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Cannot Play DVD in Windows Media Player
When I insert a DVD in the DVD drive there pops up a message: "Windows Media Player cannot play the DVD because a compatable decoder is not installed on your computer." This is true with both my Win XP computers.
Preveiously, I have been able to play any DVD just fine. What may the problem be and what is the fix?
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Answers
You need to have a dvd decoder installed.
http://www.microsoft.com/w
Windows Media Player 9 and 10 "can" play DVDs but does not come with the necessary MPEG2 video codec nor the AC3 audio codec typically used by most DVDs. You'll need a third party solution to enable DVD playback in WMP. If you have a commercial DVD player installed like PowerDVD or WinDVD, their codecs will enable DVD playback in WMP.
You can also download DirectShow filters that will enable the DVD functionality in WMP. There are a lot of commercial options for these. They are cheaper than buying a full DVD player, usually about $15-$20.
http://www.microsoft.com/w
There are a few free DirectShow filters that you can download but they work mostly with WMP 9 and are not compatible with WMP 10. Most will not be able to play back encrypted or copy-protected DVD disks and none will have official Dolby or DTS support due to licensing costs. You can download Microsoft's Video Utility to check for compatibility and codec preference.
Free DVD MPEG2 and AC3 decoders
http://www.free-codecs.com
http://www.free-codecs.com
Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility
http://www.microsoft.com/w
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by: tfjeffPosted on 2006-02-23 at 06:58:46ID: 16029312
media player itself will not play a DVD, as the error message says, you need to have a DVD decoder installed to make it work. A couple common ones are powerDVD and winDVD.