Windows Media Player Won't Play My DVD

Just bought myself a new AbLounger. I want to play the DVD that came with it and WMP says it can't. Something about a decoder not compatible??? I could have sworn when I bought this PC that I was able to use the DVD slot. Not sure what to do now.

HELP!

 

??? No ideas on this one???

 

Try WMP 11. I think it may have a native DVD decoder.

 

Ok. Just upgraded to WMP 11. Looks sharp and will have to play with it one day to figure everything out. My DVD still won't play. I've done some research and here are the results:

DVD movies will play via a PCFriendly program.

I've adjusted my screen resolution and color bit as stated in the troubleshooting.

There are no new driver or video updates for my PC.

Apparently I need an MPEG-2 decoder and I can't figure out where to find one. (Ran the utility program to find this out)

I thought PLUG-INS were FREE??!!?? It was recommended I get one.

I'm not sure where to go from here. I'm assuming ( ) that the workout CD is actually a DVD since I need to be looking at people using the product. It won't work in my CD player on the PC, either.

HELP!!??!!

 

Panda--This site offers a exellent bunch of Codecs
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm

 

Thanks, Jim. Now I get to be the dummy that my COMPUTER EXPERIENCE shows.....HUH???

I downloaded the standard pack. I rebooted. I still can't play the DVD. Am I supposed to tweak the packet? For some reason my mind is blank on this. I'm usually pretty good with that stuff.

 

Panda--Is this the only DVD you cannot play?
If so, it could be corrupt.
Are you using AutoPlay or opening WMP and then File|Open?
Does that message give any hint what decoder it is looking for?
Try to use a different player, such as Media Player Classic (free)
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=82303
If that does not work, perhaps ask AbLounger.

 

When I insert the DVD the option list comes up (Play on WMP, Open file, Don't do anything...). I then choose to open with WMP. This message comes up after it loads:

Windows Media Player cannot play the DVD because a compatible DVD decoder is not installed on your computer.

By clicking the Web Help in the box I read all the options to see why a DVD won't work with WMP. After downloading the Video Decoder Checklist Utility and going through the checklist I then downloaded the Codec Packet that you recommended and it still wouldn't play. I did see that the WMP Classic came with the package. I was able to play the DVD with that! I still don't understand why I couldn't play it with the version 11. Like I mentioned before, I can play my movies, but what really happens there is that a program called PCFriendly comes up and plays the movie for me. I think they are imbedded in the DVDs. I didn't try a different DVD, though.

Anyway, I can now open the ABLounger DVD and watch it on my PC.

As I asked before, do I need to tweak that codec package so it will work for me?

Thanks for all your help!

 

Panda--

I do not think you can tweak the codec package, but you might try tweaking WMP. Do not ask me how!
I know nothing about PCFriendly. It seems it is now renamed and updated
http://www.pcfriendly.com/
Perhaps you have not been playing movie DVD's in WMP after you installed PCFriendly but rather in PCFriendly?? And the AbLounger DVD does not play friendly with PCFriendly.

I do not understand that. Are you choosing Play on WMP or Open File? But since you can see that one DVD using Media Classic Player and see your other movie DVD's using PCFriendly, perhaps the issue is not worth pursuing further.

 

LOL. Sorry to have confused you. I guess you could say, when I pop the DVD in, the Autoplay comes up and says....what do you want to do now?... and I choose to open the file with WMP. I've also tried to play the file straight from WMP, but still got that message.

You are right. I can play the DVD and that is all that matters at this point.

Thanks again for all your help.

 

Panda--You are welcome.
BTW--There is a program call G-Spot that supposedly tells you what codec you need to play an .avi file. I never used it.
http://www.headbands.com/gspot/