making VLC the default for playing DVDs

I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a DVD in
the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC Media Player, I
close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and click on the DVD
drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the default DVD player. I'd be
grateful for instructions on how to do this or even for a link to a website
that explains it.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne wrote:

I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a DVD in
the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC Media Player, I
close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and click on the DVD
drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the default DVD player. I'd be
grateful for instructions on how to do this or even for a link to a website
that explains it.

Not a hardware question. This is a software configuration issue or, at
best, an issue with filetype associations in the operating system.
VideoLan's forums are over at http://forum.videolan.org/.

Right-click on the .vob file (or whatever you open to play the movie),
select Open With, and browse to the VLC program's executable. Make sure
you enable the Remember option in the browse dialog.

Or you could set the file associations within VLC Player. Alas, for
some reason, its designers decided that not all the simple options will
be present in the advanced options. To set file associations in VLC's
preferences, use the simple interface for its Preferences dialog. Then
look under the Interface category of options. Enable the extension for
whatever is the video file you are trying to open in VLC.

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:

I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a DVD
in
the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC Media Player,
I
close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and click on the DVD
drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the default DVD player. I'd
be
grateful for instructions on how to do this or even for a link to a
website
that explains it.

Not a hardware question. This is a software configuration issue or, at
best, an issue with filetype associations in the operating system.
VideoLan's forums are over at http://forum.videolan.org/.

Right-click on the .vob file (or whatever you open to play the movie),
select Open With, and browse to the VLC program's executable. Make sure
you enable the Remember option in the browse dialog.

Or you could set the file associations within VLC Player. Alas, for
some reason, its designers decided that not all the simple options will
be present in the advanced options. To set file associations in VLC's
preferences, use the simple interface for its Preferences dialog. Then
look under the Interface category of options. Enable the extension for
whatever is the video file you are trying to open in VLC.


Thank you, Vanguard! I did look at the interface categories in VLC, and all
the options are checked--but still PowerDVD opens the files. I wonder if
PowerDVD can be uninstalled...

Jo-Anne

In ,
Jo-Anne wrote:
Thank you, Vanguard! I did look at the interface categories in VLC,
and all the options are checked--but still PowerDVD opens the files.
I wonder if PowerDVD can be uninstalled...

Jo-Anne

All versions of PowerDVD that I know of, can be uninstalled.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

Jo-Anne wrote:

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:

I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a DVD
in
the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC Media Player,
I
close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and click on the DVD
drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the default DVD player. I'd
be
grateful for instructions on how to do this or even for a link to a
website
that explains it.

Not a hardware question. This is a software configuration issue or, at
best, an issue with filetype associations in the operating system.
VideoLan's forums are over at http://forum.videolan.org/.

Right-click on the .vob file (or whatever you open to play the movie),
select Open With, and browse to the VLC program's executable. Make sure
you enable the Remember option in the browse dialog.

Or you could set the file associations within VLC Player. Alas, for
some reason, its designers decided that not all the simple options will
be present in the advanced options. To set file associations in VLC's
preferences, use the simple interface for its Preferences dialog. Then
look under the Interface category of options. Enable the extension for
whatever is the video file you are trying to open in VLC.

Thank you, Vanguard! I did look at the interface categories in VLC, and all
the options are checked--but still PowerDVD opens the files. I wonder if
PowerDVD can be uninstalled...

I thought Microsoft had issued a security update that disabled autorun
on removable media because it is such an obvious security breach. So
it's odd that inserting a disc still has autorun.inf getting read (and
its specified executable loaded) or of any media handler get loaded.

What you want is to change, delete, or disable the autoplay settings.
Rather than edit the registry you can use Microsoft's TweakUI powertoy
or Windows Explorer. In TweakUI, go to the My Computer - AutoPlay -
Handlers node in the tree. Then delete the PowerDVD handlers. In
Windows Explorer, right-click on the optical drive, Properties, select
the media type in the drop-down list, and select which handler you want
as the default (or enable the prompt option so you always get asked as
to what handler you want to use - that's how I set it up).

In ,
VanguardLH wrote:
I thought Microsoft had issued a security update that disabled autorun
on removable media because it is such an obvious security breach. So
it's odd that inserting a disc still has autorun.inf getting read (and
its specified executable loaded) or of any media handler get loaded.

I don't know about the security patch, since I disabled all autoplay
years ago anyway. But DVD movies don't use autorun.inf at any rate. So
maybe this isn't effected by the patch?

What you want is to change, delete, or disable the autoplay settings.
Rather than edit the registry you can use Microsoft's TweakUI powertoy
or Windows Explorer. In TweakUI, go to the My Computer - AutoPlay -
Handlers node in the tree. Then delete the PowerDVD handlers. In
Windows Explorer, right-click on the optical drive, Properties, select
the media type in the drop-down list, and select which handler you
want as the default (or enable the prompt option so you always get
asked as to what handler you want to use - that's how I set it up).

Yes that works great.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

BillW50 wrote:

VanguardLH wrote:

I thought Microsoft had issued a security update that disabled autorun
on removable media because it is such an obvious security breach. So
it's odd that inserting a disc still has autorun.inf getting read (and
its specified executable loaded) or of any media handler get loaded.

I don't know about the security patch, since I disabled all autoplay
years ago anyway. But DVD movies don't use autorun.inf at any rate. So
maybe this isn't effected by the patch?

Did that, too, by using TweakUI to disable both AutoPlay and AutoRun.
Some users like the convenience so much that they remain blind to the
security breach after explaining it to them. AutoRun is definitely bad.
AutoPlay, at least, intervenes with a prompt where the *user* must make
a choice (but that user won't know for sure what is the real program
that is loaded upon an autoplay selection from the popup window).

As you look at TweakUI, Microsoft's KB articles, and their registry
settings, there is confusion over which relates to autorun and which are
for autoplay - because Microsoft mixes up the terminology.

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:

I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a
DVD
in
the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC Media
Player,
I
close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and click on the DVD
drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the default DVD player. I'd
be
grateful for instructions on how to do this or even for a link to a
website
that explains it.

Not a hardware question. This is a software configuration issue or, at
best, an issue with filetype associations in the operating system.
VideoLan's forums are over at http://forum.videolan.org/.

Right-click on the .vob file (or whatever you open to play the movie),
select Open With, and browse to the VLC program's executable. Make sure
you enable the Remember option in the browse dialog.

Or you could set the file associations within VLC Player. Alas, for
some reason, its designers decided that not all the simple options will
be present in the advanced options. To set file associations in VLC's
preferences, use the simple interface for its Preferences dialog. Then
look under the Interface category of options. Enable the extension for
whatever is the video file you are trying to open in VLC.

Thank you, Vanguard! I did look at the interface categories in VLC, and
all
the options are checked--but still PowerDVD opens the files. I wonder if
PowerDVD can be uninstalled...

I thought Microsoft had issued a security update that disabled autorun
on removable media because it is such an obvious security breach. So
it's odd that inserting a disc still has autorun.inf getting read (and
its specified executable loaded) or of any media handler get loaded.

What you want is to change, delete, or disable the autoplay settings.
Rather than edit the registry you can use Microsoft's TweakUI powertoy
or Windows Explorer. In TweakUI, go to the My Computer - AutoPlay -
Handlers node in the tree. Then delete the PowerDVD handlers. In
Windows Explorer, right-click on the optical drive, Properties, select
the media type in the drop-down list, and select which handler you want
as the default (or enable the prompt option so you always get asked as
to what handler you want to use - that's how I set it up).


Thank you, Vanguard! I did make the change in Explorer, and VLC now is my
default program for playing DVDs.

Jo-Anne

Interesting.
I'm on XP Pro SP3 with all security updates.
I consistently use autorun.inf on removable media to load custom icons, etc.
Works fine.
I also have TrueCrypt configured on a USB pen drive in Traveler Mode that
uses extensive autorun.inf entries to execute commands, store the name of
the host device and load in its custom icon every single time its mounted
onto the system.

Which "security update" was meant to have prevented this?


"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:

I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a
DVD
in
the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC Media
Player,
I
close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and click on the DVD
drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the default DVD player. I'd
be
grateful for instructions on how to do this or even for a link to a
website
that explains it.

Not a hardware question. This is a software configuration issue or, at
best, an issue with filetype associations in the operating system.
VideoLan's forums are over at http://forum.videolan.org/.

Right-click on the .vob file (or whatever you open to play the movie),
select Open With, and browse to the VLC program's executable. Make sure
you enable the Remember option in the browse dialog.

Or you could set the file associations within VLC Player. Alas, for
some reason, its designers decided that not all the simple options will
be present in the advanced options. To set file associations in VLC's
preferences, use the simple interface for its Preferences dialog. Then
look under the Interface category of options. Enable the extension for
whatever is the video file you are trying to open in VLC.

Thank you, Vanguard! I did look at the interface categories in VLC, and
all
the options are checked--but still PowerDVD opens the files. I wonder if
PowerDVD can be uninstalled...

I thought Microsoft had issued a security update that disabled autorun
on removable media because it is such an obvious security breach. So
it's odd that inserting a disc still has autorun.inf getting read (and
its specified executable loaded) or of any media handler get loaded.

What you want is to change, delete, or disable the autoplay settings.
Rather than edit the registry you can use Microsoft's TweakUI powertoy
or Windows Explorer. In TweakUI, go to the My Computer - AutoPlay -
Handlers node in the tree. Then delete the PowerDVD handlers. In
Windows Explorer, right-click on the optical drive, Properties, select
the media type in the drop-down list, and select which handler you want
as the default (or enable the prompt option so you always get asked as
to what handler you want to use - that's how I set it up).



--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ---

FreeNews 4eva wrote:

Interesting.
I'm on XP Pro SP3 with all security updates.
I consistently use autorun.inf on removable media to load custom icons, etc.
Works fine.
I also have TrueCrypt configured on a USB pen drive in Traveler Mode that
uses extensive autorun.inf entries to execute commands, store the name of
the host device and load in its custom icon every single time its mounted
onto the system.

Which "security update" was meant to have prevented this?

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:

I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a
DVD
in
the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC Media
Player,
I
close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and click on the DVD
drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the default DVD player. I'd
be
grateful for instructions on how to do this or even for a link to a
website
that explains it.

Not a hardware question. This is a software configuration issue or, at
best, an issue with filetype associations in the operating system.
VideoLan's forums are over at http://forum.videolan.org/.

Right-click on the .vob file (or whatever you open to play the movie),
select Open With, and browse to the VLC program's executable. Make sure
you enable the Remember option in the browse dialog.

Or you could set the file associations within VLC Player. Alas, for
some reason, its designers decided that not all the simple options will
be present in the advanced options. To set file associations in VLC's
preferences, use the simple interface for its Preferences dialog. Then
look under the Interface category of options. Enable the extension for
whatever is the video file you are trying to open in VLC.

Thank you, Vanguard! I did look at the interface categories in VLC, and
all
the options are checked--but still PowerDVD opens the files. I wonder if
PowerDVD can be uninstalled...

I thought Microsoft had issued a security update that disabled autorun
on removable media because it is such an obvious security breach. So
it's odd that inserting a disc still has autorun.inf getting read (and
its specified executable loaded) or of any media handler get loaded.

What you want is to change, delete, or disable the autoplay settings.
Rather than edit the registry you can use Microsoft's TweakUI powertoy
or Windows Explorer. In TweakUI, go to the My Computer - AutoPlay -
Handlers node in the tree. Then delete the PowerDVD handlers. In
Windows Explorer, right-click on the optical drive, Properties, select
the media type in the drop-down list, and select which handler you want
as the default (or enable the prompt option so you always get asked as
to what handler you want to use - that's how I set it up).

--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ---

Looks like it was for USB drives:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967940
http://blogs.technet.com/b/msrc/arch...n-release.aspx

Optical media is burned (with pits or chemically) so it is far less
likely that malware gets on them by accident. USB drives, however,
wander from host to host where one that is infected could push an
autorun.inf file onto USB drives. The required to burn to change an
rewritable optical disc (CD, DVD) is its thin condom against malware.
USB drives don't use condoms. Well, some can be locked or password
encrypted but then obviously once the user wants to *use* the flash
drive on a host (unknown to be infected to the flash drive user) then
they have to unlock it whereupon malware attacks.

If you get optical media from unknown or untrusted sources then you
probably also want to disable the AutoRun feature still remaining for
those devices.

Jo-Anne wrote:
I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a DVD in
the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC Media Player, I
close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and click on the DVD
drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the default DVD player. I'd be
grateful for instructions on how to do this or even for a link to a website
that explains it.

From my limited understanding, it seems that it's not possible. For
some reason, VLC does not register itself as a DVD playing
application. You can set it to play specific file types, but not devices.

To see which programs will play DVDs upon insertion, right-click on
the DVD drive, and in the AutoPlay tab you can see and set them. I
personally see nothing wrong with the default PowerDVD for that
purpose, and haven't changed it (but then, I don't usually play DVDs).
For example, Media Player Classic registers as a DVD playing
application - see if you'll like it instead.

--
You'd be crazy to e-mail me with the crazy. But leave the div alone.
*
Whoever bans a book, shall be banished. Whoever burns a book, shall burn.

"Patok" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:
I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a DVD
in the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC Media
Player, I close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and click on
the DVD drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the default DVD
player. I'd be grateful for instructions on how to do this or even for a
link to a website that explains it.

From my limited understanding, it seems that it's not possible. For some
reason, VLC does not register itself as a DVD playing application. You can
set it to play specific file types, but not devices.

To see which programs will play DVDs upon insertion, right-click on the
DVD drive, and in the AutoPlay tab you can see and set them. I personally
see nothing wrong with the default PowerDVD for that purpose, and haven't
changed it (but then, I don't usually play DVDs). For example, Media
Player Classic registers as a DVD playing application - see if you'll like
it instead.

--
You'd be crazy to e-mail me with the crazy. But leave the div alone.
*
Whoever bans a book, shall be banished. Whoever burns a book, shall burn.


Thank you, Patok! I've had trouble with PowerDVD from the first time I tried
playing DVDs. In one case, a DVD that was set up for the United States
(where I live) wouldn't play until I "changed" the area to the United
States. In another case, the sound wouldn't play at all. I had no problem
with the sound on that DVD in VLC.

Jo-Anne

In ,
Jo-Anne wrote:
I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a
DVD in the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC
Media Player, I close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and
click on the DVD drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the
default DVD player. I'd be grateful for instructions on how to do
this or even for a link to a website that explains it.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

I am not 100% positive this will work, but it is worth a shot. There is
a program called "USB Safely Remove". And one of the things it can do is
to run a program when it detects a given device. "USB Safely Remove" is
handy for much more than this too, so it is worth looking into even if
you can't get this to work for this purpose.

http://safelyremove.com/

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

"BillW50" wrote in message
...
In ,
Jo-Anne wrote:
I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put a
DVD in the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC
Media Player, I close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player, and
click on the DVD drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the
default DVD player. I'd be grateful for instructions on how to do
this or even for a link to a website that explains it.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

I am not 100% positive this will work, but it is worth a shot. There is a
program called "USB Safely Remove". And one of the things it can do is to
run a program when it detects a given device. "USB Safely Remove" is handy
for much more than this too, so it is worth looking into even if you can't
get this to work for this purpose.

http://safelyremove.com/

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3


Thank you, Bill! I had already bookmarked USB Safely Remove (I think from
one of your earlier posts). I'll definitely check it out for this
issue--although I wonder how it reacts if the media in the DVD player is
simply a data CD/DVD.

Jo-Anne

In ,
Jo-Anne wrote:
"BillW50" wrote in message
...
In ,
Jo-Anne wrote:
I recently started playing DVDs on my WinXP laptop. Each time I put
a DVD in the drive, it opens with PowerDVD. Since I like to use VLC
Media Player, I close the PowerDVD window, open VLC Media Player,
and click on the DVD drive. I'm sure there's a way to set VLC as the
default DVD player. I'd be grateful for instructions on how to do
this or even for a link to a website that explains it.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

I am not 100% positive this will work, but it is worth a shot. There
is a program called "USB Safely Remove". And one of the things it
can do is to run a program when it detects a given device. "USB
Safely Remove" is handy for much more than this too, so it is worth
looking into even if you can't get this to work for this purpose.

http://safelyremove.com/

Thank you, Bill! I had already bookmarked USB Safely Remove (I think
from one of your earlier posts). I'll definitely check it out for this
issue--although I wonder how it reacts if the media in the DVD player
is simply a data CD/DVD.

Jo-Anne

Just curious, have you ever tried to change under Explorer (file
manager) under Tools-Folder Options and select the third tab called
File Types? Here the third one down is called DVD Video. Select this one
and press the Advanced button. It should list something like this:

Play
Play with PowerDVD (in bold)
Play with VLC media player

Select the VLC one. Then press the Set Default button (now this one
should be in bold). That should now open DVD movies with VLC instead of
PowerDVD.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3