www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Just got a PM to say the DVD player is now working, but I would like to know what was done to get it working so as to be of help to others.
Then he is still having some problems but no details:

I have noticed that media player will play some dvds but not others

Are the DVDs recorded at source, are they films that you have bought?
Or are the DVDs ones that you have burned yourself? If so, did you 'finalise' them?
Also if so, are they burned on the computer or on a DVD recorder?

Without browsing past posts, which codec pack did you install?

This could get my post count up to 10 for this months comp.

dave

Its the ** dvd install your own kitchen that i bought a while back and a couple of other dvds from new . I installed the standard cde pack.

Do you get any error message or does the DVD just not start?
ALSO, the ones that do play, do they start in autorun and the player just opens and they play?

dave

No error message just picture of the dvd on the window media screen that usually comes on then you just press play, but the screen is frozen and will not play,the ones that play come up on the window media screen and i just press play.Just another thing the volume is crap when playing the dvds. k-lite codecs standard pack downloaded

Do the DVDs play in an other machine?

If so the 'dud' machine has laser issues - usually not fixable (cost effectively)

Yes they play on my dvd player but not on laptop.

Sound on a laptop is not great anyway but try watching and listen through a pair of stereo headphones to see if it sounds better.

As for some playing and others not it could be the laser or a mucky laser projector lens.

I assume that when you try them on the laptop, the mains supply is plugged in, or at least the battery is fully charged.

PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW

How did you get the DVD player to work?

If it was a computer 'expert', take it back to him and tell him it ain't working right.

If you did it yourself, what did you do?

dave

How did i get it to work,i just put the dvd disc in the laptop then i noticed window media player came up so i downloaded the klite codecs again and as i have said some dvds play some dont maybe i need some extra codecs thanks anyway for your help

No, you do not need any extra codecs if you have the K-Lite Standard pack. It covers just about every DVD that you will come across.

There is either something wrong with the disks, where a standard DVD player will still be able to read them, but the player on your laptop is unable to read.
Or there is something still not right with your lappy DVD player.

If the lappy DVD player is more than a couple of years old then laser failure (in the form weakening) is the usual issue. You'll find you can read 'some' disks (try reading a self-recorded DVD written at the SLOWEST speed - it'll probably be ok) but not others - those written at highest speed/'pressed' copies for example.

Whilst this is fixable (you can get replacement laser head assemblies from some sources) the alignment procedure is waaaay beyond most peoples capabilities. A replacement DVD player will be the best option - consider upgrading it to a blue-ray too.