Windows 7 - Windows Media Player 11 won't play DVDs

Asked By Nick

24-Nov-08 07:48 AM

I've been having a problem with Windows Media Player 11 for a few months now
and I'm at a loss for figuring it out.

A few months ago, Windows Media Player decided to stop playing my DVDs.
Before this it had worked perfectly in both it and Windows Media Center.
The DVD drive works just fine as I'm able to read and write DVDs without a
problem.  I had pretty much stopped watching DVDs for a few months so I
can't link it to specifically one change that I've made to my computer, but
suffice it to say none of the new program instillations should have bothered
anything video related.

This is what it looks like when I try to watch a movie:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/NicholasJohn16/DVDPlayback.jpg

I downloaded and install VLC Media Player and I am able to watch movies
perfectly fine with it.  This leads me to believe that something has gone
wrong with the embedded DVD codec in Vista, but I can't figure out how to
find the problem or fix it.

Any suggestions?  Thank you for any assistance.

04-Dec-08 01:37 AM

Which version of Vista do you have?
What "MPEG filters" are listed under WMP's Help:About:Technical Support
Information menu tool?

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Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--

05-Jan-09 02:21 PM

I have the exact same issue. DVD video is just splotches of random
colors. I'm running WMP 11.0.6001.7000 and Vista Home Premium.

Any help would be appreciated. I also installed VLC player and it works
fine.

Here are the MPEG filters from my WMP system:

MPEG/DVD Filters
Type Name Binary Version
video Microsoft MPEG-2 Video Decoder msmpeg2vdec.dll 11.0.6001.7000
video Roxio Smart Encoder MPEG2VidCodec.dll 9.0.2.8
video Ligos D-10 Parser lmpgd10.ax 4.0.0.159
video Ligos MPEG Video Decoder lmpgvd.ax 4.0.0.159
video roxio DCFilters Mpeg I/II Decoder DCFilters9.dll 9.0.1.8
video Roxio Smart Decoder MPEG2VidCodec.dll 9.0.2.8
video Roxio MPEG2 Video Decoder MPEG2VidCodec.dll 9.0.2.8
video CBVA DMO wrapper filter cbva.dll 6.0.6001.18000
video Roxio MPEG2 Encoder MPEG2VidCodec.dll 9.0.2.8
video Intel Pull Mode MPEG2 Transcoder WLTranscoder.ax 1.6.396.0
video Sonic MPEG Video Decoder sonicdsmpeg.ax 1.1.3858.0
video Sonic MPEG-2 Video Decoder sonicm2vd.ax 1.0.197.60322
audio Microsoft MPEG-1/DD Audio Decoder msmpeg2adec.dll 11.0.6001.7000

audio Roxio Audio Decoder (DVD) RoxioDVDAudio.dll 9.0.2.8
audio Sonic MPEG Audio Decoder sonicdsmpeg.ax 1.1.3858.0
audio Ligos MPEG/AC-3/LPCM Audio Decoder lmpgac3.ax 4.0.0.159


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05-Jan-09 05:08 PM

Same here, same configuration as yours.  All I get is colored blocks.

Please let me/us know if you come up with a fix.  This is frustrating since
Vista Home Prem. is supposed to work -- and all Windows Updates are done....

About VLC, did you have to do any weird configuration to it to make it work?
I should give it a try.  Thanks.

EW

05-Jan-09 07:41 PM

No weird config for VLC, I just downloaded, installed and it works fine.
Doesn't have a lot of the bells and whistles from WMP though.


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05-Jan-09 09:43 PM

Why do you have all those filters installed?  For WMP to work right, you
only need the Microsoft filters.

What video card do you have with what driver version?

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See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--

07-Jan-09 07:51 PM

I have no clue why I have all those filters installed. I did not go out
and do it myself as I wouldn't know how to do it. I'm not an IT guy.

My video card is NVIDIA GE Force 7300 LE with driver version
7.15.11.6371 dated 9/17/2007. Tried to update driver and it says I have
the most up to date version.


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08-Jan-09 04:47 PM

To update my previous message, I have the EXACT nVidia and driver setup as
you, and can't play DVDs except for the colored, blocky, pixilated video.  I
did, however, install the latest VLC DVD player today, and it works great.
That in itself proves it's not a "video" problem.

It's probably a codecs problem, but how in hell does anyone know how to deal
with that!

EW

08-Jan-09 06:25 PM

It is definitely a codec problem, according to zachd you have to remove
all of the other MPEG filters other than microsoft.

I installed the Direct Show Filter Manager at
http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html. I cannot figure out how to change the
Merit properties on the unneeded filters to MERIT_DO_NOT_USE. It won't
let me save it after I change the merit properties.

Any help would be appreciated.


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08-Jan-09 10:09 PM

zachd - I installed DirectShow Filter Manager. I can see all the filters
installed. Do I just remove all of the ones other than these:

video Microsoft MPEG-2 Video Decoder msmpeg2vdec.dll 11.0.6001.7000
audio Microsoft MPEG-1/DD Audio Decoder msmpeg2adec.dll 11.0.6001.7000

Please advise

Thanks


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19-Jan-09 08:58 PM

Sounds like a pretty good plan so far.

--
Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
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