Registry TIP: No questions asked playback of DVDs Media Player Classic

[SKiNNiEH]

I used the Vista Codec Pack and the Media Player Classic Add-On for it.

Assuming Media Player Classic is installed in the following location:

C:\Program Files\VistaCodecPack\Tools\mplayerc.exe

DVD Playback Command, change the "(Default)" REG_EXPAND_SZ value that is located under the following registry key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DVD\shell\play\command

To: "C:\Program Files\VistaCodecPack\Tools\mplayerc.exe" /DVD "%L"

Or use this code and paste it into a .reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DVD\shell\play\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\VistaCodecPack\\Tools\\mplayerc.exe\" /DVD \"%L\""

Add a new key called: "PlayDVDMovieOnArrival" (without the quotes) to the following two keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\EventHandlersDefaultSelection

and

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\UserChosenExecuteHandlers

In both the "PlayDVDMovieOnArrival" keys there should be a REG_SZ value called (Default).

Double click to edit and add the following data: MSLegacyDVDHandler

Do this for both locations!

Or use this code and paste it into a .reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers]
"DisableAutoplay"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\EventHandlersDefaultSelection]
@=""

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\EventHandlersDefaultSelection\PlayDVDMovieOnArrival]
@="MSLegacyDVDHandler"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\UserChosenExecuteHandlers]
@=""

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\UserChosenExecuteHandlers\PlayDVDMovieOnArrival]
@="MSLegacyDVDHandler"

What i have done:

1. In my RunSynchronousCommand it imports the first .reg file to update the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

2. The HKEY_CURRENT_USER settings are in a custom NTUSER.DAT that replaces the NTUSER.DAT of the Default user profile.

You could optionally use Office 2007's HKLM-to-HKCU mechanism to update the settings under point 2, however that would mean that the user would not have immediate playback of DVDs until the user has started atleast one office application before inserting a DVD.

Edited February 11, 2008 by SKiNNiEH

[SKiNNiEH]

One small update...

The reason i used "C:\Program Files\etc etc", is because for some reason i get an error when i use %ProgramFiles% in the registry.

Windows Media Player for some reason (the default value) IS able to use this variable.