WINDVD4 will not play copy-protected DVDs ...

[Florio]

I'd be very grateful for any assistance ...
I have had WINDVD4 installed on my PC for about 4 years, and have rarely used it seeing as I tend to use my normal DVD player and the TV for viewing films. However, WINDVD4 has always worked without problems.
Yesterday I tried to play a disc which is copy-protected, but the player refused to acknowledge the very presence of the DVD, and the computer kept telling me to insert a disc in the DVD drive.
Since I don't have a DVD burner, and was merely trying to play and watch the disc in question, surely WINDVD should have offered no resistance!!
I thought about uninstalling and then reinstalling the player, but the Control Panel will not allow this (I get a message that the interface is not supported, or something similar). In any case, the WINDVD4 program is part of the 'recovery disc' of my Acer computer, and so I probably wouldn't be able to reinstall it without having to reboot and reinstall the OS as well.
Does anyone know how I can get copy-protected DVD discs to play on my computer and/or how I can uninstall WINDVD4 so as to be able to reinstall it?
Florio

[heinz-oz]

I don't believe a re-installation would fix this issue. I'm also not certain that it is due to the disc being copy protected either. Maybe your disk has a different region code to the drive in your system? Why are you trying to play this one in your PC?

[sjj1805]

.......
Since I don't have a DVD burner, and was merely trying to play and watch the disc in question, surely WINDVD should have offered no resistance!!....

Probably a daft question but you would be surprised at some of the things people try to do with a computer.... you do have a DVD player in your computer don't you? You haven't tried to play a DVD disc in a CD drive by any chance. The discs are the same physical size and shape but they are not the same. A DVD player will play a CD but a CD player will not play a DVD.

As I said, probably a daft question!

[heinz-oz]

Hi Steve, because his PC came bundled with the WinDVD player, I presume that it has at least a DVD/CD-ROM combo. Then again, one never really knows...

[sjj1805]

Providing it didn't break at some time and he replaced it.
Come to think of it - that might be it, a broken DVD drive.
Perhaps the disc is faulty or just has a bit of dirt or a fingerprint on its surface.

[Florio]

Thanks for your suggestions ,Heinz and Steve. Yes, my computer came with a DVD/CD-ROM combo. I have never replaced either of these drives, and I do make sure that the DVD goes into the correct player.
The disc itself is very clean (brand new), and Region 2, the same as the player. I know the disc is not defective since I've watched it several times on the normal player.
As to why I am trying to play this disc on my computer... I just wanted to watch it 'close up'. Surely DVD players are installed on PCs precisely for this purpose
If you think of a way of getting the disc to play, please let me know.

[htchien]

If you haven't got your DVD combo drive replaced in the past 4 years, it's very possible the DVD combo drive is going to be defective (the laser power of the drive would get weaker year after year). Maybe you could try to find some other drive to see if you can play with WinDVD.

Hope this helps.