DVDs not playing on DELL computers

Question

DVDs not playing on DELL computers

I am having a problem with a client who cannot play DVD's that I have burned using DVD SP
A couple months ago I sent out 50 copies of a 3 disc set to a seperate client with no issues, I always test my DVD's and with this particular client I tested the DVD on my MAC, LAPTOP and PC with good results but when the client recieved the DVD they cannot play the disc.

I am told they are running a Dell D430 Laptop with an external DVD ROM drive
and a Dell Optiplex 320 with a DVDROM

has anyone else noticed this issue? any advice that I can give them? Unfortunately I am in Michigan and they are in New Jersey so going to their office and investigating first hand isnt really an easy option although I would love to do it just to figure out what the problem is.

thanks,

-jeremywearsvans

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.10), its super fast

Posted on Apr 15, 2008 9:15 AM

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Answer 1

APPLE27

Level 2

370 points

Apr 15, 2008 9:45 AM in response to jeremywearsvans

Obvious question...
have they played DVDs before on that computer?
not all computers ship with the proper codec to play DVDs, even if they come with a DVD drive. Strange but true!

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Answer 2

Apr 15, 2008 10:47 AM in response to jeremywearsvans

1) Make sure they actually have a DVD drive and not just a CD drive.

2) If they are using Windows XP, then they must have Service Pack 2 installed.

3) Make sure they are using something other than Windows Media Player to view the DVD. Windows Media Player is notorious for being buggy. Use Power DVD or some other player.

4) If the client insists there is something wrong with the disc, tell them to take the disc home and put it in their DVD player. If it plays fine on a cheap >$100 player but not in their computer, that should "prove" there is something wrong with their computer.

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Answer 3

APPLE27

Level 2

370 points

Apr 15, 2008 11:16 AM in response to Shawn Birmingham

I wouldn't call it a bug when something doesn't ship with a codec... It just doesn't come with a codec to play DVDs in XP. That's an extra purchase, and there are many choices such as Nvidia's (I think the name is DVD Decoder or something) or other ones.

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Answer 4

Apr 16, 2008 8:30 AM in response to Shawn Birmingham

I think the whole situtation *****. I had them make sure they were playing in a dvd drive, made sure they were upgraded to sp2, all of the basics before I posted this. I found they were able to play it using AVS so that helped me out a great deal.
Now they want to know if their clients are going to have an issue playing the DVD's
Im sending the video out for replication so it shouldnt be a problem but it's still a pain in my *** that I dont need.

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Answer 5

APPLE27

Level 2

370 points

Apr 16, 2008 11:34 AM in response to jeremywearsvans

I've never owned a DELL cuz I buildmy own PCs, so perhaps they don't put DVD decoders for WMP on their builds. AVS will play the DVD because the decoder is inherent in that software. If your clients have Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate, DVD capabilities are built in. However, if they have a lower Vista version or XP or something... there's no decoder included...

Several newer options for Vista exist.

Here are XP options:

CinePlayer DVD Decoder for Windows XP
Cyberlink PowerDVD SE for Windows XP
DVD XPack for Windows XP
NVIDIA DVD Decoder

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Answer 6

Apr 16, 2008 11:41 AM in response to jeremywearsvans

I have had many problems with DSP created DVD's on PC based machines. The issue that I have come across the most is that the corporate world likes Windows media player. Windows media player is NOT an mpg2 specific decoder. Have your clients us PowerDVD, usually installed and ships with windows machines. Or download VLC player which is a free player download and works very well. And just as a precaution use DVD-R not DVD+R

Cheers...

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