Playing .vob files on Vista

[Guest petec500]

Hello all,

I've ripped a load of DVDs to my hard-drive, but they wont play on my new laptop running Vista. What's the best, preferably free software for playing .vob files?

Is there any way to get Windows Media Centre to play them? I believe it plays DVDs if you insert them in the drive, so why wont it recognise .vob files on the hard-drive?

Many thanks

[Guest Monolithix]

Hmm, well the vobs are the raw video streams from the dvd, that includes everything from the film itself to the menu backgrounds and transitions etc. Normally you'd convert the .vob files to avi's using DVD re-encoding software which allows you to select the correct audio stream! (eg English). Off the top of my head I don't know of any, but there will certainly be plenty within a google or two :D Other than that I think DVD apps like WinDVD can play the actual vobs...

[Guest Dr Who]

Hmm, well the vobs are the raw video streams from the dvd, that includes everything from the film itself to the menu backgrounds and transitions etc. Normally you'd convert the .vob files to avi's using DVD re-encoding software which allows you to select the correct audio stream! (eg English). Off the top of my head I don't know of any, but there will certainly be plenty within a google or two :D Other than that I think DVD apps like WinDVD can play the actual vobs...

I *think* media player classic will play .vob files.

[Guest tsutton]

I *think* media player classic will play .vob files.

Only if you have the correct codec installed.

But he want to play it via his MCE.

[Guest petec500]

Thanks for the ideas/tips guys. I managed to find this link which appears to describe a solution to my problem, though i haven't tried it yet: how_to_play_ripped_dvds_on_vista_media_center. I found the same registry hack on another website too and comments seem to suggest it works. I'll give it a go this evening and report back.

[Guest Dr Who]

Thanks for the ideas/tips guys. I managed to find this link which appears to describe a solution to my problem, though i haven't tried it yet: how_to_play_ripped_dvds_on_vista_media_center. I found the same registry hack on another website too and comments seem to suggest it works. I'll give it a go this evening and report back.

Or how about installing the freeware My Movie program linked to at the bottom of the page?

[Guest petec500]

Well, i followed the simple instructions in the link i found and hey-presto - WMC now plays all my vob files on the hard drive! Well chuffed. Slightly concerned about some comments i saw elsewhere that this fix doesn't survive a reboot, but i've yet to confirm if this is the case.