DVD's come in at least 2 styles. A regular store bought one has files on it that look like xxxxx.vob plus other files. other types made by friends won't be like that and will be 'more playable' using VLC player which I believe everyone would recommend. I personally don't play DVD's and thus can't help you much however there's going to be a software requirement for the DVD player to need for it to decipher how to manage the *.vob files on the DVD. Try opening Windows media player by itself and then open the CD / DVD by typing E: or D: in the Run window. Once the DVD is 'open' drag it to the WIndows media player. Or an alternate way is to open Windows player and then once knowing the E: or D: name of the DVD then 'open' Windows media player for the DVD and see if it will play it. During all of this if you can verify what kind of files, ie *.vob or other.. ie *.mp4, or *.avi files, this will help us to help you to play it. I suspect that you have a 'real' DVD from Blockbuster and are trying to play it. So the open Windows media player first, then try to open the D: or E: of the DVD should take you the furthest in your hopes to play it. Computers were not supposed to cause us more work. Be careful to avoid joy and happiness tied to computers. They're made for work and GD if they aaren't going to be used for that you're certainly going to H$LL. LOL j/k -- except I do think we've split off entertainment from work and computers don't care they cause us hurt and frustration in our quest for 'fun'. Andre

From: Start Menu-> SetProgram Access and Defaults-> Custom ->Choose a Default Media Player-> (probably)Use my Current Media Player

No software. However, I do have the sound working again. Using the HP help on the computer itself, I reset everything and still nothing. I decided to recheck the connections, since I was in semi-darkness when I connected the speakers. Yep, I had the sound cable plugged into the "IN" port rather than "Sound Out" port. That doesn't explain why I had sound briefly the other day after installing Java. That will remain a mystery. Now I just hope it continues to work.

Thanks, Zep!!! WMP is BACK! ;-) My pc just finished restoring to factory settings. I did as you said, but "Repair Your Computer" then gave me a list of options from which to choose!!! Rather shakily, I selected the one to restore to default settings. It never asked for my recovery disks! Why did Acer ever have me make them??? It used the recovery partition of my laptop. Anyway, I'm thrilled and thankful. I desperately needed this pc with WMP for an upcoming retreat... Owbist, I didn't see your post until I was finished. The screen I was given in bios was an advanced bios settings screen with options listed. I may have done something wrong... Question: (I'm using my desktop for this post...) Will Win 7 Service Pack 1 save me from installing any updates? Should I just go to Windows update and see what it tells me? Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!