DVD decoder

[IcKy99]

so re-installed windows xp the other day, so i popped in a dvd and to my suprise i need a codec i had one that came installed with the computer but its gone now, is there any FREE codecs out there at all, cuz i need to rip some DVDs to avi

[Niode]

Short answer, Nope. You have to pay MPEG to play DVDs. Just like downloading a film you haven't paid for is illegal, decoding DVDs without a license is illegal.

It's up to you how you gauge it morally. DVD Decrypter is out there and works fine for decripting .vob files. You will need some kind of encoder to turn those .vob files into an .avi wrapper. Something like AutoGTK will do the trick.

[marurun]

I think you MIGHT be able to get away with installing ffdshow. That's the default codec my computer is using to decode DVDs. See here for a little info.

http://forum.doom9.org/archive/index.php/t-84738.html

[Niode]

VideoLAN will play anything, and most of the time after installing that I don't need another codec at all. I think it works by magic.