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| Thread ID: 91755 | 2008-07-17 11:09:00 | Laptop starting with Bin folder displayed | Robin S_ (86) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 689870 | 2008-09-28 10:39:00 | Thanks Feersum and Agent. Feersum - I looked at your link and explored on from there till I came to a solution for just this problem offered at experts-exchange.com, but they required buying some trial software (refundable within 1 week) before giving access to the answer! I didn't want to mess with that and continued searching till I came upon - delltalk.us.dell.com This explained that the problem is caused by a faulty installer for Intervideo WinDVD, and gave a similar fix to the one that Agent has posted above. Agent - a helpful find. You obviously found another access to the experts-exchange answer, or are you a member at that site? How best to continue from here? The people on the above threads had apparently purchased copies of WinDVD so could uninstall then reinstall from their CDs. The installation we have presumably came bundled with Win XP, or is that not right? If I uninstall WinDVD will I lose a necessary part of the the XP system that I don't see any way of reinstalling? It doesn't appear to be in the Add Programmes list in Control Panel, although that could be because at present it is still installed. To get around this, I could use method 2 in Agent's post but I am not quite clear on that. Do you actually use Common~1 as a folder name, or is it a shortcut for something? Suggestions appreciated. |
Robin S_ (86) | ||
| 689871 | 2008-09-28 11:28:00 | WinDVD isn't a part of XP, it's just a DVD playing program, which there are many of. There are also a lot of free ones you can use as well. Uninstalling it will not break your windows, although if it's your only DVD player you may be unable to play DVDs afterwards If you have a Dell, and WinDVD is on your machine preloaded, there may be some software discs that came with your PC that include an installer for WinDVD... |
Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 689872 | 2008-09-28 17:05:00 | If you un install it you will still be able to play DVD's with widows media player and/or VLC media player which is better since it plays just about any format of DVD | gary67 (56) | ||
| 689873 | 2008-09-28 22:07:00 | No. WinDVD installs its own DVD Codec, which Windows Media Player also uses. If you uninstalled WinDVD and had no other DVD Codec, you would not be able to play DVDs with Windows Media Player, because it does not have its own codec, it has to use someone else's. (blame Microsoft) But you could use VLC or install your own DVD Codec seperately if Windows Media Player didn't work |
Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 689874 | 2008-09-28 23:11:00 | No. WinDVD installs its own DVD Codec, which Windows Media Player also uses. If you uninstalled WinDVD and had no other DVD Codec, you would not be able to play DVDs with Windows Media Player, because it does not have its own codec, it has to use someone else's. (blame Microsoft) But you could use VLC or install your own DVD Codec seperately if Windows Media Player didn't work Good stuff, you guys. Is the WinDVD DVD Codec a single file, and if so would it be possible to save a copy of it, uninstall WinDVD then replace the codec so Windows can use it? The cptr is a Compaq, but WinDVD may have come in the Vaio bundle. Alternatively, how would I install another another codec after uninstalling WinDVD? |
Robin S_ (86) | ||
| 689875 | 2008-09-29 05:26:00 | You could just download the K lite codec pack which I think from memory works with WMP and covers most things you are likely to use/play | gary67 (56) | ||
| 689876 | 2008-09-29 10:10:00 | I have just searched the system installation discs for the laptop and found that there is a WinDVD directory in an Apps folder on one of them; it has a setup.exe so presumably WinDVD could be reinstalled by running that. Could someone confirm that? | Robin S_ (86) | ||
| 689877 | 2008-09-30 10:18:00 | I rang Sony support today but person couldn't say whether running setup.exe from the WinDVD folder would reinstall it. Can anyone else answer that? The other questions above that I am keen to get answers for are re Common~1 (#21) and storing and replacing the codec file(s) (#25) |
Robin S_ (86) | ||
| 689878 | 2008-09-30 11:20:00 | Sounds very likely that if it's called WinDVD, and it's on a CD that came with the laptop it will be the installer for it. Only one way to know for sure! |
Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 689879 | 2008-10-01 09:34:00 | Checked the Vaio version of the WinDVD and it is 3.1, not 4 for which Agent posted a couple of fixes. There is only one copy of the Bin folder and it is in C:\Program Files\Common\ - there is no duplicate in C:\Program Files\Common Files\ which is what is said to produce the startup error. I had intended to make backup copies of System.dat and User.dat before trying the uninstall and reinstall, but couldn't find them in a quick search. Ran out of time then, but does XP have those .dat files, and if so , where? (I looked in C:\Windows\ but could have missed them in my haste). |
Robin S_ (86) | ||
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