How To Watch A Dvd On Windows 10

Yous tin can play a DVD in Windows 10 for gratis with a petty help. Just that help's probably best if it doesn't come from Microsoft. I'll tell you how Microsoft'south solution sort-of works for some people. So I'll tell you about the much better culling chosen VLC that anyone tin can use and gets regular updates. Best of all, information technology'southward free!

Updated March 22, 2019, with a 2nd wait at the Windows Shop app.

When Windows 10 came forth in 2015, it left backside Windows Media Eye, a utility for home theater PCs that allow you play DVDs on your computer. Windows eight didn't come with it either, simply users running Windows 8 Pro could still install Windows Media Centre.

Fifty-fifty that workaround is now gone. Windows Media Center but doesn't work. Microsoft offers an official solution for DVD playback, but, well, it's bad.

Windows DVD Histrion from Microsoft is a $xv Windows Store app. It's a no-frills utility that should just work, but when I tested the app it did anything but. I'thou not the merely i who experienced this. Checking out the latest reviews, it appears the problems with Windows DVD Player persist since its launch.

Windows DVD Player: Striking or miss

Users who upgraded to Windows ten from Windows 7, or from Windows 8 with Windows Media Center, should've received a free re-create of Windows DVD Player. Check the Windows Store, 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 word of warning: I got Windows DVD Player for free after upgrading from Windows viii.1 with Windows Media Center in 2015. Once I did a clean install of Windows 10 after upgrading, nevertheless, I lost the correct to download Windows DVD Player for free.

That said, if you practice fork over the $15 yous can install the app on whatever of your Windows devices.

I tested Windows DVD Player with an Acer Aspire East fifteen laptop running Windows ten Home version 1803, an internal DVD player/burner, and five commercial DVDs.

Microsoft offers a 7-twenty-four hour period free trial in order to exam the app. That's helpful, given that Microsoft doesn't offer refunds for its DVD actor, only the trial version doesn't allow you 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, but there information technology is. In my tests on the Acer Aspire, the compatibility bank check didn't piece of work. Instead of showing a "become/no become" result, the app but kept crashing.

With no luck on the Acer, I turned to my trusty Lenovo X220 and an external Transcend standard DVD player/burner. This philharmonic worked with Microsoft'south DVD Player app in 2015 and, as it turns out, nonetheless does. So to recap, my 7-year-old Sandy Bridge PC also running Windows x 1803 was compatible, while an Acer Aspire with the more modern Kaby Lake processor wasn't. Way to move with the times, Microsoft.

windowsdvdplayer resized — Windows DVD Player in action

So at present that I know the DVD role player works with the Lenovo, it's time to invest $15 of PCWorld's difficult-earned coin to see how it plays actual movies. All five DVDs I tested worked, ranging from studio movies to exercise videos. Once I inserted a deejay all I had to do was burn up Windows DVD Player, and the disc started playing afterward a few minutes. Controls are like shooting fish in a barrel enough to manipulate with a mouse, and it covers all the basics: play/pause, fast forrard, rewind, and chapter skipping. There are likewise controls subconscious under iii dots to jump dorsum to the DVD carte du jour.

I encountered one annoyance, where some DVD menus couldn't be navigated properly. You'd click on the option to play the full motion-picture show, and cease up on a settings screen instead—the menu option right below the one y'all wanted. This didn't happen with every DVD, but I did see it once or twice.

Considering I now had a full version of the DVD player I decided to test it on the Aspire E15 again, but in case the compatibility test was faulty. All those multiple crashes were correct, however, and the Acer failed to play the same v discs used on the Lenovo. That compatibility bank check is a key test if you lot're considering purchasing this app. Withal, I wouldn't recommend wasting your money even if it does work.

For starters, the app is very bare-basic. The features and interface haven't changed much, if at all, since it first rolled out in 2015. Taking a look at the electric current reviews in the Windows Shop, some users are also however experiencing playback bug. Information technology's non even worth $0.99, permit alone $xv.

The good news for those of yous who however want to play DVDs in their PC is there's a much amend free selection available for PCs.

VideoLAN VLC for the win

If you're using a pre-built, boxed PC from a vendor like Dell or HP, your PC may already have a free commercial DVD playback solution installed.

If non, a amend culling to Microsoft'south Windows ten DVD Role player is to turn to the free and always reliable VLC video player. Make sure you download the desktop app and non the Windows Store version, which doesn't back up DVDs or Blu-ray.

Once it's installed, open the program, insert a DVD, and click on Media > Open Disc to lookout man your DVDs.

Information technology's really that simple, though VLC packs surprising hidden powers for anyone who wants to dive a piffling 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 than.

Additional reporting by Brad Chacos