DVD me.

August 13, 2007 4:18 PM

When playing a DVD on my boss's computer, we get sound but no image in both WinDVD and Windows Media Player.

Although the computer's DVD player used to work fine, now there's no image when playing DVDs. We tried both Region 1 and Region 2 DVDs and had the same issue with each; the only thing that worked was a burned DVD with the region coding stripped out of the file.

On the Region 2 we get no image at all, only sound.
On the Region 1 DVD, we get image for the FBI warning, but not the menus or the movie, just the sound.

On one occasion she put the DVD in and it randomly worked perfectly, but we've never been able to replicate that feat.

I tried installing Windows Media Player 11, but that had no effect. Now I'm out of things to try. Any ideas?

posted by BackwardsCity to computers & internet (11 comments total)

VLC Media Player. Get it now, and never use anything else again. Really, it plays everything, even .bin files and .flv's.
posted by tehloki at 4:27 PM on August 13, 2007

VLC, definately. If that doesn't work then try Media Player Classic (download here).

If neither of those work, then it's probably a Windows driver and/or hardware problem. If that's the case, it would help to post more information about the hardware (make, model, etc).
posted by Gary at 4:41 PM on August 13, 2007

MPlayer is the business, too (if the menus and so forth initially appear in the wrong language with this version, select English here and click Save).
posted by flabdablet at 5:12 PM on August 13, 2007

You could also install the K-Lite codec pack, which has virtually every video codec known to man. It's safe to download and install, even if it was developed for viewing p2p files. If you can't play it with the k-lite pack and/or VLC player, it can't be played.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:13 PM on August 13, 2007

I third tehloki's suggestion. VLC's never let me down yet.
posted by Liosliath at 5:47 PM on August 13, 2007

Your boss's video card and/or drivers suck. Get new ones.
posted by jeffamaphone at 6:36 PM on August 13, 2007

This almost always has to do with video driver problems. Player programs like VLC (which I really hate, by the way) are trying to use exactly the same hardware capabilities as WinDVD is, and if WinDVD stopped working, those other programs probably won't work either.

VLC is free, so there's little cost in trying it, but it probably won't help you.

If you recently did a driver upgrade, then it's time to retreat to a checkpoint before that, and revert to the previous driver version.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 7:22 PM on August 13, 2007

[a few comments rmoved, save the windows hate for a question that is about hating windows]
posted by jessamyn at 5:39 AM on August 14, 2007

Do you guys happen to use NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing for supporting the laptop? Look for a little globe in the tray. If so, right click on it and disable it before playing the DVD.
posted by Nerro at 6:38 AM on August 14, 2007

Fine. I've used VLC on many occasions where WinDVD (and PowerDVD) failed.
posted by Liosliath at 7:09 AM on August 14, 2007

I have to add here that while people say VLC (which is great, by the way) plays "everything", they don't mean literally everything.

It won't, for instance, play my DVD of Sweet Smell of Success on the Mac, nor my 2-disc Mr Show set (but I'll try them on Windows to be sure).
posted by macdara at 11:58 AM on August 14, 2007