Free Media Player Solved DVD View Issue

Ed found this solution to the dilemma discussed in last night's post regarding the missing MPEG-2 code in my Windows 7 starter edition that prevents media players from decoding DVD. Now I'm all set for watching the videos I checked out of the library this week on my netbook with the new external DVD drive.

The DVDs I'm most anxious about right now are the Torchwood season 1 which I've been in queue for since October. I was quite excited to find the set waiting at the library on the same day the DVD drive arrived. And then quite frustrated to discover I couldn't actually play DVD on it until I upgraded my Windows 7.

This pretty much eliminated over half the hours in any day for watching--when Ed was sleeping or either of us was watching TV.

The problem was going to be solved anyway when Ed transferred his Windows 7 Home Edition to my netbook on Sunday. But I would loose two full days and with it due next Thursday and containing 13 episodes on six discs and 14 extras on a seventh disc--well over 700 minutes--that's a significant setback. If I had to wait until Sunday night, there seemed little hope of getting to see them all before I had to let it go back (at the very latest the morning of February 8) and there are enough in queue behind me now that it would be 3-6 months before I get another turn.

So, while I was doing dishes, Ed went looking for a solution and found this one. VideoLAN's VLC media player. I downloaded it and got the Torchwood special features disc up and running on it. I watched the first special feature, a sort of intro to the series, before applying myself to preparing this post. It looks like a cross between X-files and Stargate but smarter and grittier as only BBC can do.

Got any guesses as to how I'm going to be spending the next several hours?