Windows 8.1 - DVD problem

I rent and watch movies on my DVD player. I use Media Player Classic -
Home Edition to do so. At least, that's what I did on my WinXP system.

Under Windows 8.1 Pro, the same DVD that I could watch under WinXP is
now trying to install its own software to watch the movie, and the
"Open Disc" menu option on MPC-HE is greyed out. I had thought I'd be
able to do the same, especially since my system is not HDMI-centric and
the only equipment difference between the WinXP system and the Windows
8.1 Pro is that I added a new hard drive on which I installed Windows
8.1 Pro; that should not have affected anything. I also tried to watch
the movie by way of the VM WinXP I installed in Windows 8.1, but that
failed as well.

Is there a workaround to my problem? I loathe Windows Media Player.
If nothing else, I can continue to use WinXP to watch movies, but I'd
like to move over entirely to Windows 8.1 - if I'm going to use Windows
8.1, then I would like to use it all the time instead of switching
between the two.

Would an external DVD player sidestep the problem Windows 8.1 is
creating?

Thanks,

John

Parko wrote:

On Mon, 18 Nov 2013 17:20:16 +0000, Yes wrote:

--snipped--

Under Windows 8.1 Pro, the same DVD that I could watch under WinXP
is now trying to install its own software to watch the movie,
--snipped--


The problem is Win 8x.


Thanks,

John

http://mpc-hc.org/faq/

Try VLC instead

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Thanks Parko. That did the trick. I made a very poor assumption that
because MPC-HE would not work that comparable apps would have the same
problem.

Anyway, I can watch DVDs again, which is a "good" thing :-)

John

On 18/11/2013 3:37 PM, Parko wrote:
Try VLC instead

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/


Open-source applications are indeed better than anything Windows
provides. VLC is the be-all and end-all of multimedia applications and
plays just about everything you can throw at it with the exception of
encrypted Blu-Ray whereas Windows Media Player is just as terrible in
2013 as it was in 2003.

SS

On 11/18/2013 3:37 PM, Parko wrote:
On Mon, 18 Nov 2013 17:20:16 +0000, Yes wrote:

I rent and watch movies on my DVD player. I use Media Player Classic -
Home Edition to do so. At least, that's what I did on my WinXP system.

Under Windows 8.1 Pro, the same DVD that I could watch under WinXP is
now trying to install its own software to watch the movie, and the "Open
Disc" menu option on MPC-HE is greyed out. I had thought I'd be able to
do the same, especially since my system is not HDMI-centric and the only
equipment difference between the WinXP system and the Windows 8.1 Pro is
that I added a new hard drive on which I installed Windows 8.1 Pro; that
should not have affected anything. I also tried to watch the movie by
way of the VM WinXP I installed in Windows 8.1, but that failed as well.

Is there a workaround to my problem? I loathe Windows Media Player. If
nothing else, I can continue to use WinXP to watch movies, but I'd like
to move over entirely to Windows 8.1 - if I'm going to use Windows 8.1,
then I would like to use it all the time instead of switching between
the two.

Would an external DVD player sidestep the problem Windows 8.1 is
creating?

The problem *is* Win 8x.

WPC HC works just fine on my Win 8 machine.

Silver Slimer wrote:

On 18/11/2013 3:37 PM, Parko wrote:
Try VLC instead

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/


Open-source applications are indeed better than anything Windows
provides. VLC is the be-all and end-all of multimedia applications and
plays just about everything you can throw at it with the exception of
encrypted Blu-Ray whereas Windows Media Player is just as terrible in
2013 as it was in 2003.

SS

I've been using Media Player Classic pretty much since I found it years
ago. As an OSS app, it's filled my needs admirably over the years, but
Windows 8.1 was just too much based on their manpower to keep it
current. I actually have VLC installed in my WinXP system as a back up
to MPC-HE. I think there were perhaps four times where I needed it
because MPC-HE could not open the file. MPC-HE will still have a place
on my Windows 8.1 install because I use it for listening to music on
the net and I'm very comfortable with backing up, editing and adding
playlist entries on the fly if I need to plus I know where the OS
stores it. I'm not at that point with VLC.

John

Yes wrote:
I rent and watch movies on my DVD player. I use Media Player Classic -
Home Edition to do so. At least, that's what I did on my WinXP system.

Under Windows 8.1 Pro, the same DVD that I could watch under WinXP is
now trying to install its own software to watch the movie, and the
"Open Disc" menu option on MPC-HE is greyed out. I had thought I'd be
able to do the same, especially since my system is not HDMI-centric and
the only equipment difference between the WinXP system and the Windows
8.1 Pro is that I added a new hard drive on which I installed Windows
8.1 Pro; that should not have affected anything. I also tried to watch
the movie by way of the VM WinXP I installed in Windows 8.1, but that
failed as well.

Is there a workaround to my problem? I loathe Windows Media Player.
If nothing else, I can continue to use WinXP to watch movies, but I'd
like to move over entirely to Windows 8.1 - if I'm going to use Windows
8.1, then I would like to use it all the time instead of switching
between the two.

Would an external DVD player sidestep the problem Windows 8.1 is
creating?

Thanks,

John

Glad to see you got it resolved.

Just a follow-up.

Windows 8.0 or 8.1 lacks the ability to play DVD's in Media Player.
The omission is three-fold.
- OEM's desire to contractually bundle DVD playing software or links
to such and/or trial versions on their machines and not pay MSFT the
passed-on costs for the rights to the MPEG-LA (patent holding
consortium) for the codecs (approx $2 per copy of Windows)and the cost
of Dolby Digital licensing ($2-$6 globally).
- MSFT's decision to not pay the same fees for non-OEM distributed
versions (sold at retail, in inventory, or downloadable).
- increased availability of competitive streaming services lowering
demand/inclusion for optical drives on new pcs, laptops, and tablets.

Adding it all up..if one wants to use a MSFT product to play DVD's on
Windows 8x then one has to purchase Media Center as an Add-on feature.
Media Center is only available on one single version of Windows 8x -
Windows 8x Pro.
- thus folks using Windows 8x Core (entry level non-pro version) need
to upgrade (at additional cost) to Windows 8x Pro with Media Center (via
the Windows 8 Pro Pack - $100) or if using Windows 8x Pro upgrade to
Windows 8 Pro with Media Center - $10.

For a few months after Windows 8.0 Pro release, those early adopters
were provided the ability to obtain Media Center for free until Jan 31,
2013...thereafter the $10 fee applied. Windows 8.1 did not come with
those same privileges - if Windows 8.1 Pro the $10 cost to upgrade still
applies.

Finally installing either the Pro Pack (on Win8x Core) or Media Center
Pack on Windows 8x Pro said installation will change the **Product Key
and license** from the existing (OEM, Retail, etc.) to a retail
'Windows8x Pro with Media Center' license - which may nullify OEM
support for the original as-shipped version and eliminate the ability to
install apps provided by the PC manufacturer through the MSFT Store. For
those that do upgrade MSFT provides 90 days of free support.


--
...winston
msft mvp consumer apps

....winston wrote:

Yes wrote:
I rent and watch movies on my DVD player. I use Media Player
Classic - Home Edition to do so. At least, that's what I did on my
WinXP system.

Under Windows 8.1 Pro, the same DVD that I could watch under WinXP
is now trying to install its own software to watch the movie, and
the "Open Disc" menu option on MPC-HE is greyed out. I had thought
I'd be able to do the same, especially since my system is not
HDMI-centric and the only equipment difference between the WinXP
system and the Windows 8.1 Pro is that I added a new hard drive on
which I installed Windows 8.1 Pro; that should not have affected
anything. I also tried to watch the movie by way of the VM WinXP I
installed in Windows 8.1, but that failed as well.

Is there a workaround to my problem? I loathe Windows Media Player.
If nothing else, I can continue to use WinXP to watch movies, but
I'd like to move over entirely to Windows 8.1 - if I'm going to use
Windows 8.1, then I would like to use it all the time instead of
switching between the two.

Would an external DVD player sidestep the problem Windows 8.1 is
creating?

Thanks,

John

Glad to see you got it resolved.

Just a follow-up.

Windows 8.0 or 8.1 lacks the ability to play DVD's in Media Player.
The omission is three-fold.
- OEM's desire to contractually bundle DVD playing software or links
to such and/or trial versions on their machines and not pay MSFT the
passed-on costs for the rights to the MPEG-LA (patent holding
consortium) for the codecs (approx $2 per copy of Windows)and the
cost of Dolby Digital licensing ($2-$6 globally). - MSFT's decision
to not pay the same fees for non-OEM distributed versions (sold at
retail, in inventory, or downloadable). - increased availability of
competitive streaming services lowering demand/inclusion for optical
drives on new pcs, laptops, and tablets.

Adding it all up..if one wants to use a MSFT product to play DVD's on
Windows 8x then one has to purchase Media Center as an Add-on
feature. Media Center is only available on one single version of
Windows 8x - Windows 8x Pro. - thus folks using Windows 8x Core
(entry level non-pro version) need to upgrade (at additional cost) to
Windows 8x Pro with Media Center (via the Windows 8 Pro Pack - $100)
or if using Windows 8x Pro upgrade to Windows 8 Pro with Media Center
- $10.

For a few months after Windows 8.0 Pro release, those early adopters
were provided the ability to obtain Media Center for free until Jan
31, 2013...thereafter the $10 fee applied. Windows 8.1 did not come
with those same privileges - if Windows 8.1 Pro the $10 cost to
upgrade still applies.

Finally installing either the Pro Pack (on Win8x Core) or Media
Center Pack on Windows 8x Pro said installation will change the
**Product Key and license** from the existing (OEM, Retail, etc.) to
a retail 'Windows8x Pro with Media Center' license - which may
nullify OEM support for the original as-shipped version and eliminate
the ability to install apps provided by the PC manufacturer through
the MSFT Store. For those that do upgrade MSFT provides 90 days of
free support.

Interesting. The thing I dislikef about it, certainly was true for
earlier versions so it may have changed in the current version, was
that the underlying security protocols were shared among Internet
Explorer, Windows Media Center and IIRC Office Outlook. Many years ago
when I did try using the Windows Media Center, I got exasperated using
the two and totally dropped the Media Center. I had throttled Internet
Explorer as much as I could and still be usable, but those same
settings made the WMC irritating to use. It was so much simpler to
find an OSS app to use instead; I can't say that I regret doing so
either. When I was reading the info about WMC, it seems to have
morphed into a surveillance tool as much as being entertainment
software.


John