[kidco]

Here's a challenge question for computer-savvy types:

We have a laptop on which we've played both North American and European format DVDs. Each time we switched from 1 format to another, the laptop asked us to change regional codes - then warned us when we had approached doing this 5 or so times. We sort of ignored the messages, thinking: why on earth should it matter how often we switched formats - especially as we weren't playing anything pirated or the like.

Well...now our computer is indeed "locked" on the European format, and we can't watch anything on another format. What's up with that?

Anyways, I have read up on this and see that this is what various industry groups do to protect their turf, or whatever. So, is there any way I can get around this?

A solution will be greeted with many a :clap and :raebanana ...

Cheers,

Kidco

[CityBlue]

Sorry not a clue but if this happened to me I would google it (which I assume you have done?) and then start looking for a computer forum I could join to ask the question on.

Good luck and if you find out the answer please post it here.

[IanW99]

It is sometimes possible to reset the counter or to change the software / DVD player to a different region code or make it multi-region.

Unfortunately, what you need to do is very laptop / software / dvd player specific so without knowing more, it would be very difficult to offer any advice.

Doing a google search on "region free" or "mutli region" should bring up some useful info.

You could also contact the supplier to see if they can help you reset it, but officially they should only allow one region so you may need to decide which region you prefer.

Ian

[suebeenz]

Hi Kidco,

Once your dvd drive has reached the limit of number of region changes, I'm quite certain you're out of luck. This is particularly frustrating, because when you rent DVDs from local stores in NZ, they often are from different DVD regions (not NZ). Very annoying indeed.

Fortunately, I've noticed that most DVD set-top players that you hook up to r TV, support all regions.

Sorry not the answer you were hoping for!

[Questor]

There is a solution, though unless you know of "other" ways to get things (not that I'm condoning these mind you) it will cost you a little bit of money.

A program called DVD Region +CSS Free will let you watch any DVD on any drive, regardless of how many changes you've made.
http://www.dvdidle.com/dvd-region-free.htm

Another option is to find RPC2 firmware for your DVD drive, and flash it in DOS, but that's not recommended for the faint hearted!

Jon

[NickB]

I used to use DVD Region + CSS free and it is indeed very good. But you have to pay for it.

You might consider instead using the free VLC player from http://www.videolan.org (http://www.videolan.org/). It works on both Windows and Mac, will play pretty much anything & the region lock won't apply. I hardly ever use anything else these days :)

[ellenmelon]

I used to use DVD Region + CSS free and it is indeed very good. But you have to pay for it.

You might consider instead using the free VLC player from http://www.videolan.org (http://www.videolan.org/). It works on both Windows and Mac, will play pretty much anything & the region lock won't apply. I hardly ever use anything else these days :)

I second VLC! :)

[Questor]

VLC is great as a software solution, when you've not used up your region changes for the drive, Apart from flashing your firmware, DVD Region +CSS Free is the only one I've come across.

*cough* Bittorrent *cough*

[CJ22]

*cough* Usenet *cough*

[dilanium]

You can also rip the dvds and save them as files on your computer then play them. Which according to my OH allows us to bypass the changing of the region format issue.

[CJ22]

Liz, yes it does. You just need a big hard-adrive if you're going to do it often. And of course it takes time, so you can't just slap it in and start playing.

[BigBen]

a software called DVD region free, will crack it!
Try to Google it