# Help, Please: Playing DVDs on New OS **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-please-playing-dvds-on-new-os/320392 "2005-09-06T19:36:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-please-playing-dvds-on-new-os/320392/1 "2005-09-06T19:36:37Z")
I recently upgraded from Win ME to Win XP Pro. Before, on ME, I could play DVDs just fine. Now, with XP, it won’t work. Apparently, I need something called a “codex.” The same thing happened to a friend who went from 'Win 98 to 2000. Could someone please tell me… 1. What exactly is a “codex”? 2. Why do I need one now, but didn’t need one before? 3. How or where do I (and my friend with Win 2000) get a codex. 4. How do I install it? (Both of us are using notebooks.) Any help will be greatly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-please-playing-dvds-on-new-os/320392/2 "2005-09-07T00:59:39Z")
Oh, and I forgot to say: any help would be greatly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-please-playing-dvds-on-new-os/320392/3 "2005-09-07T01:09:04Z")
That’s “codecs”. If you want to play DVDs, get “Media Player Classic”. It’ll do the job. [link](http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=82303&package_id=84358) ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-please-playing-dvds-on-new-os/320392/4 "2005-09-07T01:59:06Z")
Many thanks, Blue Sky. I installed that program, but it’s jerky, no smooth video. I just want to use my old DVD player program–it worked fine. Is it possible to to that? Why did it work with ME but not with XP? ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-please-playing-dvds-on-new-os/320392/5 "2005-09-07T02:07:16Z")
Then please tell us the name of your old program. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-please-playing-dvds-on-new-os/320392/6 "2005-09-07T02:10:34Z")
That’s odd. It’s always played smooth as silk. You may want to check at the Microsoft website and upgrade your media player. WMP 10.0 will play DVDs. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-please-playing-dvds-on-new-os/320392/7 "2005-09-07T20:16:47Z")
> [@Scott Plaid](#): > > Then please tell us the name of your old program. It’s WinDVD ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-please-playing-dvds-on-new-os/320392/8 "2005-09-08T05:51:18Z")
Media Player Classic has always worked fine for me. And, as far as i know, there’s no reason that WinDVD shouldn’t work with XP either. You might want to look into whether you have some other video issue. For example, do non-DVD video files (avi, mpeg1, mov, etc.) play OK? Or is all video on your computer a problem? It’s odd that WinDVD is not working, because commercial DVD-playing software like WinDVD generally comes complete with the mpeg2 decoder that is required to play DVD files. It might be worth uninstalling and reinstalling WinDVD.