Member Panel

I have two DVD-RW Drives in my computer. A NEC 2500A RW-DVD (shows as a DVD-RW in My Computer) and an LG GSA4166B (Shows as a DVD-RAM) drives. Under Properties they show as DVD/CD-ROM. I do not know if this matters but thought I would mention it.

Recently a new problem has crept up. Both Drives will not recognize a couple of Commercial DVD's I bought. This has happend with three so far.

The DVD's are playable in my livingroom DVD player but my computer does not recognize them. The computer drives recognize and play other commercial DVDs just fine just not these.

When I go into explorer, the drives show as empty. When first inserting the DVDs the drives do try to read them. They just do not show up as being in the drive at all.

I had planned on reformatting my hard drive anyway so that was my first step. I zeroed out the HDD using the Manufactuers tools and reinstalled Windows XP Home. I installed my DVD drives and programs and tried again. Same problem.

I am totally updated my windows XP Home with Service packs, security patches, etc.

They still won't play the movie DVDs. Since this first happened I have rented a couple movies and found that one of the three wasn't recognized.

I also uninstalled and reinstalled under device manager as suggested on another post. And I used one of the DVD cleaner disks with the brush just in case.

I am out of things to try. It is confusing that they work just fine in a stand alone DVD player but in the drives they are not recognized. I did a search on the web and in Microsoft, a few forums, and have not come up with a solution. Others have had a similar problem but the fix was something I already covered. Any help would be appreciated. Any clues?

Here are the HJT & SpySweeper logs as requested.

Hi FallenMonk,

My welcome to PCHF. Nice job on the research, this issue has come up before, and is usually related to the DVDs themselves, certain types of encryption, and copywrite protection software.

Did you notice who released the specific DVDs that you are unable to watch on your PC? Have you checked to make sure that your TV out is disabled? (Specifics available if needed.)

You logs are clean, however, I did notice that you are showing no Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, and no Firewall on your PC. I would get those installed immediately. If you would like information on excellent free programs, please read the article in my signature, PCHF Protecting Your PC.

Looking forward to your reply,

TTFN

LGW

Thanks LadyGreenwitch for the reply. I had wondered if it was some sort of copyright protection but I do not understand what you mean by encryption.

My computer is in my craft/sewing room and I like to watch DVDs while sewing. I was wondering if I installed an inexpensive ($16) DVD-Rom drive if that would make a difference since both drives are RW I use for backup and maybe the copyright stuff is aimed at RW drives. I wonder what people who have laptops they use to watch movies feel about this. I have a friend who bought a laptop instead of a portable DVD player with a simple DVD-ROM in it for this purpose. If so, it really makes me angry I cannot watch these movies on my computer.

The DVDs are from HBO. Seems funny they would put this kind of copyright stuff on it when you can watch the shows on-demand.

I am not using TV out. I use my old 21" CRT monitor. I do not have a TV out on this system. It is one I built about 4 years ago. It has simple on-board sound and an old GForce Video card. No real fancy stuff having to do with DVDs other than the drives. I just use it for web surfing, sewing and craft stuff, emails and watching DVDs both rented and purchased.

As for the Anti- programs, I hadn't really finished setting this puppy back up. I am now trying to get my router up and running. Can't seem to get the correct IP address. That will probably be another post at another time.

Thanks again.

Hey Fallen Monk,

Cool another seamstress (tailor?) and craft person, we have one or two here, including myself. Although, I haven't had time to do much of anything lately, LOL.

OK, back to work, LOL. What I meant by encryption was the programing that they used to protect the DVD. Perhaps not the best choice of words.

However, if you look at the actual information either on the DVD itself or on the jacket, you should be able to tell the name of the studio who distributed the movie. Blockbuster just rents them. Sony, for example, is notorious for their movies causing these kinds of problems on PC and Laptop DVD players.

OK, the TV out idea is a bust. I'm wondering what format those movies might be saved in.

What player do you use to watch DVDs? Have you tried a different player, starting it first, and then starting the DVD?

Looking forward to your reply,

TTFN

LGW

I use Media Player Classic usually. Tried this fix as well by opening DVD in Nero. No DVD. Oh well.

I just read on the back of the box, "This Disc is Copy Protected and May be Played Only on Licensed Devices." Guess that means a DVD player in a computer isn't considered "Licensed"

Think I will start boycotting this type of DVD. I'm sure it will make no difference to the HBO and the others. (Insert some very foul language here) Consider this one closed but not fixed.

Thank you for your effort.

Hi Fallen Monk,

I was afraid of that, it is possible that there will be a legal fix for this in the future, but I am unaware of any at this time.

We refer to the unfixed finalized threads as Resolved, for future reference.

The more people who refuse to play this game the less revenue thay will have, and eventually it will make a difference, so tell your friends and family.

Sorry we were not able to work this out for you, I hope that we will see you around the forums.

TTFN

LGW

Marked as Resolved.

I just wanted to update this post for others having a similar problem. It was not copyright protection as I feared.

After reading about the BTC brand of DVD drives, I decided to purchase one. From what I understand the BTC brand, while poor quality for writing, is very good at reading very scratched and damaged DVDs. So I replaced one drive of my writers with a cheapo BTC DVD-ROM.

After installing the drive, I tested the BTC drive with a working DVD movie. Then I put in one of the commercial DVDs I was having problems with. I was able to get it to show in Explorer and even though the drive kept trying to read it and was very slow, it was an improvement. At least something was happening. It took a bit of ejecting the disk, and restarting the computer but now everything is up and running fine. I am delighted. I do not know if it was the uninstalling of the drives or what; I am just happy things are working and I do not have to worry about DVDs that won’t play in my computer.


And just a note, to get Windows to re-install the drivers I uninstalled both drives. Then I hooked up each drive one at a time. This was not something I did when re-installing Windows XP the first time. I do not know if this was the fix or if the BTC drive was the fix but something worked. Hope this helps anyone having problems. The drive came from Geeks.com and cost $16 plus shipping.