PC won't play DVD

[anonymez]

first of all, uninstall the old graphics card drivers, then go to the manufacturer's website & download the latest.

play the dvd in media player classic, right-click the video while playing, click 'filters', and list ALL codecs that show up

[TWISTER]

Anonymez,

While I was waiting for a reply, I got gutsy (stupid/impatient) and downloaded xp_codec_pack_1.3.0. The sound works now! Here are the codecs that show up in Filters when I right click the movie playing in MPC.

Default DirectSound Device
Video Renderer
Audio Switcher
AC3 Filter
DVD Navigator

I'm not sure how to go about deleting the old drivers. I found a lot of files named Driver. A couple of them had ATI stuff in them, which is what the old vid card was, but I'm hesitant to delete them. Is there a better way?

[anonymez]

you should uninstall all programs by going control panel-->add/remove programs

you should never ever download codec packs. seems the pack had ac3filter in it, which is what i was going to recommend after you gave me that list...

[TWISTER]

you should never ever download codec packs

Can you elaborate? Why not download codec packs?

[anonymez]

1. you don't know what's in them, could be anything including virus/adware/spyware

2. some are slapped together by people of questionable knowledge of codecs

3. the main reason, installing many unneccesary codecs may cause conflicts resulting in unplayable files (search the forum, you will see people who have installed codec packs, and are suddenly unable to play anything) a clean install usually ensues

4. never a good idea to install many codecs at once (my rule of thumb: reboot after you install)

5. you can rarely completely remove all codecs that came in a codec pack by conventional means

6. just avoid them, k?


here's my list of which codecs should be installed on a PC. nothing else other than these:

ffdshow - get it from http://www.aziendeassociate.it/cd.asp?dir=/ffdshow

nvidia purevideo codec (you can substitute windvd/powerdvd here) -for dvd's/mpeg-2 (i use dscaler instead, IMO it beats everything else)

real alternative - so you don't have to install 'realone player'

quicktime alternative - so you don't have to install quicktime

media player classic - extremely stable and fast media player. best player ever.

oggDS filter - directshow filter for ogm/ogg

windows media player 10 if you wish

after installing all those, and nothing else, your PC will be able to play just about everything under the sun

[TWISTER]

Thanks for the info.

If I uninstall the codec pack, will it delete the AC3 filter? I noticed there is an AC3 icon in Control Panel now. How would I go about getting the filter back?

[anonymez]

uninstall the pack, you will likely uninstall ac3filter. you can then get it by itself at http://www.free-codecs.com

[Chewy]

Anony,
Back a couple of years ago I read a how-to-guide on dedicated
video computers, it suggested trying different programs and codecs
and finding what worked best for your particular needs, then
wiping the computer and only installing those.
You seem to be saying much of the same thing.

[anonymez]

yup, its almost exactly what i had done

i can confirm these codecs do not conflict, will play anything and are stable. most of the decoding is done by ffdshow, probably my favourite DV program ever (can't forget MPC though).

lol many a format was done to get what was in my eyes this winning combination.

[TWISTER]

I noticed that real player alternative and quicktime alternative both have media player classic. Will one overwrite the other or does it matter if both are installed?

[anonymez]

it shouldn't matter, they both come with the same (latest) version, it doesn't need installation, so all they do is place the exe file in c:\program files\media player classic

[TWISTER]

Went to Add or Remove Programs > ATI Display Driver > Change/Remove and got the following message.

"Unable to uninstall older or non-ATI display drivers."

Also, uninstalled the XP codec pack but the AC3 filter utility icon is still in control panel. AC3 filter v1.01a copyright 2002-2004 by Alexander Vigovsky.
Should I keep this or download the one you suggested?

Sorry for all the newbie questions. Iam what Iam. Hopefully, others are learning from them, too. Thanks again for the great help!

Concerning ffdshow, do I download all the files or just the latest one?

[anonymez]

see what i mean by codec packs not completely uninstalling?

in this case, you can leave ac3filter installed, its harmless & will decode ac3 audio just fine (i msyelf haven't installed it, i let ffdshow do ac3 decoding).

as for ffdshow, get only 1 file, the latest (at the bottom of the list)

as for the ati drivers, go to http://www.ati.com , and click on whichever links lead you to get the latest drivers. look for the 'catalyst uninstall utility' on the driver download page, download & run it