Hi,

I just finished a DVD (using Vegas and DVD Architect). The video plays fine on a standalone DVD player, but not on the PC. Error message says some codec is missing. I'm using Windows Media Center Edition. Where can I get this "missing codec".

Thanks,

You may need the mpeg/DVD codec to play the movie. This does not come with Windows and usually is NOT free. DVD player software like PowerDVD and WinDVD is what you will need to install as they have the codec you are in need of.

It's absurd that an OS advertised as Media Center Edition lacks the MPEG-2 decoder to play a commercial movie DVD. I was indeed directed to where I could purchase the required codec. I ended up installing another copy of Nero I had lying around, and all's fine now.

Thanks,

This is free DVD player software:

http://www.avsmedia.com/DVDPlayer/index.aspx

I loaded it on a machine I built for my grandkids, and it seems to work ok.

There are tons of free pieces of software you can download to play DVDs on a PC. A very simple and rock solid one, that plays pretty much any file as long as the codec is installed, is MPlayer Classic (has mpeg2 codec included). If you also install a (free) QT Alternative codec, it will play QT movies, sparing you from the huge "official" QT install that comes with iTunes and all the other garbage designed to clog your PC.

The mpeg2 codec is free for decoding/playback, you only need to purchase it to encode mpeg2 (unless, of course, you purchase specific software for mpeg2 encoding/DVD authoring). The funny thing is that most of the authoring softwares do not have the decoder (only the encoder)...

Thanks guys, I appreciate the help.