Windows Media Player no visual on DVDs

[Berenke]

Hi folks,

 

Im a muggle when it comes to technical stuff and need some help.

 

I have a Toshiba Laptop, Intel Celeron M processor, 1.50Ghz, 444MB of Ram with a DVD drive. Ive had it for about a year, about two months ago I started having problems with Media Player. It no longer shows any visuals on DVDs though I can hear the audion and it show the disc infor (name etc) as if it was playing normally.

 

Ive been throught the Windows Help Guide and made sure that the security is set at medium to allow codec downloads but that doesnt seem to help.

 

If anyones got any advice it would be appreciated.

[danzil]

try download klite codec pack from here

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm

then install that and try then..

do you have any other dvd software install, maybe worth install power dvd you can get a trial of this, to see if it will then play.

have you run anti virus scans, have you removed any other software lately, have you tried a system restore back to before this happened.

regards

danzil

[Berenke]

Thanks Danzil. I downloaded the codec pack and it seems to have some effect. Windows Media Player is still not working, but its allowed Media Player Classic which is also on my system to start working, so I can now watch DVDs (hoorah!!).

 

Another problem which I think might be related. My system has stopped playing the only game I have on there (Rome:Total War) saying that it cannot detect Direct X on my system. I know its on there as I downloaded directx 9 from the prompt when the game was originally installed. I thought about doing a system refresh but the furthest point it will let me go is only a few weeks back and this problem has been ongoing for longer than that.

 

As for anti-virus scans I have norton and also xsoftspy which I scan with daily. I havent removed anything recently.

 

Any further technical tips would be well appreciated.

[danzil]

hi

have you tried re-installing the game and also direct x 9c

regards

danzil

[Berenke]

Hi Danzil, yup Ive reinstalled both, but the game still says its unable to detect direct x. A new update on windows media player by the way, now when I try to play a dvd on it, it says it has experienced an error and has to close. Very odd, Media player classic still working great though.

 

Tried installing another game just to see if it was the Rome game itself or some system prob, Im getting the same message, unable to detect directx.

 

thanks,

 

Berenke

[TechAdvance]

go to here http://www.gamesforwindows.com/en-US/AboutGFW/Pages/DirectX10.aspx

Download the latest Direct X install & restart

 

i assume your running your laptop on full power as any other mode will stop things working

Try that and post back if further problems

[danzil]

click on start>run type in dxdiag, do you receive an error message if so what is it....if no error what version is it saying you are using at present,,,what graphics card do you have also.

regards

danzil

[Berenke]

Hi folks, thanks for the tips, Im pretty useless at this stuff. Anyways, did the dxdiag as suggested danzil and it didnt come up with any error messages. Im afraid I dont know how to tell what graphic card Im using (told you I was thick! :O) ).

 

Ive reinstalled the latest directx but am still getting the error message when I try t run the games.

 

...and finally just to show just how thick I am, what do you mean when you say run on full power Tech?

 

I appreciate all the advice folks, many thanks

[danzil]

could try this.download direct x eradicator from http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Secure-cleaning/DirectX-Eradicator.shtml this will remove direct x back to 8.1..

then re-install direct x 9.c or as "tech advance" linked direct x 10.

give that a quick try.

download everest from http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html this tells you the spec of your system,look for your display adaptor, post me the make and model and i will post a link to the latest driver.

regards

danzil

[TechAdvance]

On a laptop you have different power saving modes if you are running power straight from the wall plug then it should be in FULL power setting to check this go to START - SETTINGS - CONTROL PANEL - POWER OPTIONS here you will find the power options

 

These are useful when you are out and about and want to save battery life.

[danzil]

what did dxdiag say did it laod,

try this installing power dvd trial, http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/trials_1_ENU.html

im interested to know if that will play dvd's,,if so retry windows media player....here is a link to re-install it http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/11/default.aspx

i would try that i found i uninstalled power dvd and then media player 11 would not player video only audio.

i re-installed power dvd then i suddenly had video too, a weird issue,

regards

danzil

[TechAdvance]

Many programs install different codecs and these are usually shared with other programs as a rule.

 

VLC media player will play anything and can be found here http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

 

When i had similar problems i installed the free codec pack as DANZIL mentioned and that solved my problems.

 

If your game still isnt working consider a fresh install or repair of windows

[danzil]

i agree with techadvance.

try popping your xp cd in,then goin g to run then type in sfc /scannow this will make sure all your system files are intact and correct

try this as well.if you dont need medcia player 10 or 11 then use classic,and or vlc media player which is awesome,

if you need media player post back..

seems strange,..really hard to diagnose over the internet....as i hope you appreciatte.

regards

danzil