DVD decoder missing

[Mr.Girth]

I just reinstalled Windows xp on my laptop. All updates are finished and when trying to play a DVD, it says that the DVD decoder is missing????

With my Compaq laptop, I have the xp cd and also a set of "factory image" cd's. When I run the factory image cd's i have the decoder. Is there anyway to pull the decoder off of the cd's instead of reinstalling everything?? It is not an option.??

[Mr.Girth]

bump

[MScrip]

I doubt you can pull specific programs out of the CD images. They are compressed and are only intended to be installed all at once.

What program is trying to read the DVD? If you're using a 3rd party DVD player, such as WinDVD or PowerDVD, all necessary software should be included. If you're using Windows Media Player to watch DVDs, maybe you need a Windows Update.

[Jake.LD]

you'll need a software decoder to watch DVD's. Like MScrip mentioned, WinDVD and PowerDVD are good choices.

Before you reinstalled XP, what program were you using to play DVD's?