# Why Won't My New Laptop Play a DVD??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-my-new-laptop-play-a-dvd/198704 "2003-08-30T23:48:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-my-new-laptop-play-a-dvd/198704/1 "2003-08-30T23:48:49Z")
I want to play a DVD for my toddler…using my new laptop. It’s a Disney DVD, and I get “Interactual Player” which appears to be a Disney viewer. No matter what I try, I get an error saying the resolution is set too high (800x600, IIRC), but from what I see the resolution of the screen CANNOT be set any lower. What do I do to get the DVD to play? Why must it be such a hassle…can’t it detect and change the settings itself!!! If it matters, I am running Windows XP Home Edition. All info, tips, and suggestions appreciated. Thanks, - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-my-new-laptop-play-a-dvd/198704/2 "2003-08-31T00:46:30Z")
Jinx… I just noticed on my desktop that the lowest resolution I can get is 800 x 600. I always thought that I could set it lower if I wanted to, but apparently Windows XP doesn’t allow that. What about Windows 98 and 95? ---
**Author:** ![Giggle\_Gaggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@Giggle\_Gaggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giggle_Gaggle)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-my-new-laptop-play-a-dvd/198704/3 "2003-08-31T01:00:55Z")
You need not use the Interactual Player. Use the standard DVD player that shipped with your system. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-my-new-laptop-play-a-dvd/198704/4 "2003-08-31T01:06:17Z")
It’s a very bad/crap player if it must ask you to lower your resolution. See if your computer has an alternative player and use that. An even remotely decent player would stretch the playback into whatever res you are set at, or play the DVD in a window. I ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-my-new-laptop-play-a-dvd/198704/5 "2003-08-31T01:12:37Z")
Yeah, I thought it sounded odd that I’d have to make such an adjustment. I went on to try and play the DVD using Real One Player. (This must be the player that came with the laptop because I know I sure didn’t install it.) The DVD still won’t play. It wants me to download something so it can play, I guess? Is this some kind of initialization? (Or, registration?) My laptop isn’t on-line…I’m using the desktop PC at present online. Is this the only way I’ll be able to get Real One Player to play? And, is it a one-time deal, or will I always have to be online to run this player? Thanks, - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-my-new-laptop-play-a-dvd/198704/6 "2003-08-31T01:16:25Z")
Generic players bundled with DVDs tend not to be very flexible. As others have suggested it might be better to use an alternative high quality player like WinDVD. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-my-new-laptop-play-a-dvd/198704/7 "2003-08-31T01:31:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\*Generic players bundled with DVDs tend not to be very flexible. As others have suggested it might be better to use an alternative high quality player like WinDVD. \*\* I noticed that my Windows Media Player does not seem to recognize a DVD, although (oddly enough) the help files give instructions for playing a DVD. (Pull-down menu options and tabs don’t match what I see.) Anyway, I can apparently get updates to Windows Media Player. Is this the same thing as WinDVD? If not, how do get WinDVD? - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-my-new-laptop-play-a-dvd/198704/8 "2003-08-31T03:06:15Z")
Apparently, I discovered that Windows Media Player as well as Real One Player need a DVD decoder, such as WinDVD, apparently. This is ridiculous! Is there any way to download a decoder for free? - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-my-new-laptop-play-a-dvd/198704/9 "2003-08-31T03:19:30Z")
**Jinx** , it’s not so ridiculous-- You have to pay a licensing fee to include the MPEG4 codec with your software, so developers often leave it out to make their projects make more financial sense. Try installing the trial version of [PowerDVD](http://www.gocyberlink.com/english/download/dl_file_new.jsp?dl_id=1&ProdId=28). In previous versions, the codec remained operational after the trial expired. I like the free [Zoom Player](http://www.inmatrix.com/files/zoomplayer_download.shtml), but had to get the codec from PowerDVD before it would work. Also-- uninstall Interactual! Not only is it crap, but it’s spyware. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-my-new-laptop-play-a-dvd/198704/10 "2003-08-31T03:33:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jinx \* > \*\*I noticed that my Windows Media Player does not seem to recognize a DVD, although (oddly enough) the help files give instructions for playing a DVD. (Pull-down menu options and tabs don’t match what I see.) Anyway, I can apparently get updates to Windows Media Player. Is this the same thing as WinDVD? If not, how do get WinDVD? - Jinx \*\* See [DVD Support in Windows XP](http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/windowsxp/dvdplay.aspx). WinDVD is not bundled with windows and is a stand alone retail DVD player that is considered to be among the best available. It’s pretty fabulous. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-my-new-laptop-play-a-dvd/198704/11 "2003-08-31T09:54:33Z")
Both realone and Windows Media player will play DVDs _if_ your computer has a DVD codec installed (that will be the thing realone wanted to download) Installing WinDVD or PowerDVD installes that codec, so once you install either of those apps you can play DVDs in realone and windows media player. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-my-new-laptop-play-a-dvd/198704/12 "2003-08-31T14:30:20Z")
“It wants me to download something so it can play, I guess?” Yep, real player is like that . Maybe you can find a real dvd player at [download.com](http://download.com) for trial. ---
**Author:** ![Giggle\_Gaggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@Giggle\_Gaggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giggle_Gaggle)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-my-new-laptop-play-a-dvd/198704/13 "2003-08-31T21:39:25Z")
There are no free DVD players. Every DVD player installation needs to pay a licensing fee to DVD CCA, the DVD standards licensing body, so they need to extract at least the amount of the licensing fee from you. If you don’t have a DVD player already installed on your system, you’ll need to buy one. WinDVD and PowerDVD are popular and well-regarded.