How to Free Play DVDs in Windows 10/8/7 with Windows Media Player
January 22, 2020 11:12Updated by Kevin Miller to Play DVD, Rip DVD
“Why won’t Windows Media Player play my DVD? Windows 10, 64bit.”
As the default media player for Windows users, Windows Media Player supports some common video, audio, even DVD and CD playback.
However, some users report that the problem they cannot watch DVD with Windows Media Player, whether using Windows 10, or Windows 7/8.
Actually, you are allowed to play DVDs with Windows Media Player on Windows 10, 8 and 7, and the preposition is that you get the exact correct ways.
Here are 4 free, but 100% working ways you could follow easily.
In Windows Media Player, you can play audio CD, VCD and DVDs, if you have a DVD drive and a compatible DVD decoder installed on your Windows 7 computer.
Generally speaking, if your computer is built-in a DVD drive, it probably already has a DVD decoder installed on it. If not, you need to find the DVD decoder (another name for MPEG-2 decoder) in the internet.
You could find the DVD decoder in the internet, and install it on your computer.
https://www.windows7codecs.com/ is one of the sites where you can download the DVD decoder, and the installation instructions are easy to follow from its description.
Not only DVD decoder, you could also download MKV codec to playback the MKV files on Windows Media Player easily.
After the DVD decoder is installed successfully, run Windows Media Player. Insert the disc you want to play into the drive, select the DVD title or chapter, and then the disc will start playing automatically.
Note: Caution from Microsoft says they strongly discourage you from installing these codec packs and recommend that you remove them if you have installed them and are having problems with the Player, because the third-party DVD decoder makes it difficult for Microsoft Support to diagnose and troubleshoot playback issues.
Here, another thing you may notice that, this way only works on Windows 7. As for Windows 10 and 8 computers, you need to keep reading to get the solution.
Users in Windows 10 can easily play DVDs with the DVD player app. It lets you watch both commercial and homemade discs in the DVD-Video format. This app requires a DVD-capable optical drive.
Go to Microsoft app store page, type the name of Windows DVD Player in the search bar. Click it to buy the app. Then just install and run this app on your computer.
Insert a DVD disc into your drive and click the Play option for the movie or TV show. You'll have access to the usual array of commands, including Play, Pause, Stop, Fast Forward, Rewind, Control Volume, and Resize Screen.
Pro tips
If you have no plan to open your wallet to get the DVD player app, or install the risky third-party DVD decoder, just convert DVD to Windows Media Player accepted format like WMV, MP4, etc. Windows Media Player lets you rip CD, but no option is left for you to rip DVD.
Blu-ray Master Free DVD Ripper is the free DVD converter to copy DVD to other video formats like MP4, WMV, MP3, etc. so that you are able to watch DVDs in Windows Media Player without any hassle.
Now, let’s check how to play DVDs in Windows Media Player with the free ripper freeware.
Download Free DVD Ripper
Click the download link below to download the free DVD ripping software on your computer, install and run it immediately.
Rip DVD to Windows Media Player
Insert DVD disc to the DVD drive, click "Load Disc" button to load the DVD disc or folder in this software. Select the Windows Media Player supported formats like WMV, MP4, MP3, etc. by clicking the drop-down list of "Profile".
Set the destination to save the converted DVD video file, and edit it if necessary.
Click “Convert” to start to copy DVD to video for Windows Media Player.
The DVD ripping process will take you some time, and just pay more patience. After that, you could open the converted DVD video file with Windows Media Player directly on your computer.
Note: Blu-ray Master Free DVD Ripper is not the only one free DVD ripping software, and VLC, HandBrake, etc. are also in the list. More DVD rippers are here.
Back to the question at the beginning of this post, why Windows Media Player will not play DVD? There are many reasons for explaining it.
It is hard for such common users as you to troubleshoot the problem professionally. As a result, To get rid of the issue, you had better seek for a professional DVD player.
Blu-ray Master Free DVD Player is the free DVD player on Windows 10/8/7/XP. Not only the DVD playback on your computer, it also supports other common video or audio playback, like TS, MTS, MP4, M4V, QT, MOV, MPG, MPEG, MPEG2, MPEG4, MJPG, MJPEG, AVI, FLV, RM, RMVB, WMV, MKV, FLAC, WAV, WMA, MP3, MP2, AAC, AC3, AIFF, M4A, etc.
Moreover, this DVD player also supports Blu-ray playback on your computer. Not every DVD player supports Blu-ray playback. (Can you use DVD player play the Blu-ray files?)
Download Free DVD Player
Click the download link below to access the freeware on your computer. Install it by following the on-screen instructions and launch it immediately.
Play DVD with Free DVD Player
Insert DVD disc into DVD drive or install virtual DVD drive to play DVD ISO image.
Click "Open Disc" button to load the DVD disc or “Open File” to load the DVD ISO files. Select the DVD title or chapter and this software will play DVDs automatically.
Pro tip
1. Why does my DVD not play on Windows Media Player?
Firstly, you should make sure your computer’s optical drive can read DVD files. Then if the DVD is not playing on Windows Media Player and you receive the message pop-up that says compatible DVD decoder not installed, you should install and download the MPEG-2 decoder on Windows Media Player to play the DVD. However, Free Blu-ray Player can play various DVD without installing any codec, and we recommend you downloading this free software for DVD playback.
2. How do I convert MP4 to DVD using Windows Media Player?
Step 1. Open Windows Media Player and then open the Burn tab. Step 2. Drag MP4 files from library to the Burn panel on the right sidebar. Step 3. Select Data CD or DVD from the drop-down button. Step 4. Click Start Burn to create MP4 videos into DVD with Windows Media Player. Windows Media Player does not support to burn the VIDEO_TS files and folders to DVD. For creating the ISO files into DVD, you should use AnyMP4 DVD Creator.
3. How to burn a CD using Windows Media Player?
For burning a video to a CD on Windows 10 using Windows Media Player, you should prepare a blank data CD (store music and videos) or CD (store music files). Step 1. Launch Windows Media Player, select the Burn tab. Step 2. Select the Burn options button and then select Data. Step 3. Insert a blank disc into your CD burner. Step 4. Search and drag the video or music files to the list pane. Step 5. Click Start burn to burn a CD with video or music files.
4. What is the best alternative to Windows Media Player?
Free Blu-ray Player is the best alternative to Windows Media Player to play over 1000 media formats on your Windows 10/8/7 and Mac computer. Without downloading any extra codecs, it can play the media files directly. Moreover, it can play the protected Blu-ray and DVDs from all regions without limits.
This page mainly talks about the topic of playing DVDs with Windows Media Player. Originally Windows Media Player cannot play DVD directly, except that you install the DVD decoder on Windows 7. For Windows 10 users, Windows DVD Player app is the solution to fix it. However, for opening DVDs on Windows 10/8/7 smoothly, you had better rip DVD to Windows Media Player compatible video formats or get a DVD player as the replacement.
Now it comes to your turn.
Which way would you follow? Let me know by leaving your comments below.
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