DVD player problem

Using WinXP. I like to play my DVDs with VLC Media Player--and with the help
of people in this newsgroup I was able to make it my default player and to
use Autoplay, so that when I inserted a DVD into my drive, VLC Media Player
opened and began playing the DVD.

Today I played two of three DVDs in a newly purchased set the usual way.
However, when I inserted the third DVD, Cyberlink PowerDVD opened it
instead. I exited the program and opened the drive. I then went to Windows
Explorer, right-clicked on the drive, clicked on Properties, clicked on
Autoplay, chose DVD movies, clicked on VLC, and clicked OK. Then I
reinserted the DVD into the drive and tried again. And again it opened with
PowerDVD.

I removed that DVD from the drive and put in one of the earlier ones--and it
opened in VLC Media Player. I put the "bad" one back in, and it opened in
PowerDVD.

I bought this DVD set from an Amazon third party. It's supposed to be brand
new.

Any idea of what's happening--and what I can do to fix the problem?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne wrote:
Using WinXP. I like to play my DVDs with VLC Media Player--and with the help
of people in this newsgroup I was able to make it my default player and to
use Autoplay, so that when I inserted a DVD into my drive, VLC Media Player
opened and began playing the DVD.

Today I played two of three DVDs in a newly purchased set the usual way.
However, when I inserted the third DVD, Cyberlink PowerDVD opened it
instead. I exited the program and opened the drive. I then went to Windows
Explorer, right-clicked on the drive, clicked on Properties, clicked on
Autoplay, chose DVD movies, clicked on VLC, and clicked OK. Then I
reinserted the DVD into the drive and tried again. And again it opened with
PowerDVD.

I removed that DVD from the drive and put in one of the earlier ones--and it
opened in VLC Media Player. I put the "bad" one back in, and it opened in
PowerDVD.

I bought this DVD set from an Amazon third party. It's supposed to be brand
new.

Any idea of what's happening--and what I can do to fix the problem?

Since the other DVDs still play the way you want them to, it means
that this particular DVD is not being recognized as "DVD movies", but
as some other type, where the association is not with VLC, but with
CyberLink. Open the Autoplay properties again, and check to see what
other types are associated with CyberLink. If there are any, change
them to VLC too. (Is it actually a DVD? It could be recognized as
"Video Files". Or it might be a mixed media disk - containing other
file types as well - music, pictures, programs.)


--
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:
Using WinXP. I like to play my DVDs with VLC Media Player--and with the
help of people in this newsgroup I was able to make it my default player
and to use Autoplay, so that when I inserted a DVD into my drive, VLC
Media Player opened and began playing the DVD.

Today I played two of three DVDs in a newly purchased set the usual way.
However, when I inserted the third DVD, Cyberlink PowerDVD opened it
instead. I exited the program and opened the drive. I then went to
Windows Explorer, right-clicked on the drive, clicked on Properties,
clicked on Autoplay, chose DVD movies, clicked on VLC, and clicked OK.
Then I reinserted the DVD into the drive and tried again. And again it
opened with PowerDVD.

I removed that DVD from the drive and put in one of the earlier ones--and
it opened in VLC Media Player. I put the "bad" one back in, and it opened
in PowerDVD.

I bought this DVD set from an Amazon third party. It's supposed to be
brand new.

Any idea of what's happening--and what I can do to fix the problem?

Since the other DVDs still play the way you want them to, it means that
this particular DVD is not being recognized as "DVD movies", but as some
other type, where the association is not with VLC, but with CyberLink.
Open the Autoplay properties again, and check to see what other types are
associated with CyberLink. If there are any, change them to VLC too. (Is
it actually a DVD? It could be recognized as "Video Files". Or it might be
a mixed media disk - containing other file types as well - music,
pictures, programs.)


--
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 for the advice, Patok! It didn't work, though. I chose VLC for all
the associations offered. There were three where it didn't show
up--Pictures, Mixed Content, and HD DVD. For those three I chose "No
Action." But when I put the DVD into the drive again, it started with
PowerDVD.

One other note: Among the Autoplay choices for "DVD Movie" is "Play DVD
Video using PowerDVD." I definitely chose "Play DVD Movie using VLC" in that
section. But why is DVD Video even mentioned there? If that might be the
problem, is there a way to eliminate that choice? It's the only place under
Autoplay that PowerDVD is mentioned.

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne wrote:
"Patok" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:
Using WinXP. I like to play my DVDs with VLC Media Player--and with the
help of people in this newsgroup I was able to make it my default player
and to use Autoplay, so that when I inserted a DVD into my drive, VLC
Media Player opened and began playing the DVD.

Today I played two of three DVDs in a newly purchased set the usual way.
However, when I inserted the third DVD, Cyberlink PowerDVD opened it
instead. I exited the program and opened the drive. I then went to
Windows Explorer, right-clicked on the drive, clicked on Properties,
clicked on Autoplay, chose DVD movies, clicked on VLC, and clicked OK.
Then I reinserted the DVD into the drive and tried again. And again it
opened with PowerDVD.

I removed that DVD from the drive and put in one of the earlier ones--and
it opened in VLC Media Player. I put the "bad" one back in, and it opened
in PowerDVD.

I bought this DVD set from an Amazon third party. It's supposed to be
brand new.

Any idea of what's happening--and what I can do to fix the problem?
Since the other DVDs still play the way you want them to, it means that
this particular DVD is not being recognized as "DVD movies", but as some
other type, where the association is not with VLC, but with CyberLink.
Open the Autoplay properties again, and check to see what other types are
associated with CyberLink. If there are any, change them to VLC too. (Is
it actually a DVD? It could be recognized as "Video Files". Or it might be
a mixed media disk - containing other file types as well - music,
pictures, programs.)


--
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 for the advice, Patok! It didn't work, though. I chose VLC for all
the associations offered. There were three where it didn't show
up--Pictures, Mixed Content, and HD DVD. For those three I chose "No
Action." But when I put the DVD into the drive again, it started with
PowerDVD.

One other note: Among the Autoplay choices for "DVD Movie" is "Play DVD
Video using PowerDVD." I definitely chose "Play DVD Movie using VLC" in that
section. But why is DVD Video even mentioned there? If that might be the
problem, is there a way to eliminate that choice? It's the only place under
Autoplay that PowerDVD is mentioned.

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne



I find PowerDVD to be annoying in that regard.

When you install PowerDVD, it has a startup item that runs, and that
is what is "watching" the DVD drive, for movies. So it doesn't have
to play by the rules, and can ignore some of the other techniques.

Using Sysinternals "autoruns", I can see an entry for PDVDServ.exe
belonging to Cyberlink Corp.

There are tick boxes in the autoruns window, and one of those will
allow you to turn off PDVDServ.exe, so it won't be launched on the
next boot.

You may also be able to find it in Task Manager. Kill PDVDServ then
insert the movie disc, and see if VLC gets to play it. A more
permanent solution, is to zap the startup of that thing, via autoruns.

Autoruns
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...rnals/bb963902

Paul

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:
"Patok" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:
Using WinXP. I like to play my DVDs with VLC Media Player--and with the
help of people in this newsgroup I was able to make it my default
player and to use Autoplay, so that when I inserted a DVD into my
drive, VLC Media Player opened and began playing the DVD.

Today I played two of three DVDs in a newly purchased set the usual
way. However, when I inserted the third DVD, Cyberlink PowerDVD opened
it instead. I exited the program and opened the drive. I then went to
Windows Explorer, right-clicked on the drive, clicked on Properties,
clicked on Autoplay, chose DVD movies, clicked on VLC, and clicked OK.
Then I reinserted the DVD into the drive and tried again. And again it
opened with PowerDVD.

I removed that DVD from the drive and put in one of the earlier
ones--and it opened in VLC Media Player. I put the "bad" one back in,
and it opened in PowerDVD.

I bought this DVD set from an Amazon third party. It's supposed to be
brand new.

Any idea of what's happening--and what I can do to fix the problem?
Since the other DVDs still play the way you want them to, it means
that this particular DVD is not being recognized as "DVD movies", but as
some other type, where the association is not with VLC, but with
CyberLink. Open the Autoplay properties again, and check to see what
other types are associated with CyberLink. If there are any, change them
to VLC too. (Is it actually a DVD? It could be recognized as "Video
Files". Or it might be a mixed media disk - containing other file types
as well - music, pictures, programs.)


--
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 for the advice, Patok! It didn't work, though. I chose VLC for
all the associations offered. There were three where it didn't show
up--Pictures, Mixed Content, and HD DVD. For those three I chose "No
Action." But when I put the DVD into the drive again, it started with
PowerDVD.

One other note: Among the Autoplay choices for "DVD Movie" is "Play DVD
Video using PowerDVD." I definitely chose "Play DVD Movie using VLC" in
that section. But why is DVD Video even mentioned there? If that might be
the problem, is there a way to eliminate that choice? It's the only place
under Autoplay that PowerDVD is mentioned.

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

I find PowerDVD to be annoying in that regard.

When you install PowerDVD, it has a startup item that runs, and that
is what is "watching" the DVD drive, for movies. So it doesn't have
to play by the rules, and can ignore some of the other techniques.

Using Sysinternals "autoruns", I can see an entry for PDVDServ.exe
belonging to Cyberlink Corp.

There are tick boxes in the autoruns window, and one of those will
allow you to turn off PDVDServ.exe, so it won't be launched on the
next boot.

You may also be able to find it in Task Manager. Kill PDVDServ then
insert the movie disc, and see if VLC gets to play it. A more
permanent solution, is to zap the startup of that thing, via autoruns.

Autoruns
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...rnals/bb963902

Paul


Thank you, Paul! I wonder if the best solution might be to remove the
PowerDVD program entirely--or perhaps, less drastically, to rename the
PDVDServ.exe file. (I saw that file earlier. I tried renaming the main
program, but all that did was stop anything from happening when the DVD was
inserted.) I never use PowerDVD; I think it came with my laptop.

I do have Autoruns installed, so I could go that route. But is there any
reason to keep PowerDVD on my computer?

Thank you again,

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne wrote:
"Paul" wrote in message


Autoruns
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...rnals/bb963902

Paul


Thank you, Paul! I wonder if the best solution might be to remove the
PowerDVD program entirely--or perhaps, less drastically, to rename the
PDVDServ.exe file. (I saw that file earlier. I tried renaming the main
program, but all that did was stop anything from happening when the DVD was
inserted.) I never use PowerDVD; I think it came with my laptop.

I do have Autoruns installed, so I could go that route. But is there any
reason to keep PowerDVD on my computer?

Thank you again,

Jo-Anne

I don't see a problem keeping it installed. You can still start the program
manually, if you want to use it to view content, and I presume it still works
that way. Disabling PDVDServ is just to keep it from being too "greedy".

Paul

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


Autoruns
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...rnals/bb963902

Paul


Thank you, Paul! I wonder if the best solution might be to remove the
PowerDVD program entirely--or perhaps, less drastically, to rename the
PDVDServ.exe file. (I saw that file earlier. I tried renaming the main
program, but all that did was stop anything from happening when the DVD
was inserted.) I never use PowerDVD; I think it came with my laptop.

I do have Autoruns installed, so I could go that route. But is there any
reason to keep PowerDVD on my computer?

Thank you again,

Jo-Anne

I don't see a problem keeping it installed. You can still start the
program
manually, if you want to use it to view content, and I presume it still
works
that way. Disabling PDVDServ is just to keep it from being too "greedy".

Paul


Thank you again, Paul! Here's an interesting development. I stopped the
PDVDServ process with Task Manager and inserted the disc again. This time,
what came up was an attempt to install HotLlama Media Player. I refused the
installation and Googled that program--and found that someone else had had
the same thing happen when his kids were watching a DVD of the same series
that I've been watching. What on earth is going on???

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne wrote:
"Paul" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:
"Paul" wrote in message
Autoruns
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...rnals/bb963902

Paul

Thank you, Paul! I wonder if the best solution might be to remove the
PowerDVD program entirely--or perhaps, less drastically, to rename the
PDVDServ.exe file. (I saw that file earlier. I tried renaming the main
program, but all that did was stop anything from happening when the DVD
was inserted.) I never use PowerDVD; I think it came with my laptop.

I do have Autoruns installed, so I could go that route. But is there any
reason to keep PowerDVD on my computer?

Thank you again,

Jo-Anne
I don't see a problem keeping it installed. You can still start the
program
manually, if you want to use it to view content, and I presume it still
works
that way. Disabling PDVDServ is just to keep it from being too "greedy".

Paul


Thank you again, Paul! Here's an interesting development. I stopped the
PDVDServ process with Task Manager and inserted the disc again. This time,
what came up was an attempt to install HotLlama Media Player. I refused the
installation and Googled that program--and found that someone else had had
the same thing happen when his kids were watching a DVD of the same series
that I've been watching. What on earth is going on???

Thank you!

Jo-Anne


So is that program on the DVD itself, and triggered by an autorun.inf file
on the DVD ?

I'd be examining the DVD to see how it is constructed.

http://forums.techguy.org/virus-othe...lama-hell.html

"I found out from Llama that some DVD come with
hotllama on them. How nice of them! "

So it's possible this is executing from the DVD itself.

*******

This "tome" happens to have a couple "Fixit" files part way down.
There are also some pre-requisite installs.

"How to disable the Autorun functionality in Windows"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967715

Will there be side effects from doing that ? Not if you've
set a System Restore point, done a backup, or used other
forms of insurance... If you've done such, you can always
roll back the system if you don't like the results.

As it is, I'm wondering if the hotllama thing has made a home
for itself on your hard drive.

Paul

Jo-Anne wrote:

Thank you again, Paul! Here's an interesting development. I stopped the
PDVDServ process with Task Manager and inserted the disc again. This time,
what came up was an attempt to install HotLlama Media Player. I refused the
installation and Googled that program--and found that someone else had had
the same thing happen when his kids were watching a DVD of the same series
that I've been watching. What on earth is going on???

What's going on is you're beginning to see why some of us (I don't
know if Paul is among us, hope so ) have disabled auto-run and
auto-play and anything auto on our machines. When I insert a CD/DVD, I
don't want it to start playing or executing or whatever; *I* want to
be in control. I am fully competent to start the application I know
will do what I need; I don't trust Windows to decide instead of me.
Unfortunately, this is not a solution for everybody; some people
are really computer illiterate and have no other recourse. This
exposes them to the Sony rootkit and to what you experienced, but they
have no other options. You, however, seem literate enough to be able
to choose for yourself; I don't presuppose to give you advice, but
consider disabling any and all autoruns on your computer, and starting
the programs you want manually.
As to that particular HotLlama annoyance - sorry, can't help.
Never (obviously) seen it.

--
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.

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:
"Paul" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:
"Paul" wrote in message
Autoruns
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...rnals/bb963902

Paul

Thank you, Paul! I wonder if the best solution might be to remove the
PowerDVD program entirely--or perhaps, less drastically, to rename the
PDVDServ.exe file. (I saw that file earlier. I tried renaming the main
program, but all that did was stop anything from happening when the DVD
was inserted.) I never use PowerDVD; I think it came with my laptop.

I do have Autoruns installed, so I could go that route. But is there
any reason to keep PowerDVD on my computer?

Thank you again,

Jo-Anne
I don't see a problem keeping it installed. You can still start the
program
manually, if you want to use it to view content, and I presume it still
works
that way. Disabling PDVDServ is just to keep it from being too "greedy".

Paul


Thank you again, Paul! Here's an interesting development. I stopped the
PDVDServ process with Task Manager and inserted the disc again. This
time, what came up was an attempt to install HotLlama Media Player. I
refused the installation and Googled that program--and found that someone
else had had the same thing happen when his kids were watching a DVD of
the same series that I've been watching. What on earth is going on???

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

So is that program on the DVD itself, and triggered by an autorun.inf file
on the DVD ?

I'd be examining the DVD to see how it is constructed.

http://forums.techguy.org/virus-othe...lama-hell.html

"I found out from Llama that some DVD come with
hotllama on them. How nice of them! "

So it's possible this is executing from the DVD itself.

*******

This "tome" happens to have a couple "Fixit" files part way down.
There are also some pre-requisite installs.

"How to disable the Autorun functionality in Windows"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967715

Will there be side effects from doing that ? Not if you've
set a System Restore point, done a backup, or used other
forms of insurance... If you've done such, you can always
roll back the system if you don't like the results.

As it is, I'm wondering if the hotllama thing has made a home
for itself on your hard drive.

Paul


I don't think it has, since I stopped the installation and haven't had it
show up again. From what I can tell, there's something on the particular DVD
that needs HotLlama to run it--or perhaps PowerDVD has that ability too,
since that's the first thing the DVD wants to use. In any case, no other DVD
in that series or in later series has made any attempt to install the
program. I will check for an installation file on the one DVD, though. If
it's there, should I be able to remove it easily? Usually, I don't have
trouble removing installation files...

Jo-Anne

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

Thank you again, Paul! Here's an interesting development. I stopped the
PDVDServ process with Task Manager and inserted the disc again. This
time, what came up was an attempt to install HotLlama Media Player. I
refused the installation and Googled that program--and found that someone
else had had the same thing happen when his kids were watching a DVD of
the same series that I've been watching. What on earth is going on???

What's going on is you're beginning to see why some of us (I don't know
if Paul is among us, hope so ) have disabled auto-run and auto-play and
anything auto on our machines. When I insert a CD/DVD, I don't want it to
start playing or executing or whatever; *I* want to be in control. I am
fully competent to start the application I know will do what I need; I
don't trust Windows to decide instead of me.
Unfortunately, this is not a solution for everybody; some people are
really computer illiterate and have no other recourse. This exposes them
to the Sony rootkit and to what you experienced, but they have no other
options. You, however, seem literate enough to be able to choose for
yourself; I don't presuppose to give you advice, but consider disabling
any and all autoruns on your computer, and starting the programs you want
manually.
As to that particular HotLlama annoyance - sorry, can't help. Never
(obviously) seen it.

--
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 reached the point of wanting to disable AutoPlay. Is
there a global way to do this, or will I need to do it for every type of
file on every drive?

Looking at Properties of my DVD drive, for example, under AutoPlay, for each
file type (Music, Pictures, DVD Movies, etc.), I can choose either "Select
an Action to Perform" or "Prompt me each time to choose an action." If this
is where I would turn off AutoPlay, what's the best way to do it? Should I
choose "Select an Action" and then pick "Take no action" as my choice for
each file type? Or should I choose "Prompt me each time..."?

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

Patok wrote:
Jo-Anne wrote:

Thank you again, Paul! Here's an interesting development. I stopped
the PDVDServ process with Task Manager and inserted the disc again.
This time, what came up was an attempt to install HotLlama Media
Player. I refused the installation and Googled that program--and found
that someone else had had the same thing happen when his kids were
watching a DVD of the same series that I've been watching. What on
earth is going on???

What's going on is you're beginning to see why some of us (I don't
know if Paul is among us, hope so ) have disabled auto-run and
auto-play and anything auto on our machines. When I insert a CD/DVD, I
don't want it to start playing or executing or whatever; *I* want to be
in control. I am fully competent to start the application I know will do
what I need; I don't trust Windows to decide instead of me.
Unfortunately, this is not a solution for everybody; some people are
really computer illiterate and have no other recourse. This exposes them
to the Sony rootkit and to what you experienced, but they have no other
options. You, however, seem literate enough to be able to choose for
yourself; I don't presuppose to give you advice, but consider disabling
any and all autoruns on your computer, and starting the programs you
want manually.
As to that particular HotLlama annoyance - sorry, can't help. Never
(obviously) seen it.


+1

I hate "auto-anything". Especially mechanisms that allow installs,
root kits or the like. It should be up to the user to initiate
things like that.

Paul

In ,
Jo-Anne wrote:
Thank you, Patok! I've reached the point of wanting to disable
AutoPlay. Is there a global way to do this, or will I need to do it
for every type of file on every drive?

The easiest way Jo-Anne, is through TweakUI.

My Computer
AutoPlay
Drives

Now unselect A through Z. And while you are there, just under Drives is
Types. Unselect those too.

--
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:
Thank you, Patok! I've reached the point of wanting to disable
AutoPlay. Is there a global way to do this, or will I need to do it
for every type of file on every drive?

The easiest way Jo-Anne, is through TweakUI.

My Computer
AutoPlay
Drives

Now unselect A through Z. And while you are there, just under Drives is
Types. Unselect those too.

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


Thank you, Bill! I do have TweakUI installed. I'll give this a try and will
report back.

Jo-Anne

"BillW50" wrote in message
...
In ,
Jo-Anne wrote:
Thank you, Patok! I've reached the point of wanting to disable
AutoPlay. Is there a global way to do this, or will I need to do it
for every type of file on every drive?

The easiest way Jo-Anne, is through TweakUI.

My Computer
AutoPlay
Drives

Now unselect A through Z. And while you are there, just under Drives is
Types. Unselect those too.

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


So...here's what happened. I unselected all the drives and both of the drive
types in TweakUI. I then inserted a normal DVD into its drive, and it worked
as it should. That is, it spun and then stopped and nothing more happened.
After that, I inserted the "bad" DVD, and it immediately opened PowerDVD. I
exited PowerDVD and used Windows Explorer to see what was on this DVD.

The other DVD in the series had only one folder--VIDEO_TS.

The bad DVD has the VIDEO_TS folder, but it also has a folder labeled DVDROM
with several subfolders and several executable files (I did a screenprint of
each folder, so I can say exactly what files are in them). Given that I
probably want to continue viewing the DVD itself, would it be reasonable to
try "stopping" everything in the DVDROM folder? Perhaps I could rename it to
DVDROMbak?

I welcome your suggestions!

Jo-Anne