DVD player problem

[Jo-Anne]

Using WinXP. I like to play my DVDs with VLC Media Player--and with the help
of people in this newsgroup I was able to make it my default player and to
use Autoplay, so that when I inserted a DVD into my drive, VLC Media Player
opened and began playing the DVD.

Today I played two of three DVDs in a newly purchased set the usual way.
However, when I inserted the third DVD, Cyberlink PowerDVD opened it
instead. I exited the program and opened the drive. I then went to Windows
Explorer, right-clicked on the drive, clicked on Properties, clicked on
Autoplay, chose DVD movies, clicked on VLC, and clicked OK. Then I
reinserted the DVD into the drive and tried again. And again it opened with
PowerDVD.

I removed that DVD from the drive and put in one of the earlier ones--and it
opened in VLC Media Player. I put the "bad" one back in, and it opened in
PowerDVD.

I bought this DVD set from an Amazon third party. It's supposed to be brand
new.

Any idea of what's happening--and what I can do to fix the problem?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

 

[Patok]

Using WinXP. I like to play my DVDs with VLC Media Player--and with the help
of people in this newsgroup I was able to make it my default player and to
use Autoplay, so that when I inserted a DVD into my drive, VLC Media Player
opened and began playing the DVD.

Today I played two of three DVDs in a newly purchased set the usual way.
However, when I inserted the third DVD, Cyberlink PowerDVD opened it
instead. I exited the program and opened the drive. I then went to Windows
Explorer, right-clicked on the drive, clicked on Properties, clicked on
Autoplay, chose DVD movies, clicked on VLC, and clicked OK. Then I
reinserted the DVD into the drive and tried again. And again it opened with
PowerDVD.

I removed that DVD from the drive and put in one of the earlier ones--and it
opened in VLC Media Player. I put the "bad" one back in, and it opened in
PowerDVD.

I bought this DVD set from an Amazon third party. It's supposed to be brand
new.

Any idea of what's happening--and what I can do to fix the problem?

Since the other DVDs still play the way you want them to, it means
that this particular DVD is not being recognized as "DVD movies", but
as some other type, where the association is not with VLC, but with
CyberLink. Open the Autoplay properties again, and check to see what
other types are associated with CyberLink. If there are any, change
them to VLC too. (Is it actually a DVD? It could be recognized as
"Video Files". Or it might be a mixed media disk - containing other
file types as well - music, pictures, programs.)

 

[Jo-Anne]

Since the other DVDs still play the way you want them to, it means that
this particular DVD is not being recognized as "DVD movies", but as some
other type, where the association is not with VLC, but with CyberLink.
Open the Autoplay properties again, and check to see what other types are
associated with CyberLink. If there are any, change them to VLC too. (Is
it actually a DVD? It could be recognized as "Video Files". Or it might be
a mixed media disk - containing other file types as well - music,
pictures, programs.)

Thank you for the advice, Patok! It didn't work, though. I chose VLC for all
the associations offered. There were three where it didn't show
up--Pictures, Mixed Content, and HD DVD. For those three I chose "No
Action." But when I put the DVD into the drive again, it started with
PowerDVD.

One other note: Among the Autoplay choices for "DVD Movie" is "Play DVD
Video using PowerDVD." I definitely chose "Play DVD Movie using VLC" in that
section. But why is DVD Video even mentioned there? If that might be the
problem, is there a way to eliminate that choice? It's the only place under
Autoplay that PowerDVD is mentioned.

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

 

[Paul]

Thank you for the advice, Patok! It didn't work, though. I chose VLC for all
the associations offered. There were three where it didn't show
up--Pictures, Mixed Content, and HD DVD. For those three I chose "No
Action." But when I put the DVD into the drive again, it started with
PowerDVD.

One other note: Among the Autoplay choices for "DVD Movie" is "Play DVD
Video using PowerDVD." I definitely chose "Play DVD Movie using VLC" in that
section. But why is DVD Video even mentioned there? If that might be the
problem, is there a way to eliminate that choice? It's the only place under
Autoplay that PowerDVD is mentioned.

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

I find PowerDVD to be annoying in that regard.

When you install PowerDVD, it has a startup item that runs, and that
is what is "watching" the DVD drive, for movies. So it doesn't have
to play by the rules, and can ignore some of the other techniques.

Using Sysinternals "autoruns", I can see an entry for PDVDServ.exe
belonging to Cyberlink Corp.

There are tick boxes in the autoruns window, and one of those will
allow you to turn off PDVDServ.exe, so it won't be launched on the
next boot.

You may also be able to find it in Task Manager. Kill PDVDServ then
insert the movie disc, and see if VLC gets to play it. A more
permanent solution, is to zap the startup of that thing, via autoruns.

Autoruns
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902

Paul

 

[Jo-Anne]

I find PowerDVD to be annoying in that regard.

When you install PowerDVD, it has a startup item that runs, and that
is what is "watching" the DVD drive, for movies. So it doesn't have
to play by the rules, and can ignore some of the other techniques.

Using Sysinternals "autoruns", I can see an entry for PDVDServ.exe
belonging to Cyberlink Corp.

There are tick boxes in the autoruns window, and one of those will
allow you to turn off PDVDServ.exe, so it won't be launched on the
next boot.

You may also be able to find it in Task Manager. Kill PDVDServ then
insert the movie disc, and see if VLC gets to play it. A more
permanent solution, is to zap the startup of that thing, via autoruns.

Autoruns
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902

Paul

Thank you, Paul! I wonder if the best solution might be to remove the
PowerDVD program entirely--or perhaps, less drastically, to rename the
PDVDServ.exe file. (I saw that file earlier. I tried renaming the main
program, but all that did was stop anything from happening when the DVD was
inserted.) I never use PowerDVD; I think it came with my laptop.

I do have Autoruns installed, so I could go that route. But is there any
reason to keep PowerDVD on my computer?

Thank you again,

Jo-Anne

 

[Paul]

Thank you, Paul! I wonder if the best solution might be to remove the
PowerDVD program entirely--or perhaps, less drastically, to rename the
PDVDServ.exe file. (I saw that file earlier. I tried renaming the main
program, but all that did was stop anything from happening when the DVD was
inserted.) I never use PowerDVD; I think it came with my laptop.

I do have Autoruns installed, so I could go that route. But is there any
reason to keep PowerDVD on my computer?

Thank you again,

Jo-Anne

I don't see a problem keeping it installed. You can still start the program
manually, if you want to use it to view content, and I presume it still works
that way. Disabling PDVDServ is just to keep it from being too "greedy".

Paul

 

[Jo-Anne]

I don't see a problem keeping it installed. You can still start the
program
manually, if you want to use it to view content, and I presume it still
works
that way. Disabling PDVDServ is just to keep it from being too "greedy".

Paul

Thank you again, Paul! Here's an interesting development. I stopped the
PDVDServ process with Task Manager and inserted the disc again. This time,
what came up was an attempt to install HotLlama Media Player. I refused the
installation and Googled that program--and found that someone else had had
the same thing happen when his kids were watching a DVD of the same series
that I've been watching. What on earth is going on???

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

 

[Paul]

Thank you again, Paul! Here's an interesting development. I stopped the
PDVDServ process with Task Manager and inserted the disc again. This time,
what came up was an attempt to install HotLlama Media Player. I refused the
installation and Googled that program--and found that someone else had had
the same thing happen when his kids were watching a DVD of the same series
that I've been watching. What on earth is going on???

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

So is that program on the DVD itself, and triggered by an autorun.inf file
on the DVD ?

I'd be examining the DVD to see how it is constructed.

http://forums.techguy.org/virus-other-malware-removal/381057-hotllama-hell.html

"I found out from Llama that some DVD come with
hotllama on them. How nice of them! "

So it's possible this is executing from the DVD itself.

*******

This "tome" happens to have a couple "Fixit" files part way down.
There are also some pre-requisite installs.

"How to disable the Autorun functionality in Windows"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967715

Will there be side effects from doing that ? Not if you've
set a System Restore point, done a backup, or used other
forms of insurance... If you've done such, you can always
roll back the system if you don't like the results.

As it is, I'm wondering if the hotllama thing has made a home
for itself on your hard drive.

Paul

 

[Patok]

Thank you again, Paul! Here's an interesting development. I stopped the
PDVDServ process with Task Manager and inserted the disc again. This time,
what came up was an attempt to install HotLlama Media Player. I refused the
installation and Googled that program--and found that someone else had had
the same thing happen when his kids were watching a DVD of the same series
that I've been watching. What on earth is going on???

What's going on is you're beginning to see why some of us (I don't
know if Paul is among us, hope so ) have disabled auto-run and
auto-play and anything auto on our machines. When I insert a CD/DVD, I
don't want it to start playing or executing or whatever; *I* want to
be in control. I am fully competent to start the application I know
will do what I need; I don't trust Windows to decide instead of me.
Unfortunately, this is not a solution for everybody; some people
are really computer illiterate and have no other recourse. This
exposes them to the Sony rootkit and to what you experienced, but they
have no other options. You, however, seem literate enough to be able
to choose for yourself; I don't presuppose to give you advice, but
consider disabling any and all autoruns on your computer, and starting
the programs you want manually.
As to that particular HotLlama annoyance - sorry, can't help.
Never (obviously) seen it.

 

[Jo-Anne]

So is that program on the DVD itself, and triggered by an autorun.inf file
on the DVD ?

I'd be examining the DVD to see how it is constructed.

http://forums.techguy.org/virus-other-malware-removal/381057-hotllama-hell.html

"I found out from Llama that some DVD come with
hotllama on them. How nice of them! "

So it's possible this is executing from the DVD itself.

*******

This "tome" happens to have a couple "Fixit" files part way down.
There are also some pre-requisite installs.

"How to disable the Autorun functionality in Windows"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967715

Will there be side effects from doing that ? Not if you've
set a System Restore point, done a backup, or used other
forms of insurance... If you've done such, you can always
roll back the system if you don't like the results.

As it is, I'm wondering if the hotllama thing has made a home
for itself on your hard drive.

Paul

I don't think it has, since I stopped the installation and haven't had it
show up again. From what I can tell, there's something on the particular DVD
that needs HotLlama to run it--or perhaps PowerDVD has that ability too,
since that's the first thing the DVD wants to use. In any case, no other DVD
in that series or in later series has made any attempt to install the
program. I will check for an installation file on the one DVD, though. If
it's there, should I be able to remove it easily? Usually, I don't have
trouble removing installation files...

Jo-Anne

 

[Jo-Anne]

What's going on is you're beginning to see why some of us (I don't know
if Paul is among us, hope so ) have disabled auto-run and auto-play and
anything auto on our machines. When I insert a CD/DVD, I don't want it to
start playing or executing or whatever; *I* want to be in control. I am
fully competent to start the application I know will do what I need; I
don't trust Windows to decide instead of me.
Unfortunately, this is not a solution for everybody; some people are
really computer illiterate and have no other recourse. This exposes them
to the Sony rootkit and to what you experienced, but they have no other
options. You, however, seem literate enough to be able to choose for
yourself; I don't presuppose to give you advice, but consider disabling
any and all autoruns on your computer, and starting the programs you want
manually.
As to that particular HotLlama annoyance - sorry, can't help. Never
(obviously) seen it.

Thank you, Patok! I've reached the point of wanting to disable AutoPlay. Is
there a global way to do this, or will I need to do it for every type of
file on every drive?

Looking at Properties of my DVD drive, for example, under AutoPlay, for each
file type (Music, Pictures, DVD Movies, etc.), I can choose either "Select
an Action to Perform" or "Prompt me each time to choose an action." If this
is where I would turn off AutoPlay, what's the best way to do it? Should I
choose "Select an Action" and then pick "Take no action" as my choice for
each file type? Or should I choose "Prompt me each time..."?

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

 

[Paul]

What's going on is you're beginning to see why some of us (I don't
know if Paul is among us, hope so ) have disabled auto-run and
auto-play and anything auto on our machines. When I insert a CD/DVD, I
don't want it to start playing or executing or whatever; *I* want to be
in control. I am fully competent to start the application I know will do
what I need; I don't trust Windows to decide instead of me.
Unfortunately, this is not a solution for everybody; some people are
really computer illiterate and have no other recourse. This exposes them
to the Sony rootkit and to what you experienced, but they have no other
options. You, however, seem literate enough to be able to choose for
yourself; I don't presuppose to give you advice, but consider disabling
any and all autoruns on your computer, and starting the programs you
want manually.
As to that particular HotLlama annoyance - sorry, can't help. Never
(obviously) seen it.

+1

I hate "auto-anything". Especially mechanisms that allow installs,
root kits or the like. It should be up to the user to initiate
things like that.

Paul

 

[BillW50]

In

Thank you, Patok! I've reached the point of wanting to disable
AutoPlay. Is there a global way to do this, or will I need to do it
for every type of file on every drive?

The easiest way Jo-Anne, is through TweakUI.

My Computer
AutoPlay
Drives

Now unselect A through Z. And while you are there, just under Drives is
Types. Unselect those too.

 

[Jo-Anne]

In

The easiest way Jo-Anne, is through TweakUI.

My Computer
AutoPlay
Drives

Now unselect A through Z. And while you are there, just under Drives is
Types. Unselect those too.

Thank you, Bill! I do have TweakUI installed. I'll give this a try and will
report back.

Jo-Anne

 

[Jo-Anne]

In

The easiest way Jo-Anne, is through TweakUI.

My Computer
AutoPlay
Drives

Now unselect A through Z. And while you are there, just under Drives is
Types. Unselect those too.

So...here's what happened. I unselected all the drives and both of the drive
types in TweakUI. I then inserted a normal DVD into its drive, and it worked
as it should. That is, it spun and then stopped and nothing more happened.
After that, I inserted the "bad" DVD, and it immediately opened PowerDVD. I
exited PowerDVD and used Windows Explorer to see what was on this DVD.

The other DVD in the series had only one folder--VIDEO_TS.

The bad DVD has the VIDEO_TS folder, but it also has a folder labeled DVDROM
with several subfolders and several executable files (I did a screenprint of
each folder, so I can say exactly what files are in them). Given that I
probably want to continue viewing the DVD itself, would it be reasonable to
try "stopping" everything in the DVDROM folder? Perhaps I could rename it to
DVDROMbak?

I welcome your suggestions!

Jo-Anne

 

[BillW50]

In

So...here's what happened. I unselected all the drives and both of
the drive types in TweakUI. I then inserted a normal DVD into its
drive, and it worked as it should. That is, it spun and then stopped
and nothing more happened. After that, I inserted the "bad" DVD, and
it immediately opened PowerDVD. I exited PowerDVD and used Windows
Explorer to see what was on this DVD.
The other DVD in the series had only one folder--VIDEO_TS.

The bad DVD has the VIDEO_TS folder, but it also has a folder labeled
DVDROM with several subfolders and several executable files (I did a
screenprint of each folder, so I can say exactly what files are in
them). Given that I probably want to continue viewing the DVD itself,
would it be reasonable to try "stopping" everything in the DVDROM
folder? Perhaps I could rename it to DVDROMbak?

I welcome your suggestions!

Jo-Anne

Movie DVDs should only have one or two folders called:

AUDIO_TS (this one could be missing)
VIDEO_TS

If you DVD has any TS folder and more, then it is a hybrid DVD. Meaning
it has video and data mix. And I am assuming these DVDs are from the
store right? Then no, you can't rename, delete, or save on commercial
movie DVDs. As they are read only and that is the only thing it will let
you do with them.

And you now have everything set correctly under Windows to not autoplay
anything. So Windows can't be blamed for this. Maybe that service by
PowerDVD is the cause of the autoplay.

Say are these DVDs by Sony? As Sony has a long history of putting on
what some would define as malware on your computer. They only put this
on a small number of titles and not all of them. Sony claims they do
this for extra copy protection or extra features. But since Sony never
makes the source code available, who knows what this stuff really does.

 

[Jo-Anne]

In

Movie DVDs should only have one or two folders called:

AUDIO_TS (this one could be missing)
VIDEO_TS

If you DVD has any TS folder and more, then it is a hybrid DVD. Meaning it
has video and data mix. And I am assuming these DVDs are from the store
right? Then no, you can't rename, delete, or save on commercial movie
DVDs. As they are read only and that is the only thing it will let you do
with them.

And you now have everything set correctly under Windows to not autoplay
anything. So Windows can't be blamed for this. Maybe that service by
PowerDVD is the cause of the autoplay.

Say are these DVDs by Sony? As Sony has a long history of putting on what
some would define as malware on your computer. They only put this on a
small number of titles and not all of them. Sony claims they do this for
extra copy protection or extra features. But since Sony never makes the
source code available, who knows what this stuff really does.

These are TV episodes from Fox, so not a Sony issue. It's disappointing that
there's nothing I can do to keep this DVD from starting to Autoplay... I
suspect the problem is related to the last item listed on the DVD's case:
"DVD-ROM Link to Exclusive Online Content."

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

 

[BillW50]

In

These are TV episodes from Fox, so not a Sony issue. It's
disappointing that there's nothing I can do to keep this DVD from
starting to Autoplay... I suspect the problem is related to the last
item listed on the DVD's case: "DVD-ROM Link to Exclusive Online
Content."
Thank you!

Jo-Anne

That automatically goes to a website for extra content. Say do you have
an install CD for PowerDVD? If you do, why not delete PowerDVD (since it
sounds like you don't use it anyway)? And then you can install it again
if you end up needing it again someday.

 

[Jo-Anne]

In

That automatically goes to a website for extra content. Say do you have an
install CD for PowerDVD? If you do, why not delete PowerDVD (since it
sounds like you don't use it anyway)? And then you can install it again if
you end up needing it again someday.

Yes, it turns out I do have an install disk for PowerDVD. However, when I
stopped the PowerDVD Service process in Task Manager, the DVD wanted to
install HotLlama in its place. I suspect the same thing would happen if I
removed PowerDVD completely.

Jo-Anne

 

[BillW50]

In

Yes, it turns out I do have an install disk for PowerDVD. However,
when I stopped the PowerDVD Service process in Task Manager, the DVD
wanted to install HotLlama in its place. I suspect the same thing
would happen if I removed PowerDVD completely.

Jo-Anne

Oh yes, I believe you are indeed correct. So what version is your
PowerDVD anyway? I have both v4 and v6. But I never used v6. Here it
tells you more about this autoplay stuff.

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

Near the bottom called "Issues and security" is where it really gets
interesting.