DVD Regional Code on PC

[TARDIS]

Is there anyway to unlock the region setting on a PC DVD? I have region 1 and 2 DVD's but can only change the region (I think) 4 times? Is there anyway to cancel this like I did with my DVD player?

 

[howardb]

Which make and model DVD drive do you have? You can try flashing the drive firmware to RPC1/2 if available for your drive it will void the warranty in most cases and you can knacker your drive if you choose the wrong firmware - maybe rather use something like AnyDVD instead...

 

[arf9999]

http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvd.html

 

[LazyLion]

DVD43 is Free!

http://www.dvd43.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD43

 

[Sackboy]

A lot of us just use a different media player like VLC. It doesn't check regions.

 

[TARDIS]

Thanks! I know this may sound strange but this is my first personal PC with internet! So I'm very new at this. I will try all of the above.

 

[howardb]

Enjoy your PC! Welcome to the digital age!

Shout if you get stuck...

 

[Sackboy]

http://www.videolan.org/mirror-geo.php?file=vlc/0.9.8a/win32/vlc-0.9.8a-win32.exe

I don't know anyone without this little player.
Enjoy!

 

[Chevron]

VLC is definitely the easiest way. It just works.

 

[Dolby]

Out of interest - why does firmware kill something?

Isn't firmware only software - and unless hardware is broken, it's fixable?

I know it is broken - but just wondering why

 

[mercurial]

Firmware is software specifically for devices, such as HDDs and optical drives. It's like the HDDs or optical drives' operating system.

 

[Sackboy]

Blame the chips that hold the firmware. It can be a tricky business messing with loaders and the like.

 

[Dolby]

Yea but can't you erase it somehow?

Surely if you mess uo, there's a way to revert?

I mean if I buy a R5000,00 cellphone, update firmware and something goes wrong - that's my entire cell gone? Even though all hardware works 100% and the phone is a week old?

 

[mercurial]

You can revert to old firmware if you have the old firmware and know how to do it.

 

[Sackboy]

Yea but can't you erase it somehow?

Surely if you mess uo, there's a way to revert?

I mean if I buy a R5000,00 cellphone, update firmware and something goes wrong - that's my entire cell gone? Even though all hardware works 100% and the phone is a week old?

There are ways to fix these things, but it's a different procedure and sometimes involves other hardware (Jtag)

 

[TARDIS]

Enjoy your PC! Welcome to the digital age!

Shout if you get stuck...

Thanks HowardB I will! I've been working on PCs at work for a long time but it just feels different having my own to play with!

I downloaded VLC and it worked on the region 1 and 2 DVD! So thanks all for help.