Member Avatar for Member #119018

I reinstalled my friend's machine. She is missing a DVD decoder now and cannot play DVDs. Tried downloading the K-Lite Codec Pack and VLC player, but when she plays a DVD with either of those, the video opens in a full screen on her monitor but then she is unable to do anything. She cannot navigate the menus, cannot start/stop/pause or adjust the volume. And more surprisingly she cannot exit the DVD program! Typically popping out the DVD from the drive will cause it freeze on the last frame played, sometimes it will exit the program and return to Windows.

This is a laptop computer with a blown out back light. She has an external monitor
connected to her VGA port on the back of the computer. The only logical explanation I could come up with for this was that because of her external monitor, it was
displaying the video on the "2nd" monitor and then leaving the other "1st" monitor
free for controls or whatever. (Cannot see the "1st" monitor -- lamp is out!)

Does anyone have suggestions as to another free DVD decoder? I have already told her how to request the OEM CDs from Dell and have tried researching for the DVD decoder on Dell's website.

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Dani AI

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For — this kind of freeze often comes from how the video renderer and GPU overlay behave on a multi‑monitor system where the internal panel is present but not visible. Controls can end up rendered on the dark internal screen or the player may be grabbing exclusive input when it goes fullscreen, so mouse/keyboard appear to do nothing.

Practical steps to try (one change at a time):

  • Change the player's video renderer to a non‑overlay/windowed mode and restart the player. In VLC this is under Tools > Preferences > Video > Output module (pick a Direct3D/OpenGL/DirectDraw option and disable any "overlay" or "accelerated" boxes). In Media Player Classic choose a VMR/EVR or Direct3D renderer and turn off overlay.
  • Force the player to open in a window first, then switch to fullscreen from that windowed session. That prevents some players from grabbing exclusive fullscreen resources on the wrong display.
  • If the GPU driver has an "overlay" or hardware acceleration toggle, try disabling it temporarily.

Quick diagnostics:

  • Play a local video file (not the DVD) in the same player and see whether controls work full screen. If they do, the DVD/decoder path is the likely culprit.
  • Try the laptop display hotkey (Fn + display key) or the vendor display utility to make the external monitor the only active screen while testing. This is a faster check than changing many player settings.

Notes: , and have already touched on display and player options; the renderer/overlay switches above are the next targeted checks. Make one change at a time, reboot if a driver or codec is installed, and report the exact player output setting and GPU model if further help is needed.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for Cyber Punk

Ok, that's weird.
Try setting the primary display as the external one.
This option is found in the Display Settings.

Also, update the driver for your DVD reader/writer.

Please get back to me if this works ;)

Member Avatar for ashleythegr8

click here to download media player classic and the problem will be fixed

Member Avatar for Member #119018

Ashley, Media Player Classic is included with the K-Lite Codec Pack. Tried it, same problem and so here I am. I will try updating both drivers and let you know!

Member Avatar for caperjack

right click on the screen when dvd is playing usually gives dvd controls!

Member Avatar for Member #119018

Caper, sorry I did not make it clear in my original post, but she is not able to do that. She is not able to control any part of the DVD playback once it fills her screen. No buttons, no mouse, no keyboard, nothing.

I was able to secure the original Dell CDs for her model computer and we will see if using the programs provided by the manufacturer help out any....

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