Looking for simple pc dvd player program

I am searching for a simple pc dvd player...most i have tried are loaded with stuff i am not interested in using...ie graphic equalisers...subtitle overlays..etc

Basically, i want to put burned movie dvd 's in pc ( not actual movie dvd's as i have a dedicated dvd player connected to my tv for this ) and the dvd player pops up and i click play.

I have a media player..Freesmith player but this does not play dvd's automatically ..i have to use file explorer and click on a file Vob.Ts...something ..and click on this to watch dvd.. i have done media associations but Windows media player keeps popping up as default player even though i have Freesmith player as my default player.

I have Vlc videolan player installed at moment but behaves erractically for some reason..

Anyone know of alternatives i could try ?

Thank you

My PC is Intel with Windows 10 pro 1607

treblefree said:

...I have a media player..Freesmith player but this does not play dvd's automatically .... i have done media associations but Windows media player keeps popping up as default player even though i have Freesmith player as my default player.

I have Vlc videolan player installed at moment but behaves erractically for some reason..

It's not the file associations you need to set in order to automatically play DVDs, it's the Autoplay settings. For your VLC problems, if it is not version 2.2.4 try updating it. It's safest to do this from within VLC, use 'Tools > Check for updates...'. If you install (or upgrade) VLC you need to use the custom settings. There is one (unticked by default) to register it as capable of playing DVD movies.

Control Panel gives the greatest control over how Autoplay works, see this tutorial...
Turn On or Off AutoPlay in Windows 10

Your Freesmith player should also be available as an Autoplay option. If it's not it may (like VLC) need you to have chosen to make it available during setup.

In addition to VLC I have the Microsoft Windows DVD Player. I got it free because I upgraded from a Media Centre version of Windows 7, but it's quite cheap in the Store. It's very basic, but reliable.

Thanks for reply..I have the latest VLC player 2.24 installed. I will play around with settings and will re-install Freemith player and see what happens when i put a burned movie dvd disc in my pc...

Will let you know the outcome....probably tomorrow

treblefree said:

Thanks for reply..I have the latest VLC player 2.24 installed...

So have I (now). Prompted by your post, I upgraded my older version. It was when I ran the Custom setup that I spotted you have to explicitly select an option to make to available in AutoPlay for DVD movies. And yes, it does seem to have trouble with some of the DVD movies made by my home DVD recorder - commercial DVDs seem fine, as are ones made with DVD authoring software (DVDStyler) on the PC.

Hello Bree...

Right.... i have managed to get Freesmith player to play burned dvd movie discs..with a workaround...Autoplay settings does not show Freesmith player in any of the settings ...nor can i make Freesmith player my default player...i have to associate a particular video file to it.

So, i uninstalled Vlc player as when i converted a video file there was no sound...it's to fiddly to use for me..

I then put a burned movie dvd disc - a box popped on top right of desktop stating ' what do you want to do with dvd...look for dvd app in or take no action', i clicked of that ---opened up Freesmith player and went to settings menu and highlighted the dvd drive..and dvd disc played ok...

See attached screenshot of what i mean ( jpg format )

Freesmith player does not automatically play dvd discs...you manually have to tell it to play them.

Hi there

To make a DVD playable on most devices you need to "Finalize" it which makes it playable on things like domestic DVD players --these devices can't usually play what is known as "Open Multi-session" discs so the "finalising" closes the DVD and sets it that no more data can be written to it.

Modern DVD authoring software will do that automatically - but if you created those DVD's a long time ago then the chances are you will have to finalize them manually with your DVD authoring software.

Cheers
jimbo

Hello Jimbo45,

Thanks for reply.I use Freemake Video Converter as the burned dvd discs play on my dedicated DVD player connected to my hd tv... ( i have quite a few burned ages ago ) and they play perfectly well...and they are finalised as i cannot add anything else to them.
Also i have a Panasonic VHS to DVD player and the burned dvd discs play ok aswell on pc without any problems as i mainly use branded quality 4.8Gb DVD+R and DVD+RW and not cheap ones.