Upgrade to Vista: DVD Codec Not Free?

hey guys,

i bought a z61t earlier this year that came with XP Pro preinstalled, and then received the free upgrade to Vista.

recently, I tried to play a DVD movie (The Departed, if you're interested) and it didn't have the proper codec. i also tried with a different DVD (Deja Vu), and got the same message.

the error in windows media player says: "Windows Media Player cannot play the DVD because a compatible DVD decoder is not installed on your computer"

when i try using VLC, the menu loads ok, but when i play the video, it's just a black screen. i checked for updated drivers, but the only stuff for InterVideo WinDVD player is for Windows XP.

did anybody else have a similar problem?

 

You might get more replies in the Windows Software board than here. However, a lot of people visit this board too, so who knows...

Good luck, I don't use InterVideo.

 

Do you have Vista Business? And did you do a clean install of your copy of Vista Business? Then you don't have an MPEG2 codec.

For whatever reason, Microsoft does not include the MPEG2 codec with Vista business. Lenovo bundles their own MPEG2 codec with Vista business. But did you did a clean install, then that's gone.

Your only option would to either to purchase a standalone dvd player such as PowerDVD or WinDVD, or try one of those free DVD player programs such as VLC player.

 

This may be relevant.

When I bought my Z61t and tried playing a DVD under Linux, VLC konked out offering similar mumblage about missing codecs or something. After about an hour of Googling around, I discovered that the playback region on my DVD-R drive had not been set. Using the Linux program 'regionset', I set the region to USA, and the DVDs started playing.

You can change your DVD drive's playback region in Windoze. Do the following:

• Open "My Computer". Right-click on your DVD drive's icon; select Properties...
• Click the Hardware tab.
• Select your DVD drive in the list. Click Properties.
• Click the DVD Region tab.
• Select your geopolitical region of residence from the excessively long list. Click OK.

Then try playing a DVD again.

Schwab

 

WMP does not play DVDs by default. I personally use VideoLAN which is free and works well.

 

ZaZ, and this works with the Vista Business OS as well? I ordered my T61 with Vista Business, and I'd like to be able to watch DVD's on my laptop...

 

Yes, VideoLAN works on Vista.

 

VLC

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html

 

Windows Vista Business does not have MPEG-2 codec installed by default. You have to buy it either from Microsoft or use another program (commercially or free).

Vista Home Premium and Ultimate have this codec installed for WMP by default.

 

wow thanks for all the help.

dang, that Vista Business thing is really lame. i'm not one to hate on Microsoft just to jump on the bandwagon, but not having a tier system of different versions of Vista with successively increasing capabilities has just no excuse. It's lame that Vista Business and Home Premium each have features that the other lacks.

anyways, thanks for all the help. I was running an older version of VLC (looks like they added Vista Support in 0.8.6c), so i got everything to work after downloading the newest version.

 

That was why they had the Ultimate Edition. Marketing it as the "Most preferred edition of Windows".

Windows Vienna might have even more editions next, and Microsoft might claim that the "different product editions are for different customer markets".

Probably 12 Editions, Starter, Home fundamentals, Home Basic, Home Digital Media, Home Premium, Home Server Premium, Home Business (Home Edition for 1 person who is running a business.), Business, Business Entertainment, Enterprise, Enterprise Media, and Ultimate Super Edition. Oh, and the N editons with 64 and 32bit OS.....

 

And "Home Goofy Edition", the edition where google desktop search installed....

 

Try the following. Don't know if this will work or not.

1) Install the old DVD player (which won't really work under vista) from the c:\SWTOOLS directory of the factory Z61t image.

2) Run system update, see if it installs the upgrade

If that fails, I have another "solution" for you, but it will be difficult to implement, because much of the legal wrangling behind it is still in progress....

This will involve a painful call to the Lenovo help center, because they are not well briefed on this...like I said, very recent legal developments...

Call help center, and ask for the current version of Intervideo WinDVD that came with your Z61t, and where can it be downloaded from.

Don't get upset with the rep. He/she will be ill prepared for this. But you must get the current code. Be polite, and persistent.

The license for WinDVD you had follows the system, not the OS. Therefore, you should be entitled to whatever the most current version Lenovo has rights to.