Neil
Tue Mar 25 14:20:28 PDT 2008
On Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:07:01 -0700, wheelnut53
<wheelnut53@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>I use to be able to view DVDs since I installed authentic Windows I lost the
>ability what happened? how can I get it back? whats involved etc.
Windows XP doesn't come with a DVD decoder due to license costs, and
only Vista Ulitimate or Home Premium do. In other cases, you'd have to
purchase one. For starters, check if there's a compatible decoder
installed using the DecCheck program from this page :
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=DE1491AC-0AB6-4990-943D-627E6ADE9FCB
If that shows no decoders installed, then Elecard and Nvidia do
reasonably priced DVD decoders with 12 or 30 day free trials :
http://www.elecard.com/products/products-pc/consumer/mpeg2-decoder-plugin/
http://www.nvidia.com/object/dvd_decoder.html
The reason DVD decoders cost $ is mostly because of licensing costs by
the patent owners (the MPEG-LA or licensing authority) - the price of
the decoder patent payment forms part of a standalone home DVD player,
and quite a bit of the cost of the products above.
HTH
Cheers - Neil
------------------------------------------------
Digital Media MVP : 2004-2008
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/mvpfaqs