How to troubleshoot problems that occur when you play a DVD in Windows XP

View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q308012

SUMMARY

This article is intended to help you use the DVD Troubleshooter that is included in Windows XP Help and Support Center.

The DVD Troubleshooter includes step-by-step instructions to troubleshoot the following DVD problems in Windows XP:

You do not hear any sound, or you receive a message about audio.
You have a problem when you use closed captioning or subtitles.
When you try to play a DVD, nothing happens.
When you play a DVD, the video is choppy.
You receive a message about analog copy protection.
You receive a message about screen resolution and color quality settings.
You receive a decoder error message.
You receive a message about digital copy protection.
When you play a DVD, the screen is black, or there is some other display problem.
You receive a region error message.
You receive a video error message.

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MORE INFORMATION

How to use the DVD Troubleshooter to troubleshoot problems that occur when you play a DVD in Windows XP

Step 1: Start the DVD Troubleshooter

To start the DVD troubleshooter automatically, click here (hcp://help/tshoot/ts_dvd.htm) .

If you are not yet familiar with Windows XP Help and Support Center, we recommend that you start the DVD Troubleshooter by using these steps (to help you become familiar with this feature):

Click Start, and then click Help and Support.
Under Pick a Help Topic, click Fixing a problem.
In the left pane, click Games, sound, and video problems.
In the right pane, click DVD Troubleshooter.

Step 2: Use the DVD Troubleshooter to troubleshoot your issue

Click the option that describes the problem that is occurring, and then click Next.
Repeat step 1 until your problem is resolved or you have reached the end of the troubleshooting path. Note that you can click Back at any time to repeat the last step, or click Start Over to start the DVD Troubleshooter again.

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Recommended Microsoft Knowledge Base articles

For additional information about troubleshooting DVD issues in Windows XP, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

306318 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306318/ ) Troubleshooting DVD playback in Windows Media Player for XP

303278 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/303278/ ) Window Media Player cannot play the DVD because of problems on analog copyright protection

306700 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306700/ ) Audio quality is very poor on high-quality video or DVD

283620 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283620/ ) "Access denied" error message when you try to play DVD on a computer that has a MediaMatics decoder

306713 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306713/ ) You may not be able to use DVD playback on a Windows XP-based computer that is connected to two displays

302899 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302899/ ) DVD playback function does not work during a remote assistance session

321641 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321641/ ) How to troubleshoot issues with reading CD, CD-R, CD-RW, and DVD discs

321640 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321640/ ) CD-ROM drive may not be able to read a UDF-formatted disc in Windows XP

Click here to view a list of other Windows XP DVD-related articles (http://support.microsoft.com/search/default.aspx?catalog=LCID%3D1033&spid=1173&query=dvd&adv=&mode=s&cat=False)

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How to use the Microsoft Product Support Services Web site to find a solution

If you cannot resolve the problem by using the DVD Troubleshooter or by viewing the recommended Microsoft Knowledge Base articles, you can use the Microsoft Product Support Services Web site to find a solution to your problem. Some of the services that the Microsoft Product Support Services Web site provides include:

Searchable knowledge base
To search for technical support information and for self-help tools for Microsoft products, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1?ln=en-us&sd=gn (http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1?ln=en-us&sd=gn)
Frequently asked questions
To view product-specific frequently asked questions and support highlights, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=faqs (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=faqs)
Microsoft product support newsgroups
To contact your counterparts, peers, and Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs), visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx (http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx)
Software and updates
To find software and updates, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Search.aspx (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Search.aspx)
To ask a support question by using the Web, to call Microsoft Product Support Services, or to provide feedback, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=csshome (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=csshome)

For help with CD or DVD drive problems in Windows Vista, visit the following Microsoft web page:

Fix problems in which your CD or DVD drive cannot read or write media in Windows (http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cd_dvd_drive_problems)

Music and sound help with Windows 7 (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/help/music-sound)
No audio in Windows Vista (http://support.microsoft.com/gp/no_sound)
No audio device error message in Windows Vista (http://support.microsoft.com/gp/no_sound)
Sound problems in Windows XP (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307918)

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