DVDs won't play

[ram16]

I'm resurrecting an old computer. It has an ASUS A7V8X MB, Athlon XP 3000+ CPU, 512 MB DDR, TI4400 GPU, one Plextor & one Samsung DVD burners & a fresh install of XP PRO. The problem is that XP freezes completely (requires restart) as soon as any DVD begins to open. CDs run fine. I feel this must be a software problem because a week ago the same machine with a different HDD running XP HOME played DVDs fine. I've tried both WMP & VLC and both freeze. BTW, I have installed an mpeg 2 decoder for WMP. I'm stumped.

[setarip_old]

If you haven't already done so, you might try downloading and installing SP2 and SP3 - and then see if the behavior changes...

[ram16]

If you haven't already done so, you might try downloading and installing SP2 and SP3 - and then see if the behavior changes...

XP is current, however I did install WMP 11 and it now plays DVDs. VLC, however is still "no joy" even after I upgraded it.

[CWR03]

Do you have an actual software DVD player installed, such as PowerDVD?

[ram16]

Do you have an actual software DVD player installed, such as PowerDVD?

Actually, I can't find my disk for Power DVD or I would have tried it by now. All the downloads I can find are trials. Does VLC not qualify as a "DVD player"?

[setarip_old]

Yes, VLC should certainly be capable of playing your standard DVDs...