Do I really have to buy additional software to play DVDs on my PC?

October 31, 2004 9:22 AM

Forgive me if I should know this already. but do I really have to buy additional software to play DVDs on my PC? I mean, I bought this combo (CD-RW/DVD) drive so I could burn CDs and play DVDs, but Win XP has no native DVD codec. So is InterVideo's WinDVD or PowerDVD the only options? And does this all come back to the controversy over DeCSS?
posted by grabbingsand to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

That's weird that you bought it and it didn't come with software. Unless you bought it used or something. But yes, you need to get something extra to play DVDs. WinDVD and PowerDVD are options, but once you have the decoder installed, you can watch it with, say, Windows Media Player.
posted by angry modem at 9:26 AM on October 31, 2004

I bought it from NewEgg as an OEM, not a retail, so it was just the device with no cables, manuals or software.
posted by grabbingsand at 9:29 AM on October 31, 2004

If you want something free, try VLC.
posted by kindall at 9:33 AM on October 31, 2004

None of the DVD drivers I've bought came with a player. However, almost every motherboard did. Hardware companies are crazy.
posted by reynaert at 10:25 AM on October 31, 2004

Yes, it all comes back to DeCSS. Assume any free player that can play DVD's is using some form of it (or something else that works the same.)
posted by smackfu at 11:22 AM on October 31, 2004

I second VLC, it's great.
posted by frenetic at 1:04 PM on October 31, 2004

Media Player Classic (available on SourceForge) plays DVD's natively.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:20 PM on October 31, 2004

I tried a lot of them...so far am happiest with VLC.
posted by rushmc at 4:23 PM on October 31, 2004