Hi all... I've just developed a problem that has me stumped. When I try to play a DVD (original or copied) in my computer, the player software loads and just sits there. The cmputer locks up totally and requires a hard (push the old on/off button) reset to recover. Task manager does nothing to help. This happens regardless of whether I use Windows Media Player 10, Nero Media Player (v6), or any other DVD player software that I own. It was working fine until I tried to play a scratched original DVD which hung up and made me reboot. After that, no dice. What's peculiar is that the DVD recorder works perfectly in all other regards. Plays CDs, and works with DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink. Burns DVDs just fine, too. I just can't get DVD player software to work at all and it always locks up my machine. Here's what I have in this machine: AMD Athlon 1200+ 750 meg Ram Creative Audigy 2 Platinum 160 gig Seagate HD MicroAdvantage 4x dual mode DVD burner Yamaha SCSI CD burner Plextor SCSI CD player (external) I have a more powerful machine that I built for gaming, but this machine always made perfect DVD copies, something that my newer machine is having difficulty with (Digital artifacts! - a subject or another thread). Any idea what I need to do? This problem literally happened from one minute to the next. I've reinstalled all of the DVD player software. Again, the DVD recorder seems to work okay (Windows says that the device is working fine, and that appears to be the case except for playing DVDs!). But no DVD player software will work, and always freezes the computer. Any insight to this problem? Thanks!
A possibility would be a slight mis-alignment of the laser head. If you have a mini-dvd, try ask the burner to read it. If successful, then try use a regular dvd (original), then copies. Test it out a few times to see if you can correct the problem. Good luck!
Thanks for the reply. Further developments have occurred that may help someone determine what my problem is. I replaced the drive with a new one, and I have the exact same problem with it! So, it's not the drive. Also, I can play a DVD full of mp3's without a problem, so the drive is accessible. I just can't get anything VIDEO-related to work. So, I'm thinking that it's a software/driver issue. I upgraded ASPI and ASPICHK says it's all good. But the situation continues. Launch ANY DVD player software and the software locks up totally. I even uninstalled and reinstalled all of the player programs that I have, at the newest revisions that I could find. Another interesting tidbit is that when I go to Task Manager to attempt to close the frozen program (always unsuccessfully), there is always more than one instance of the program running! Don't know what that is about, but thought that I'd mention it. This is driving me crazy!
I have the exact same problem. I can watch dvd's for a short while before they freeze.. but I always have to reboot. Four times during last night's film! infuriating. (will keep watching this post for any suggestions).
@Doowah, It could indeed be a software problem. Maybe you could try uninstall/deactivate some of the video related softwares one by one (beginning with AnyDVD) to see if you could isolate the problem. Also, what video related softwares (plus codecs) do you actually have? @khitajrah, Can you be more precise with your problem (e.g. can't view both original and copied dvds)?
I´m having a similar problem, but it occurs on my SAMSUNG and my TOSHIBA DVD players. I used SHRINK to copy a DVD. Edited the entire movie with ULEAD VIDEO STUDIO 9. Added some music track to it...and it worked fine until the moment it FROZE... Played it on my PC without any problems. Played it on my BIG SCREEN TV and it froze halfway. Does anybody have an answer to that, or maybe I´m at the wrong spot. The media I used was SONY DVD+R (JAPANESE) 25DPR47LS3. I burned them at 4X. Any help is appreciated n0v0n
scf_au, Thanks for your reply. Yes, it has to be software related. If I use msconfig and boot the computer into the special diagnostic mode, the darn thing works fine. That's with nothing but bare bones processes being loaded. So, I suspect that one of the progs that is loading upon startup is causing the problem. Finding it is the challenge, and I welcome any help. I'm not familiar with the procedure to temporarily disable processes for troubleshooting purposes. Video-related software that I have installed include: PowerDVD v5 Microsoft Media Player 10 Nero 6.0 (Showtime, etc.) Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator 6 DivX Player 2.1 That's about it. As far as what codecs are installed, I haven't a clue. How can I find this out? Thanks again for your help. It is truly appreciated. Doowah
Completely uninstalling the softwares one by one should be more thorough, but if you just want to stop them at startup, some programs (e.g. MMH Cleaner) can help you do that with ease: http://www.mmhsoft.com/downloads.html Re. suspects, apart from AnyDVD, Roxio is another likely candidate. Re. codecs, I don't know what you have, but sometimes installing individual codecs one after another from various sources might also give you problem. My suggestion would be (if you don't already have it) to download and install K-Lite Codec Pack (full or mega version). It would detect and suggest to remove duplicated/incompatible codecs before installation. As for the pack itself, everything has been checked for compatibility: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm Good luck!
hi, I only play original dvd's (can't bring myself to copy anything! I have never tried.) I find it works better with the Norton Anti-virus disabled now, we actually managed to watch an entire dvd last night before it crashed mid-way through the second one. And that was only because he paused it. One must NEVER pause the computer! It doesn't like it. And.. um, I could try the codecs thing, but i don't know what they are or what to do?
Dear khitajrah, Your problem seems a bit unusual because playing dvds only uses up just a little of the pc's resources. Still, you may like to check whether you have too many background jobs running (e.g. firewall, internet connection, Northon Goback). Codecs are for viewing and copying videos. If you don't need them, there's no need to install a codec pack right now.
Dear n0v0n, Sorry I missed your post. If the dvd plays well on the pc, then it's probably a compatibility issue between the media, hardware, and software. You may try change the media, or software for the final burning to see if things are better. Good luck!
khitajrah, You mentioned having better results after disabling your Norton - I HAVE TO COMPLETELY REMOVE my Norton antivirus program and now I use a different one. Evey singl etime I had a symantics update Norton would screw up a couple of my programs. once I got rid of Norton, i stopped having issues across the board.
