Windows Media Player cannot play this DVD because there is a problem with digital copy protection between your DVD drive, decoder, and video card. Try installing an updated driver for your video card.

Anonymous
2009-06-20T14:51:43+00:00

I am having difficulty watching DVD on Windows Media Player Inspiron Dell Laptop.  I get so far into the dvd and then the playback stops and the CD/DVD drive starts making a noise that sounds like the DVD is either stuck or catching, this has happened a couple of times burning CD's to itunes.  I can eject the DVD and when I do I get the following error message

Windows Media Player cannot play this DVD because there is a problem with digital copy protection between your DVD drive, decoder, and video card. Try installing an updated driver for your video card.

I.ve used the windows web help, I've downloaded the latest driver from Dell (nVidia) which is also the advice given on one the forum pages but still getting the same problem. I've also downloaded the Windows Automatic Fix application but this has not resolved it either.  I am using Windows Vista.

Can you help!!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2009-06-21T02:01:15+00:00

Hi Dansue,

Thank you for posting on the forum.

Sounds like you’re CD\DVD drive is starting to fail. Check with Dell to see if they have an updated firmware and Driver for your CD\DVD drive.  Uninstall the current driver that windows is using and install the updated one.  If you’re still hearing that catching sound, then it’s more likely that you’re CD\DVD drive needs to be changed.

Hope that helps, please post back and let us know.

JohnD

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-01-29T12:27:35+00:00

    I was getting the exact same error on the DVD "The Men Who Stare At Goats". I'm using a modern (Dec 2010) Dell and I'd never had a problem with a DVD up until that point, so it was a little weird.

    The way I fixed it was to update the firmware in my DVD drive. I installed the relevant update from the Dell website but I'm sure each manufacturer publish firmware updates on their respective sites.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-01-15T00:42:32+00:00

    @adamj: Your solution guided me in to the right direction...

    I had a similar problem and turned out to be a problem with a virtual drive and burning software (loaded in the background). The problem disappeared after closing everything related to that software. (Nero & Virtual clone Drive).

    Thanks a lot!

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-12-30T15:49:30+00:00

    I never use window media player for dvds.  I use PowerDVD.  Anything else may work too.  Media player is junk for most things.

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-12-11T06:19:43+00:00

    My DVDs were playing fine until I had started running a Virtual Machine under VMware in the background. I use VMware to run a linux server on which I develop websites. One day, I decided to take a break from system admin and just minimized the VM. I popped-in my Red Dwarf DVD and proceeded to watch a few episodes. I didn't get very far. This message would appear after skipping though logos at the beginning of the DVD, just before presenting the menu animation.

    I searched Google, found this thread, and bemoaned the possibility of having to buy something else just to play a DVD I have already paid for on a computer I have already paid for, in an Operating System I have already paid for... Anyway, I thought about the fact that I was still running my VM in the background. (I usually do not have it running when I watch DVDs.)

    I shutdown my CentOS Server and closed VMware. Wow! My DVD now plays!!

    Obviously, either VMware or Microsoft  or both of them need to iron this out... What are we to go back to the days of being able to run only one program at a time on our suped-up desktops? I am running Windows 7 64-bit with all current updates. I am running VMware 7.1.0, which I just purchased and installed the other day. It is the most recent version.

    Just more food for thought... Good luck to those of you still suffering with this problem. My guess is that it might have something to do with a virtualization application or an application which virtualizes some piece of hardware being present. Maybe an ISO mounting application???

    Awesome, Adamj.  I just ran into this issue for the first time, and I play RedBox DVDs all the time.  I nearly always have a VM running in the background, so I didn't have much hope this would work, but it damn sure did.  Thanks for saving me a crapload of time and effort to debug this!

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