# I uninstalled (Dell?) MediaDirect - did I make a boo-boo?



## principessa (Feb 18, 2003)

hello all... i was trying to play a dvd on my new dell inspiron 1525 laptop that i've played successfully before on my old, reliable xp system with no problem and, this thing called media direct kept taking over the dvd play when windows media player is what i want to play the dvd, so i... stupidly... went into my control panel and uninstalled what was called "media direct", thinking it is just a superfluous player software on my puter - but now i come to realize, that mediadirect was taking over because, for whatever reason, windows media player supposedly can't play dvd video ...so now my video won't work. AND, reading about mediadirect after the fact made me really scared that it's like a critical part of my system and i've just made a huge boo-boo. ...i do have a reinstall cd but i don't want to make things any worse - will reinstalling make all right with the world again or, should i leave it alone and just live without my workout dvd?

(quick question... i thought newer would be better - vista better than xp, and newer windows media player better than older, but so far, this stuff won't play my dvd collection. what gives? the problem with vista or wmp? i am about to go back to my old system and apologize! hehe) ......................THANK YOU ALL FOR HELPING ME, AS ALWAYS!!! kisses, princi*


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## moper (Feb 14, 2004)

Vista Ultimate and Home Premium include the codec for DVDs. Vista Home Basic and Business do not. You have to purchase them or install a program that includes them.
Which version do you have?

Media Direct is installed on a separate partition. If you uninstall it, I am not sure if the files get deleted or if it somehow just gets disabled. You could try using 'System Restore' in Vista to see if it returns. Otherwise, reinstalling it requires a complete system install:http://support.dell.com/support/top...572CE46F734B2C4AE040AE0AB7E16AD1&docid=330711

You could install VLC media player, which will play DVD's:http://www.videolan.org/

moper


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## principessa (Feb 18, 2003)

dear moper, thank you for your repeated help! you have taken a lot of weight off my shoulders! 
...i do unfortunately have the basic version of vista and, had i known that it would not allow me to play dvds, i would have stuck with xp ...i can't believe that we now have to pay for upgrades just to be able to do something we used to be able to do, and i'm not having that - no way. 

i'm praying that i don't see any ill effects from my ignorant removal of media direct and... if the program you recommended helps me, i'm not going to reinstall it because i can't wipe out my entire system... 

THANK YOU AGAIN!


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## MysticEyes (Mar 30, 2002)

> .i do unfortunately have the basic version of vista and, had i known that it would not allow me to play dvds, i would have stuck with xp .


But your computer *could play* DVD movies, it could play them without even booting up Windows.



> had i known that it would not allow me to play dvds, i would have stuck with xp ..


XP out of the box *cannot* play DVD's. You need to buy a player app or decoder for WMP.


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