DVD Decoder

I have windows XP media center. Recently had a hard drive go bad on my gateway computer. Took it in and they put new hardrive and used a copy of their win xp media center to load onto computer with my KEY. I couldnt find the disk that came with the laptop. When I try to run a DVD it says no DVD decoder. What can i do to fix this so i can play DVD's again, it worked before the new hardrive.

 

try here..

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/plugins.aspx

 

I believe KLite codec pack full or mega version includes a DVD decoder. It is very reliable and I've never had a problem playing any kind of video file (including DVD) once installed.

 

This is free so thtats great, will I have to know what hardware I have or will it just manually install so that i don't have to customize it or figure out what to load and not load?

 

Thx, I went to that page figuring Microsoft would have something so that i could use their player. I don't believe they do. It seems that I would have to buy something to get it to work.

 

Just install the KLite pack. You will have the option to change a bunch of the installed components, but you really don't have to mess with it. You can just click Next all the way through the install. Most of the KLite packs also include Media Player Classic which looks exactly like the old Windows Media Player from Win95/98, but it has TONS of great features. I use it (and the KLite Mega Pack) as my default media player for everything: music, video files, DVD discs, etc....

 

So which one should I do? The K-Lite Codec Pack Full 4.3.4, K-Lite Codec Pack Standard 4.3.4, or K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 4.3.4. Sorry just want to make sure.

 

I would go with Full or Mega. Either will give you all the codecs you should ever need. The difference between Mega and Full is that Mega includes Real Alternative that allows you to play Real Media files without installing Real Player. I'm no fan of RP so I like Real Alternative. Not so many Real Media files out there these days so it is up to you.

Edit here is the link to the different variants http://www.codecguide.com/about_kl.htm It looks like standard should be fine but like I said it is a very reliable codec pack and I install the Mega version on any fresh OS install so that I don't EVER have to worry about a codec not found error. I've never had a conflict problem. If you want set a System Restore point just before install and you can rollback if you can't play your DVDs.