Playing a Cathe DVD on computer-HELP!

[delicatesteph]

I can play some of Cathe's DVD's on the computer (I do this if the TV is being used by DH) but some won't work! I was trying to do Push Pull from the Body Blast series and it wont even show up in that drive in "my computer". GS Chest and Tri's work and several others. Maybe the DVD's that don't work aren't formatted or something?

I know there are some computer gurus around here!

Thanks for any help!

 

[MarieCLS]

I won't be able to help much at all but some of my DVDs will play perfectly in one player and not at all in another. The Body Blast and Intensity series were more tricky for mine. This might be because the technology SNM uses is more advanced than average? What type of DVD player/software do you have on your computer?

 

[delicatesteph]

Marie,

I'm glad to know I'm not alone!

I use Windows Media Player. You may be right on the advanced technology idea.

Hopefully someone can chime in and help us!

Thanks!

 

[MarieCLS]

Hi Steph,

Probably the only thing I could think of is check for WMP updates (or driver updates also) or perhaps browse Microsoft's help files. I have an HP and use the Media Center they included or sometimes on older systems there would be separate players, like InterVideo, that would work better. The problem with computers, in general, is that each one seems to be pickier about some issues than others.

Good luck!

 

[delicatesteph]

Hey Marie,

I checked for updates and low and behold there were three updates for Windows Media Player...downloaded them, rebooted and nothing. It was worth a try though! Thanks for the help! Maybe I need to break down and get a "real" tv (the one upstairs is 25 years old!) that will accommodate a DVD player.

 

[MarieCLS]

Hi Steph,

Sorry it didn't work for you. That is pretty odd. Hopefully someone else will know another option because I am very curious why there's an issue with some computers.

Maybe you will still get lucky...

 

[jodijodi]

Video problems on the computer can be soooo frustrating. I can't really come up with a way to fix Windows Media Player, but I would suggest downloading a different media player, like VLC (http://www.download.com/VLC-Media-Player/3000-13632_4-10267151.html). Hopefully that will work. Good luck!

 

[delicatesteph]

Thanks Jodi for the suggestion! I did download VLC and am still having the problem. I like this player better than WMP. Yes, it IS soooo frustrating!

What's weird is some of her DVD's won't even show up in that drive in "My Computer". I wonder if there is an external DVD player you can hook up to the computer which may eliminate this problem?

Again, thanks for the help!

 

[Vee]

Steph,

If the DVD is not showing up in "my computer", it means the Operating System does not recognize the disc as a DVD. Before any program that you install on your PC can recognize the DVD, the Operating system needs to do so first.

This is a tough issue to troubleshoot. It could mean that the DVD is incompatible with the DVD drive on your PC (just like some commercial DVDs play fine on some players but not on others), or some settings on your PC are interfering with recognizing the way the DVD has been copy protected or authored.

If you google for the problem you will find it comes up frequently on tech forums, but I have yet to see a good resolution.
http://www.d-a-l.com/help/general-hardware-issues/43341-some-commercial-dvd-movies-not.html

 

[jodijodi]

Vee is right...this is a tricky one. Sorry my idea didn't work! (VLC is also nice because it will play lots of different video file formats. So hopefully you'll find it useful anyway.)

One idea would be to check the tech support website for your computer manufacturer; it may be that this is a known issue. Perhaps there will be a patch or other fix...one can only hope!

A new DVD drive for the computer might fix the problem because you would be installing new drivers for the computer to recognize, but not knowing what the actual issue is makes it harder to know if that will work.

Another option: buy a small portable DVD player with its own screen and don't use the computer. They're pretty cheap. The screens are small, but if you know the workouts well you might not really need to see that well. I sometimes do that while traveling.

 

[delicatesteph]

Thanks Vee and Jodi (again!)

Aye aye aye! I just want to workout!

I think what I will do is go the nearest Wal-Mart and get a small portable DVD player. That seems to be the easiest route! I will do a search maybe this weekend to see if perhaps I can fix it, otherwise I have a new small portable DVD player to take with me to the beach next summer!

Thank you all so much for the suggestions and ideas! You all ROCK!