how to play .dat file

[coolremo]

I tried playing a .dat file with powerdvd, and the video and sound is all scrambled. What is the problem?

[docstevev]

I've found PowerDVD a bit temperamental for playing out of the ordinary files (ie anything other than IFO, BUP etc.). My own preference is WinDVD, which seems to play just about anything - on my system, anyway.

Obviously, you don't want to shell out for more playback software, so have you tried using Windows Media Player?