cant play Region 3 DVDs :(

[colly]

hi,

i bought a Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop recently and it has a samsung cdrw/dvd combo drive. it runs on XP.

i bought it in Europe so it's original region code was Region 2. however i'm living in korea now and the DVDs here are Region 3.

So, i went into system and Device Manager and changed the region setting to Region 3, thinkin that this would solve my problem.

However when i try to play a DVD InterWin DVD just hangs and nothing happens. I've also tried to play it with Media Player and it just says that it is an "Unknown DVD". I've tried different DVDs and always have the same problem.

Does anyone have any idea what is wrong and how i can fix the problem?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I spent a lot of money on both the laptop itself and the DVDs so i am anxious to be able to use them!!

colly

[pam123]

Okay, here's the info you need.
Region free works for lots of people but it can also kill your drive. Take your chances.
http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/articles/region.html

[colly]

hi,

i made sure that the windows and windvd region settings were the same. but still no joy on viewing DVDs.

how do i know if i have a software/hardware player and if it is RPC 1 or 2?

[mike breck]

Did you use the CDVDInfo program to establish whether your DVD is Region Free or Not.

InterWin DVD is a probably a software player (you're sure it's not InterVideo WinDVD).

Look under All Software Players for a suitable program.

http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/articles/region_software.html

The one you use may depend on whether your DVD drive is Region Free or not.

WinDVD has it's own section.

[pam123]

Agreeing with Mike.
Tell us what you did.

[colly]

ah!

forgot to mention the Intervideo bit when i said WinDVD.

but its the strangest thing. it knida works, sort of, now.

if i start intervideo windvd with the disc in, it wont play it. but it no longer freezes. however if i eject the disc and put it back in again the dvd plays!! dunno how, but it does!

but.......its a bit jumpy in playback. both sound and picture. i've tried it with metallica's "st anger" dvd and the lord of the rings, both did the skipping thing.

it must be the player or software problem because its a 2.2GHz laptop with 512MB RAM, so that shoud handle playing a DVD with both arms tied behind its back and both eyes closed!

but at least things are moving in the right direction!.

it's a rpc 2 player, so that means its region locked, doesnt it?

[pam123]

rpc 2.
Yes it's region locked and it involves the decoder as well as the driver.
Have you tried the DVD genie ?
It's here :http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/dvdgenie.html
read very carefully before using.

[colly]

hi!

just wanna let you know that my DVD viewing problem is now solved.

even though the region in both device manager and Intervideo WinDVD were already set to region 3 i went ahead and installed DVD Genie and got it to force the region change.

then i inserted a dvd and ran windvd, however the dvd still wouldnt play. so, dunno why, probably just for the craic of it, i decided to eject the cd and put it back in again........and lo and behold the bloody thing worked!!!

dunno why i had to eject it and reinsert it for it to play...but it worked.

Anyway, while i could now play region 3 DVDs the sound and video was a bit jumpy. So i went into the options in Intervideo WinDVD and turned off Hardware Acceleration........and BINGO!!! I can now view my DVDs with proper sound and picture AND the whole having to eject the cd and reinsert again problem has cleared itself up as well.

so all is right in the world again. i can now piss my neighbours off with my Metallica DVD! :p

so thank you all for all your help, it IS/WAS greatly appreciated!!

colly