music programs affecting windows media?

[artsneef]

im not sure if this question is relevant to this forum, but here goes. ive always been able to play dvd's of any sort on my windows media player, and while using audacity too. but recently, i upgraded my audacity, and i downloaded the cdex program......but now, when i try and play a dvd in windows media, i am told i need a dvd decoder. i dont beleive i do....since i was previously able to play dvds before downloading these music programs, so i assume there is a corelation. im using windows xp home edition, and windows 8, and windows media player 11. if you have any suggestions, thatd be great. jeff.

[steve]

Windows Media Player (WMP) requires additional codecs to play encrypted DVDs. Most commercial DVDs are encrypted and are not supported "out of the box" by Windows Media Player. WMP will usually download the required codecs required by DVDs automatically, provided that you are connected to the Internet and provided that it is not blocked by your firewall.

If WMP has updated recently it may need to update its codecs.
WMP will often give unhelpful messages - this message is a very general one which means "I can't play this".
Not all DVDs use the same encoding - some DVDs require different codecs to be installed.
DVD playback can also be blocked by "region codes"
I don't see any way that the issue could be related to C-Dex or Audacity - neither of these programs have anything to do with DVD playback and I strongly suspect that noticing the problem with WMP and installing these programs is coincidental.

If you are having trouble playing DVDs, try the free media player VLC http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ it will play almost anything (though it does not get round DRM protection or region codes).

[artsneef]

ok thanks, it just seems more than a coincidence, because prior to downloading those music programs, i could play any and every dvd i put in my machine,without fail... but now, my wmp wont play any dvd. but ill give that free media playr a try. jeff.