer must tell me how to use the existing DVDs, not make the copies differently. PLEASE NOTE THAT.
DVDs copied by a friend and ALSO some original DVDs from small European companies play fine in my TV's attached DVD player; 2 of these out of 8 total played fine in my DVD-RW drive on my PC, the other 6 did not; I upgraded the firmware on the drive and NOW THOSE TWO WHICH PREVIOUSLY PLAY'D DO **NOT** PLAY EITHER. I then bought a new Samsung DVD-RW drive (with a 4 out of 5 user rating and over 400 votes !!! at newegg.com) to replace the old DVD-RW drive and NONE OF THE DVDs play on it. The purpose of the replacement was to cover the possibility that something was mechanically or otherwise wrong with the original DVD-RW drive. The original drive was a Lite-on, one of the top brands in DVD/CD drives. Regarding the new Samsung, note the user rating quoted above.
All DVDs of major Hollywood movies or recent DVDs of rock concerts PLAY FINE IN BOTH MY OLD AND NEW PC DVD player. Furthermore ONE DVD from a **different** small European company play fine in my PCs DVD player.
All DVDs that do NOT play in my PCs DVD players are NTSC and either Region 1 or All-Region. Plus if they were not these regions than a pop-up appears on my PC screen offering to change the region for the drive AND NOT SUCH POP-UP APPEARS. Also they all play in my TV's attached DVD player and I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT IT IS SET-TO REGION 1. In other words, the problem is not the Region of PAL/NTSC related.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: I am 99% certain the problem is that all these DVDs are copy protected and my friend did not copy them with the various (probably illegal) SW utilities that solve the copy protection problem. Regarding the European companies, I have no answer but they are small and probably outsourced the copying and the outsourer may have ingored this issue but that is speculation.
WHY DO I THINK THE PROBLEM IS COPY PROTECTION?
Because my TV's SONY DVD player was purchased 3 years ago (and may have been designed 4 years ago)
AND
My original PC DVD-RW drive was bought two years ago
AND
My THEORY IS VERY SIMPLE !!! Older DVD players (TV connected or PC internal) have little or no copy protection implemented noting that there are several kinds of copy protection and maybe an old drive blocks one type but not other types and new drives block ALL copy protected DVDs regardless of the encryption type used or type of copy protection.
WHY DO I THINK THAT: WELL, just look at evidence !!! The oldest drive, the Sony connected to the TV plays all the DVDs, the new one (BEFORE the firmware upgrade) played 2 of 8 fine and after the firmware upgrade would not even play those 2 and the new Samsung drive plays none. NEED I SAY MORE GIVEN THAT the problem is not wrong-Region Code or PAL/NTSC related (see above).
Your Honor, I rest my case.
Now, an important detail: WHEN THE DVDs are put into the PCs DVD drive THIS is what happens. With the older Lite-ON drive, it tried to read the DVD over and over and over signalled by a vibrating scratchy noise repeated over and over AND THEN in Windows My Computer the DVD drive changed to a CD drive !!!
With the new Samsung player, there is no noise, but the lite flashes over and over for a long time and then in Windows My Computer the DVD drive changes to a CD drive.
When a playable DVD is put into EITHER drive, within a few seconds Windows pops-up a windows asking if I want to play it with Power DVD (my normal DVD player) and there is no vibrating scratchy noise or long period of player lite flashing. (NOTE: Because of the noise, Lite-on support suggested that it might be a mechanically bad drive and to get a new drive which is why I got the Samsung which did not fix the problem).
NOW READ THIS AND PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG. Here is how copy protection works: If a DVD is copy protected, and you copy it with Roxio or Nero and so on YOU DO NOT GET AN ERROR MESSAGE. Instead the copy is made and YOU CAN NOT PLAY THE COPY , NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. That is assumed in my theory; please correct me if I am wrong.
THE **NORMAL** Solution is to buy one of the many online inexpensive (free trial !!) SW utilities that CLEARLY SAY THEY SOLVE THE COPY PROTECTION PROBLEM. i.e the copies THEY make can be played on any (new or old) DVD player. As already noted that will not work for me.
LOOK, most of the people my friend sends copies too play them on their TV-attached DVD players which by and large (not 100% but mostly) are old and probably either do not implement copy protection or implement it weekly. NOTE The manual for my Sony player does not even mention the phrase "copy protection" in the index or table of contents. It does says wrong region and PAL DVDs will not play.
Furthermore until a week ago, I only played these DVDs on my TV. My friend is going to say that I am the only one that has complained and tell me to watch them on TV !!
As for the non-playing DVDs from small European companies, these are commerical enterprises with hundreds of customers. You think that because ONE of their customers says their DVDs will not play on his PC that they are going to do anything about this??? NOOOOOO . Many customers would have to complain; not just me. I mean sure I will shoot off an email to their customer service departement but will not hold my breath waiting for solution.
So again the answer here must tell me how to get the **EXISTING** copied DVDs and those from small European companies to play, NOT TO MAKE THE COPIES AGAIN WITH SW DESIGNED TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM.
Now, IF MY THEORY IS RIGHT, the only thing off the top of my head that **WOULD** work is go on eBay and try to find a REALLY OLD PC internal DVD player and THEN ALSO send a eBay message to the seller asking whether he/she ever upgraded the firmware and the reply will surely come back that they do not remember (if I get any reply !!!). The point is that finding an old DVD drive may not be that easy to begin with. FURTHERMORE I WANT A DVD-RW which immediately pushes the date of the drive forward over a DVD-ROM drive. Why because I occasionally copy large amounts of data (over the size of a CD-R) onto DVD and ifI just get an old DVD-ROM I loose the capability and no, there, is no spare slot in my PC. The other slot has a CD burner and I have reasons for keeping it there.
Regards,
Mike
