codecs aren't my specialty. I've never had any issues with all my pcs. I've always used Windvd,but it usually came bundled with my pc or I'd pay $5 for an OEM disc on ebay that would work great.. Anything above Windvd4 is an awesome playing software.
I've got a couple powerdvd oem discs laying around. I never even tried them. There should be some good free ones out there.
I think this one comes down to the simple "no dvd player is installed" error that media player will throw out if a dvd is inserted with autoplay on. Lots and lots of free dvd playing apps out there.. it's unusual TBH to come across a machine that doesn't have nero showtime or some other dvd playing software on it, even if it has never had more than a cd burner fitted in the past.
There will be no need for an actual device driver.. xp comes with all the ide drivers as standard.. quick test.. play an ordinary audio cd in it.
I built the computer myself so I purchased this DVD-RW drive seperately. It runs audio CD's fine. Windows media player basically IS just saying "There is no DVD player installed". I'll take a look at the links you provided Varnull. Thank you. I just find it odd that the Drive has the ability to read DVD's but failed to come with the software to do so.
