VLC media player

VLC is a media player that plays just about any video or audio format. It can play a DVD, VCD, audio CD, video files, audio files, streaming media, and other things I probably don't know of.

play a DVD

1. Start VLC.
2. Insert the DVD into your DVD drive.
3. In VLC, click on File then Open Disc.
4. The Open... dialogue window appears. You'll probably want the Disc Type set as DVD (menus) so you'll receive the startup menu for the DVD. Choosing DVD will cause the DVD to bypass the startup menu and immediately play from the beginning.
5. Make sure the Device Name field is the corresponding drive letter of the drive you placed the DVD into. You can find out the drive letter by starting the Windows Explorer or opening My Computer from the desktop. It's likely that the correct drive letter will be chosen. If a change is needed just erase the drive letter next to Device Name and type in the new letter. Make sure the letter is followed by a colon :.
6. Click the OK button to start playing the DVD.
7. Use the mouse to click on menu options in the DVD's startup menu.

make a playlist

Perhaps you have a slew of MP3s you want to listen to. You can add them into a playlist. You can mix it up with both audio and video.

1. Click on the View menu then on Playlist.
2. The playlist window will open. To add some files into the playlist click on the Manage menu. Here you can add individual files with Simple Add File or add everyting inside of a folder with Add Directory.