Freeware DVD players?

Post by **Gandalf** » 2006-02-28 07:55pm

My computer came with a DVD drive, and it came with DVD playing software. Unfortunately I wiped the hard drive a week ago, and have been unable to get software back. And I miss having films in front of me as opposed to turning my head and watching the TV.

Does anyone know where I could get a freeware DVD playing program that doesn't suck?

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2006-02-28 07:57pm

I use VLC. I like it better than PowerDVD.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2006-02-28 09:30pm

Media Player Classic.

Does everything other video or DVD players can, in many cases better and without bloat.

Plus it has built-in screencap feature.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2006-02-28 09:52pm

Always MPlayer which works as well on Windows now as for UNIX based systems, so I hear.

Oline61 · Post by **Oline61** » 2006-02-28 09:52pm

Mplayer. But if you use teh Windoze you may have trouble finding a build for it.

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2006-02-28 10:13pm

DPDarkPrimus wrote:Media Player Classic.

Does everything other video or DVD players can, in many cases better and without bloat.

Plus it has built-in screencap feature.

It doesn't do captions. It does subtitles if they come on the disk, but it doesn't do captioning, which is necessary for some... and since WMP will no longer play DVDs after a the reinstall I did last year, problem, no?

Post by **Gandalf** » 2006-02-28 10:17pm

Thanks for the help y'all.

I downloaded VLC, and it seems to work fine.

Oline61 · Post by **Oline61** » 2006-03-01 08:21pm

Elheru Aran wrote:It doesn't do captions. It does subtitles if they come on the disk, but it doesn't do captioning, which is necessary for some... and since WMP will no longer play DVDs after a the reinstall I did last year, problem, no?

You need to install a directshow dvd decoder. Media Player Classic and VLC both use built in solutions, whereas WMP needs a directshow filter.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-03-01 11:01pm

Elheru Aran wrote:
DPDarkPrimus wrote:Media Player Classic.

Does everything other video or DVD players can, in many cases better and without bloat.

Plus it has built-in screencap feature.
It doesn't do captions. It does subtitles if they come on the disk, but it doesn't do captioning, which is necessary for some... and since WMP will no longer play DVDs after a the reinstall I did last year, problem, no?

El, screencaps and captions aren't the same thing. Screencaps are basically another word for screenshots.

Phantasee · Post by **Phantasee** » 2006-03-04 06:38pm

Oooh...I would recommend finding CCCP codec pack, it comes with Media Player Classic. It works fantastic. Also, if you could tell us what kind of computer and what kind of dvd drive, i might be able to find out the original DVD software that came with the computer. I had the same problem last year. If you find the original stuff, WMP and all the other programs work again.