How to play virtual Blue Ray Disks?

[alexv305]

I copied a complete Blue Ray disk onto my harddrive as an image. I tried using a virtual drive to play it but i get errors from power dvd that says "update needed, update now?" so I click yes and it updates but still wont play. I get the same error when I remount it. Any suggestions on how to play Blue Ray disks virtually?

THanks

[PuzZLeR]

Check the fourth last paragraph of post #753 here (right before the "frownie"). According to this individual, PowerDvD disabled any virtual playback of blu-ray discs on the hard drive (and I do believe he knows what he's talking about).

I personally only used the trial version (version 8.xx) and had similar problems myself with blu-ray playback from the hard drive, so I didn't purchase it. Great software otherwise.

I've had better success with Nero ShowTime and VLC. But both aren't perfect yet either.

[jman98]

Both PowerDVD and WinDVD have disabled playback of BluRay discs on hard drives. They did this some months ago to please their Sith Lords, the MPAA

PowerDVD versions lower than 8 were able to play BluRay from hard drives. There was some update to 7.3 (I think) that took this away. I don't know what versions of WinDVD can play BluRay from hard drives.

I can't say for certainty with Vista, but note that BluRay uses a UDF format (2.50) that is not supported in Windows XP and below. If you don't have a BluRay burner on your PC (your post did not specify that you ripped the disc and you may have downloaded it for all we know), there is some possibility that your system can't read UDF 2.50 format discs. Mount the image and use Windows Explorer to see if you can see the contents of the virtual drive. If you can, then you don't have a UDF 2.50 driver issue.
If you can't see the contents of the disc, then you need to find UDF 2.50 drivers and install them. They are very difficult to find, but a web search can find a few places that have them.

[ron spencer]

mount iso and use daemon tools..powerdvd plays fine then

[PuzZLeR]

mount iso and use daemon tools..powerdvd plays fine then

It says "adware" on this site and the reviews echoed it somewhat. Is it safe?

Copy removal protection, etc. apps sometimes come "loaded". But I'm not interested in anything other than the playback of virtual discs that I myself create so I'm a little apprehensive.

[Ethlred]

In the version of Daemon tools I am using (Daemon Tools Lite 4.12.2) I just chose not to install the ad service. No ads.

Its working fine for me on the few occasions I actually mount a dvd. Don't have any BD images so I can't say anything about that. Wouldn't do me any good if I did. My PC is too slow for High Def except 720P H.263 and it barely does that.

[PuzZLeR]

Thanks for the feedback. Hey, at least it asks you if you want to put adware on your PC - hopefully it keeps its word when you disable it. Will now give it a try.

It's not the advertising that I hate. I can appreciate a company wishing to promote its wares, but unfortunately there's a privacy and PC slowdown issue that usually comes attached to adware.

Yeah, it will be a while yet before HD plays fluidly on PCs today, even on the faster machines, without need for extras such as cards, decoders, etc. But I remember when MPEG-2 SD had stutter on PCs up until early this decade. Now it plays smooth as smooth. So it won't be long for HD to catch up.

[jman98]

I've used Daemon Tools for years. It's safe. It's also one of the most useful pieces of software I've ever installed.

[ron spencer]

you use the old version of daemon tools....2.47, you don't need the newer ones. 2.47 has no adaware, etc.....this was last version before you had to pay..use it