I am thinking of using my server to store and play dvds. I have windows server 2003 enterprise r2 and I put in a dvd in the drive and was unable to play it as I don't have the software to do so. i was wondering what kind of software I need to get to play it (preferably a free one) and also would that software be needed on the computers to watch it on? Thanks for the info, John

Why would you want to do that? Servers often do no have any sound devices installed. First thing to check is whether you actually have a sound card. If you have, you then need to check that the driver for it is installed. Unless you have those there is no point in looking for software. Bill

Hi, If your sound card and display card drivers are installed correctly, you may use Windows Media Player which is built-in Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise to play DVD after installing the correct Codec. To launch Windows Media Player, click Start, All Programs, Accessories, Entertainment and Windows Media Player. For the first time you use it, please follow the wizard to install it. If the Codec from Microsoft cannot play the DVD normally, you need to search the correct one from the Internet. Regards,Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Considering you have sound and display card working on your server, the VLC player is usually a better alternative than the Windows Media Player, as it works alot better with Codecs and you dont have to download them seperately. Its free.

I don't want to play the dvds on the server itself but rather have them on it so I can use VPN to watch the movies that are loaded onto the server. I travel a lot and it would be nice to have them while in hotel rooms. Would I still need a sound card in the server even if I would never watch them directly on it? John

Hiya, Then you want to setup your server to be able to stream the movies to your client. You can use the VLC player to stream movies also. http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/29/how-to-stream-almost-anything-using-vlc/