External DVD-RW problem/question

Hello everybody, newbie to the forum but a long time AA1 user.

Just recently I purchased an Acer 8X external optical drive (model ESW860). It seems to do everything it's supposed to do with one exception; it won't play a DVD, which is the main reason I bought it.

It will play a music CD, I can burn a CD from iTunes, I can burn files to a CD, but for the life of me I cannot get it to play a DVD.

I installed the included WinDVD 5 software, but every time I try to play a DVD, it comes up with an error message saying that the program has encountered a problem and needs to close. I get the same error message with the same results if I try to play it through Windows Media Player 11.

Thinking that perhaps there was something wrong with the drive, I plugged it into my desktop PC and it played the DVD with no problem whatsoever.

So, does anyone have any idea what could possibly be missing from my AA1 that prevents DVDs from playing?

Any info / hints / comments / suggestions / solutions will be greatly appreciated . Many thanks in advance.

Adam

MOD EDIT: Changed your topic title to something a bit more appropriate

 

Re: External hard drive problem/question

Try uninstalling the WinDVD software it's not necessary for DVD playback
Then try playing the DVD through Windows Media Player 11

You might also want to install a decent codec pack to enable playback of not only DVD's, but hundreds of other media file types. Personally I prefer the K-Lite Mega CoDec Pack
Link here http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_L ... c_Pack.htm
If you choose the K-Lite Mega CoDec pack, when installing choose "Lots of Stuff Without Player", that way you'll get all the codecs and enable WMP to play virtually all file types.

 

Re: External hard drive problem/question

I've tried it with and without WinDVD installed, and either way I still had the same problem.

I'm at work right now, so I can't try the codec download, but that sounds like it might work. Once I get home I'll download the pack and see what happens.

Thanks for the information. I really appreciate it.

Adam

 

Okay, followed the link, downloaded and installed the codec pack, and all I can say is.....

SUCCESS!!!

That seemed to do the trick. I tried with about 6 different DVDs, and all of them played without a hitch.

Thank you so much for that link. I really, really appreciate it!!

Adam

 

haha no probs glad to hear its fixed