Laptop dvd reg code

[polly5]

Hi there, I have a problem.....I am over from Australia and have brought my laptop with me. It wont let me watch UK dvd's on it, is there anyway to change the reg code on it?

Thanks in advance :)

[ChuckFickens]

Welcome to the UK :) you've not said what version of windows so you may have to do some interpenetration of the below if it doesn't match your version of windows.

goto the control panel, double click the system icon and then click on the hardware tab, now click on the device manager button. Once it has opened click on the little + next to DVD and CD rom drives, then right click on the DVD drive and select properties. now click on the DVD region tab and you can change it there.

IMPORTANT!

You can only change the region 5 times and then it will be locked onto the last region you set and the only way round it is to replace the DVD drive.

[AlBags]

If you exceed it, there is software available (free) to reset it back to full complement.

[Wak]

Hi, Allbags, Could you Please let us know what this program is which resets the DVD as it could come in very handy sometime?
Cheers.
Wak.

[ChuckFickens]

There aren't reset tools that will work with all drives, there certainly are tools that will allow you to reset some drives and there is also firmware available for some drives that will let you remove the region lock altogether.

But both of these methods can be risky as they have the potential to render the drive totally useless if it goes wrong during the update, or if you try using the wrong tool/firmware for the drive and both will invalidate the drives warranty (hence why I didn't mention it in my first answer)

[Wak]

Thanks for that info, Chuck. Thought it sounded too good to be true!!

[AlBags]

I have used it umpteen times on different drives.
You haven't used it at all, have you?

Only time you have a problem with flashing a drive with the correct firmware for that drive is if there is a power cut during the process.
Flashing drive takes 10secs approx.

It will work for just about every drive on the market, even Plextors, even naff ones.

[ChuckFickens]

"You haven't used it at all, have you?"

As it happens, yes. Though I'll admit not as many times as I've rejected DVD drives being returned as faulty due to problems caused by people trying to flash the firmware.

[Aquariel]

The other option is to buy a piece of software called AnyDVD. This runs in the background and automatically let you play DVDs from any region on any DVD drive. I've used it and it works on region-locked drives as well.

It saves all the messing about with changing region codes and flashing firmware.