Vista - dvd region problems

hey there as per most people that post, i have a problem.

my laptop has now frozen on zone 4 for dvd playback, has anyone any
idea how on earth i can bypass this and play any region dvd that i
want. this would appear to be tantamount to imprisonment of my laptop.

i'm running vista basic as i'm to tight to pay for an upgrade.
nothing special either on speed of ram.

this is the explanation that toshiba gives.
The application of regional codes are entirely optional for the maker
of a disc. Discs without codes will play on any player in any country.
Most DVD-ROM drives let you change the region code a few times, usually
between 0 to 5 times. Once a drive has reached the limit it will remain
locked on the final region code and cannot be changed again.

There are 6 regions:

1 = Canada, U.S., U.S. Territories
2 = Japan, Europe, South Africa, Middle East (including Egypt)
3 = Southeast Asia, East Asia (including Hong Kong)
4 = Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico,
South America, Caribbean
5 = Former Soviet Union, Indian Subcontinent, Africa (also North Korea,
Mongolia)
6 = China
RPC



RPC stands for Region Playback Control, now in its second phase, and is
really only relevant within the PC environment and specifically DVD-ROM
drives.



It was decreed by the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA)
through the DVD Forum (also know as the DVD Alliance) that all DVD-ROM
drives manufactured from 1st January 2000 should confirm to Region
Playback Control, Phase II (RPC2). DVD-ROM drives manufactured before
1st January 2000 are likely to be RPC1 drives, that is, the Region
Playback Control was only handled by the DVD Decoder NOT by the drive.
In the first instant many only gave 1 choice to change the Region if
there were any choices at all as the Hardware DVD Decoder cards were /
are often fixed to the region they were / are sold in. RPC2 goes
further to make the drive also handle and store the Region changes as
well as the DVD Decoder.



The user has 5 chances to change the Regions by playing different
region movies.



The DVD Decoder must be RPC2 'aware' to be able to 'talk' to the drive
and know the number of changes made and remaining.



The DVD Decoder must also warn the user each time a change is requested
and when the 5th and final change is made.



The RPC2 drive is fixed to the chosen region on the 5th and final
change.



Unfortunately once a Toshiba DVD-ROM drive is RPC2 it can not be
resetted back to RPC1 via F/W update.



This is decided and regulated by the Hollywood Movie industry (MPAA)
and is part of the CSS Licensing which all DVD-ROM manufactures have to
follow.



CSS Licensing is controlled by the DVD CCA (DVD Copy Control
Association) for the DVD Forum. Toshiba is the chair company of the DVD
Forum and has to follow the guidelines from the MPAA.

For additional information please click the link below and go to
"DVD-ROM regional code playback control"

http://www3.toshiba.co.jp/storage/english/stfaq.htm

now is that not bang out of order!


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cannonfodder
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Hi,

This isn't a Vista issue, it's crappy move by those that distribute DVD's.
Googling "unlock dvd region" gives a lot to look at:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...region&spell=1

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"cannonfodder" <cannonfodder.31dhve@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:cannonfodder.31dhve@xxxxxx

On 10-Dec-2007, cannonfodder <cannonfodder.31dhve@xxxxxx> wrote:
Same problem, I've had to return 3 expensive boxsets. Now I can
only play Sunday market copies of some stuff, excellent quality,
looks genuine, but stereo sound, that does't rattle the windows,
and frighten the cat, I assume they are imports.
Drive mfr. says they can't fix it under warranty.

i have also managed to find a good website for future help

www.softpedia.com

lots and lots of freeware however it looks like i am going to have to
buy the unlock codes. pain in the butt especially if you travel round
the world like most business people.
will also have a call to toshiba and have a good old rant about them
not telling me about this when i bought the machine.
grrr lol


--
cannonfodder
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