There are some programs so stinkin’ awesome that I could tell you about them every week or every day. One of those programs in VLC media player. I was first introduced to it by an engineer when I worked at a TV station. We used to receive video in every format imaginable, sometimes in file formats so obscure that I’d never heard of them. He showed me VLC, an amazing free program that plays everything. (okay, probably just about everything, but I haven’t come across the format it won’t play.)
And it is also a great option for those of you who lost your Windows Media Center when upgrading to Windows 10 and can no longer play DVD movies. (Remember that’s Media Center, not Media Player. Media player will still work.)
It is super-easy to get VLC for Windows 10. Just click this link to go to their download page: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html. Then click the arrow next to the Download VLC button.
Choose your operating system and click Download.
Then choose Save File.
Open us your Downloads folder and double-click to begin the installation. You’ll need to give permission for the program to install.
An installation Wizard will open. Click Finish when it’s done.
VLC player will open.
When it comes time to play a DVD, just put it in your drive as usual. Then go to This PC and find the DVD drive. (Usually the D drive, but not always.)
Right-click and choose VLC from the drop-down menu.
VLC should open with your DVD, ready to play.
There’s also a version of VLC available in the Windows 10 Store called VLC for Windows 10, but it will not support playing DVDs. If you want to play DVDs, you’ll have to download the desktop version from VLC’s site.
~ Cynthia