The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    dvd playback problems in vista

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by platinum717, Jul 9, 2007.

  1. platinum717

    platinum717 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    71
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I cant seem to get dvds to play on my t61 that I did a clean vista business install on, they wont even play through VLC player...any suggestions?
     
    platinum717, Jul 9, 2007
    #1
  2. furrycute

    furrycute Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    95
    Messages:
    682
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Vista Business does not come with any preinstalled MPEG2 codec. You have to purchase it separately from Microsoft.

    Lenovo bundles its own MPEG2 codec with its install of Vista Business. But since you wiped Lenovo's install, you lost that Lenovo installed MPEG2 codec.
     
    furrycute, Jul 9, 2007
    #2
  3. espo412

    espo412 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    2
    Messages:
    46
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    If that is true that is one of the dumbest moves Microsoft can make. One of the great advantages of windows over other OS's (especially linux) was that you could count on it having everything you needed out of the box for most practical purposes. I believe an MPEG2 codec is fairly basic nowadays. I think it would be really funny if someone made a powerpoint with embedded video and found that it didn't work during the presentation.

    Anyways, I thought that VLC didn't require any external codecs to play video, which would mean it's not a codec problem, or am I wrong about VLC?
     
    espo412, Jul 9, 2007
    #3
  4. GridGI

    GridGI Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    67
    Messages:
    129
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    DVD Playback Options for Windows

    If you are running the Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, or Windows XP operating system on your computer, you might need to install a compatible DVD decoder (also known as a MPEG-2 decoder) before continuing with the following activities.
    Playing a DVD
    Playing a recorded TV show
    Playing video files that were encoded with the MPEG-2 codec (.mpeg, .mpg, and some .avi files)
    To purchase a compatible DVD decoder, visit Plug-ins for Windows Media Player.
     
    GridGI, Jul 9, 2007
    #4
  5. platinum717

    platinum717 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    71
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I downloaded a trial copy of powerdvd and used it to view the dvd but its so grainy looks more like a VHS than a dvd, would this be cleared up if i were to get that mpeg2 codec for windows?
     
    platinum717, Jul 9, 2007
    #5
  6. stallen

    stallen Thinkpad Woody

    Reputations:
    479
    Messages:
    1,737
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    55
    PowerDVD has an MPEG-2 codec. That is why it is working now. That is probably the quality you are going to get on your matte screen. (and maybe samsung).

    Also, don't let anyone talk you into spending money on something you can get for free... http://www.pcstats.com/ANletterview.cfm?ANletterID=301

    There are lot's of free mpeg-2 codecs. They are all about the same.
     
    stallen, Jul 9, 2007
    #6
  7. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    4,982
    Messages:
    34,001
    Likes Received:
    1,415
    Trophy Points:
    581
    A lot of older DVDs are no better than VHS as they didn't do much to clean up the first DVDs before transferring them. You shouldn't have any issues playing DVDs with VLC. Perhaps there is an issue elsewhere. May update the GPU drivers.
     
    ZaZ, Jul 10, 2007
    #7