[Sgt Pepper]

hello everyone,

i went out the other day and bought the stewie griffin the untold story dvd. I went and tried to play it in windows media player and i get this error "Windows Media Player cannot play the DVD because a compatible DVD decoder is not installed on your computer." I'm not sure how to get the dvd to play. so if you guys can be of any help, it would be greatly appreciated. thanks so much.

Sgt Pepper

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http://www.microsoft...aspx#DVDDecoder <--- get one of these

[dsenette]

http://www.microsoft...aspx#DVDDecoder <--- get one of these

[Sgt Pepper]

is there anywhere that i can get a free one of those? i dont generally watch dvds on my computer so i just dont want to waste the money.

[dsenette]

you can search for free dvd decoders....but...your dvd drive for the machine should have come with a disk for a dvd decoder

[Sgt Pepper]

i guess i can just google it. i've had this computer for years and it was a gift. just something to get me thru college. its very out of date in terms of speed, memory, and such. another quick question. i didnt know if you could help me out at all on this. but is it possible to add more memory to your computer without losing all the stuff i have saved on it now? i only have 16gb of memory and im starting to run low. so if you could be of any help it would be appreciated. thanks

[dsenette]

well...just for your information (because we're all here to learn)

the term "memory" refers to RAM which stands for Random Access Memory and is completely different to your storage device. RAM is what your cpu uses to spead up the process of getting information from your harddrive over to the processor.

you are asking for extra Storage capacity which would involve adding a new hard drive. (though it wouldnt hurt to add some ram i'm sure)

as far as adding the hard drive, that should be a walk in the park all you have to do is get a new hard drive and place it in the box correctly and it should work (all hds come with instructions) this would not hurt any data that y ou have on the system now

[Sgt Pepper]

thanks for all your help so far. is there anywhere good i can get more storage capacity or should i get a company to buy and install it for me? i currently have 320mb of ram? is that still low for todays standards? i just dont know where to get started with the upgrades.

[dsenette]

the ram's a little low...most people agree that 512 is the new standard (i remember when 64k was huge)...the easiest way to get the right ram is to go to www.crucial.com and put in the make and model of your mother board, they will pick out the right ram for your machine and even sell it to you at a good price.

as far as the hard drive. the sky's the limit...you can go to www.tigerdirect.com or www.newegg.com or www.bestbuy.com ... or well you get the picture...anyone who sells computer hardware can sell you a hard drive. since this is your first hard drive upgrade i suggest going into a store...either compusa if you have one in your area or bestbuy or circuit city or any local computer shop because the guys there will be able to give you some detailed explanations of what you need to do and what's going on. a hard drive install is not something that needs an expert...it's usually as easy as plugging the sucker in..

[Sgt Pepper]

thank you so much for all your help. im going to go google for free dvd decoders or i just might download media player classic. im going to run to best buy today and talk to someone there to help me out. cheers

sgt pepper

[Sgt Pepper]

thank you so much for all your help. im going to go google for free dvd decoders or i just might download media player classic. im going to run to best buy today and talk to someone there to help me out. cheers

sgt pepper

[dsenette]

good luck and let us know if you have a problem