No DVD Decoder installed on computer

I have recently reinstalled the OS on my Dell XPS M1210 and now i can't play a DVD. The error message, in Windows Media Player, says "Windows Media player cannot play the DVD because a compatible DVD Decoder is not installed on your computer." The error message in the Dell Media Center is very similar. I have a driver and Utilities disk that i have installed. Before i reinstalled my OS the DVD Player worked fine.


Thanks in Advance.

 

You can go to Dell's website and download and install the original DVD playing software for your computer. This will install the DVD codecs for you. Microsoft can't include the DVD codecs in the default XP because of copyright laws.

 

This worked for me:

Linkage

K-Lite codec pack is what it's called, I believe. Worked perfectly for me though I still ended up not using MCE's DVD player because the controls are abysmal.

 

I don't recommend the Codec Pack because it installs a whole bunch of crap you don't need. I'd use FFDShow.

 

The codec pack installer has check boxes, so it only installs what you want it to. I run it everytime I format XP, becuase silly MS doesn't include .ogg decoders.

 

I believe Video LAN includes the codec for DVD as well

 

There's also the CCCP (Combined Community Codec Pack), though I don't believe that has DVD codecs. It still has a bunch of other codecs that are nice though. Another alternative would be to install WMP11 as it has DVD codecs built in.