DVD software question

Hi all,
Sorry it's such a dumb noob question (but I have zero experience of DVD's).
A friend just gave me a DVD Rom for my PC, I threw it in & popped in a disc & Window$ media player told me that "a compatible DVD decoder is not installed on my computer".
What should I do next (I'd rather not use WMP if at all possible), What is the best software for me to watch DVD's. I won't be burning any (coz it ain't a writer!), Anything small that doesn't hog the old resources too much. I looked on download.com, but everything seems to have sh!t loads of spyware bundled with it.
Any advice/pointers would be gratefully received.
Z.

:unsure:

Well, videolan is a good basic player to start with, but for dvd's it wouldn't hurt to have something especially made for dvds, although videolan will probably play them.

A couple of years ago I might have recommended power-dvd but I don't really know today as I don't play dvds off my 'puter at this time.

And it probably wouldn't hurt you to grab some codecs as well for all manner of movie-files and suchlike, so have a look in the codec section as well.

CyberLink PowerDVD is the best ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SnnY

Well, videolan is a good basic player to start with, but for dvd's it wouldn't hurt to have something especially made for dvds, although videolan will probably play them.

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It does play DVDs but doesn't support DTS sound, because of copyrights.
Still, VLC pwns everything! :01:

I would recommend powerdvd xp 4.Its a little easier on the resources then the newer versions and I've never had a problem with it.Although since my philips dvp642 dvd player came along I haven't used power dvd much. :)

Thanks guys, I'll investigate your suggestions.
:D

Videolan seems to work the best (thanks SnnY :D), one more question I have now- When I insert a copied DVD, it plays fine. When I attempt to play an original disc, my system completly freezes up. Doesnt even let me open media player.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
Z.