# Playing DVD movies on a computer **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 29, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079 "2003-03-29T21:16:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChalkPit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/1 "2003-03-29T21:16:01Z")
My computer has (so it says on the front) a DVD/CD player, where I usually just put in games and audio CD’s. Can I play DVD movies on my computer ? I have borrowed a DVD movie but dont know how to get it to work. I have Windows Me. Ta ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/2 "2003-03-29T21:19:46Z")
Have you put the DVD into the drive? If the software is properly installed, that should be all you need to do. What happens when you put in the disk and close the door? ---
**Author:** ![ChalkPit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/3 "2003-03-29T21:27:15Z")
I have it set to ‘auto insert notification’, so my games usually start up when you close the door, but this DVD just sits there. What software do I need ? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/4 "2003-03-29T22:01:07Z")
You should find something like PowerDVD. But if you bought your computer with the DVD-Rom included then you should already have DVD playing software installed. Look for anything in your Start/Programs menu that may have the word DVD in it, like Cyberlink PowerDVD or something. Start it up and see what happens. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/5 "2003-03-29T22:07:46Z")
If you have Windows you probably have MS’ DVD player. Or perhaps WinDVD. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/6 "2003-03-30T02:06:07Z")
Assuming you have windows, have you loaded My Computer and double clicked on the drive? That’s what I would do and then ask if that didn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![mcbiggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@mcbiggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcbiggins)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/7 "2003-03-30T02:32:23Z")
Windows media player can play dvds, but microsoft decided they did want to hassle with the css crew and didn’t build in the proper codecs to decrypt and play your dvds. try running your media player and if it won’t let you play the dvd, you’ll need to download windvd or power dvd. once done, you can either use their program or media player to watch you dvds. ---
**Author:** ![ChalkPit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/8 "2003-03-30T07:08:34Z")
I tried the Media Player, and tried double clicking the drive with the DVD in (it just brings up various subfolders within the DVD) before posting here. I will investigate further. Tks for the help. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/9 "2003-03-30T17:20:55Z")
If you’re lucky, some dvds come with software to play them on the computer. I have seen a couple of dvds do that, I put it in & the software install screen came up. Did you read your computer manual on how to play dvds? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/10 "2003-03-30T17:40:18Z")
My computer (with XP) and 3 different DVD players on it still can’t play the special edition of “Memento”. Must have some sort of coding that the computer doesn’t like. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/11 "2003-03-30T17:46:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ChalkPit \* > **I tried the Media Player, and tried double clicking the drive with the DVD in (it just brings up various subfolders within the DVD) before posting here.** In Media Player, did you try the PLAY menu, where it has the ‘DVD, VCD or CD Audio’ option? If you don’t have this option, perhaps you need to upgrade Media Player. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/12 "2003-03-30T18:18:11Z")
Upgrade Media Player? Feh. Any version above 6.4 is a bloated disgrace. There are MPEG2 codecs that you can download to play DVD movies in Media Player, but Media Player never seems to get the aspect ratio quite right. My advice to the OP would be to download WinDVD or check to see if your DVD-ROM drive came with DVD player software. Even the cheap OEM drive I bought online came with PowerDVD. If your drive didn’t come with software or you lost it and don’t want to spend any more money, you could try the freeware [n.player](http://www.mpegx.com/video.asp?dcat=VideoPlayer&detail=1348), which plays tons of different kinds of audio and video files, including DVD movies. ---
**Author:** ![ChalkPit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/13 "2003-03-30T22:07:18Z")
I’m not sure what version of Media Player I have, but it’s at least 2 and half years old and I have never upgraded it, so there is no DVD option to select - just seems to cater for audio only. Anyhoo, I got my problem sorted by downloading the DVDcodecs and MaXimusDVD player from [winsite.com](http://winsite.com) . Works fine - so I’m sorted now. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/14 "2003-03-31T15:51:49Z")
"My computer (with XP) and 3 different DVD players on it still can’t play the special edition of “Memento”. " Maybe you got another region disk? In that case they won’t play it unless you get a region free player. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-dvd-movies-on-a-computer/165079/15 "2003-03-31T17:41:18Z")
**BobT** , the Special Edition of _Memento_ doesn’t play on some standalone DVD players, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t play on your PC. The overly elaborate (and confusing) menu system can cause some players to choke. My copy of PowerDVD will play it, but it doesn’t seem to really like the menus. Try playing it in a standalone DVD player, and if it doesn’t work there, you might want to see about replacing it.