How to Read Dvd on Windows 10
Y'all tin play a DVD in Windows 10 for gratuitous with a picayune help. Merely that help'due south probably best if information technology doesn't come up from Microsoft. I'll tell yous how Microsoft's solution sort-of works for some people. So I'll tell you about the much improve culling called VLC that anyone can utilise and gets regular updates. Best of all, it'due south free!
Updated March 22, 2019, with a 2nd look at the Windows Shop app.
When Windows 10 came along in 2015, it left behind Windows Media Center, a utility for home theater PCs that let you play DVDs on your computer. Windows viii didn't come up with information technology either, merely users running Windows 8 Pro could still install Windows Media Centre.
Even that workaround is at present gone. Windows Media Heart simply doesn't work. Microsoft offers an official solution for DVD playback, but, well, it'south bad.
Windows DVD Player from Microsoft is a $15 Windows Store app. It's a no-frills utility that should just work, but when I tested the app it did anything but. I'm not the simply 1 who experienced this. Checking out the latest reviews, it appears the problems with Windows DVD Player persist since its launch.
Windows DVD Histrion: Hit or miss
Windows DVD Player in Windows 10.
Users who upgraded to Windows x from Windows 7, or from Windows 8 with Windows Media Middle, should've received a free re-create of Windows DVD Role player. Check the Windows Shop, and you should be able to download information technology for free. If you've got a new PC, however, you're out of luck for this freebie.
A give-and-take of alarm: I got Windows DVD Player for free after upgrading from Windows 8.i with Windows Media Center in 2015. Once I did a make clean install of Windows x later on upgrading, however, I lost the right to download Windows DVD Player for gratuitous.
That said, if you do fork over the $xv y'all tin can install the app on whatever of your Windows devices.
I tested Windows DVD Role player with an Acer Aspire Due east 15 laptop running Windows x Domicile version 1803, an internal DVD player/burner, and five commercial DVDs.
Microsoft offers a seven-mean solar day gratuitous trial in society to exam the app. That's helpful, given that Microsoft doesn't offer refunds for its DVD thespian, but the trial version doesn't allow y'all to play movies. Instead, it merely checks your arrangement for "compatibility," a procedure that takes a few minutes.
The idea that DVD software in 2019 needs to run a compatibility check is ridiculous, simply there it is. In my tests on the Acer Aspire, the compatibility check didn't work. Instead of showing a "go/no get" result, the app just kept crashing.
With no luck on the Acer, I turned to my trusty Lenovo X220 and an external Transcend standard DVD player/burner. This combo worked with Microsoft'south DVD Player app in 2015 and, as it turns out, nevertheless does. So to recap, my 7-twelvemonth-old Sandy Bridge PC also running Windows ten 1803 was uniform, while an Acer Aspire with the more than modernistic Kaby Lake processor wasn't. Style to movement with the times, Microsoft.
Ian Paul/IDG Windows DVD Player in action
So now that I know the DVD actor works with the Lenovo, it's time to invest $15 of PCWorld'south hard-earned money to see how it plays actual movies. All 5 DVDs I tested worked, ranging from studio movies to exercise videos. In one case I inserted a disk all I had to do was burn upward Windows DVD Player, and the disc started playing after a few minutes. Controls are piece of cake enough to dispense with a mouse, and information technology covers all the basics: play/break, fast forward, rewind, and chapter skipping. At that place are too controls hidden under three dots to bound back to the DVD carte.
I encountered i badgerer, where some DVD menus couldn't be navigated properly. You lot'd click on the choice to play the full movie, and stop upward on a settings screen instead—the menu pick right below the 1 you wanted. This didn't happen with every DVD, only I did meet it one time or twice.
Considering I now had a total version of the DVD player I decided to test it on the Aspire E15 once again, just in case the compatibility test was faulty. All those multiple crashes were right, notwithstanding, and the Acer failed to play the aforementioned five discs used on the Lenovo. That compatibility check is a key test if you're considering purchasing this app. However, I wouldn't recommend wasting your money even if it does piece of work.
For starters, the app is very bare-bones. The features and interface haven't changed much, if at all, since it get-go rolled out in 2015. Taking a wait at the current reviews in the Windows Store, some users are also still experiencing playback problems. It'southward not even worth $0.99, allow alone $15.
The good news for those of you lot who still want to play DVDs in their PC is there's a much ameliorate free option available for PCs.
VideoLAN VLC for the win
VLC running on Windows ten.
If you're using a pre-built, boxed PC from a vendor similar Dell or HP, your PC may already take a free commercial DVD playback solution installed.
If non, a better alternative to Microsoft's Windows 10 DVD Player is to turn to the free and always reliable VLC video actor. Make certain you download the desktop app and not the Windows Store version, which doesn't support DVDs or Blu-ray.
One time it's installed, open the programme, insert a DVD, and click on Media > Open Disc to sentry your DVDs.
It'south really that uncomplicated, though VLC packs surprising hidden powers for anyone who wants to dive a little deeper. VLC 3.0, for example, added the ability to cast videos and music to Chromecast devices, 360-degree and HDR video support, high-definition audio codec passthrough, and more.
Additional reporting by Brad Chacos
Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/422753/how-to-play-dvds-in-windows-10-for-free.html