OT:PC laptop media

[cmbicycles]

This is an odd question. I have a work issued laptop (I'm a music teacher) and it doesn't have an optical drive. Sometimes I would like to put in a CD and play music, or show part of a dvd video clip. I asked our IT "help" if they could get me a drive and install software to show dvd clips, and I was basically told I can go buy my own drive, and find some other solution on my own, but they will not install any software.
Is there an easy workaround? I know I can get a drive and play CD's thru standard win10. Is there a way I can use something online to play the dvd clips? I didn't turn up anything on google, other than a bunch of hits saying to install xyz player.

[kramnnim]

Windows should play DVDs without additional software

[fkelly]

"Windows should play DVDs without additional software "

Problem is that he doesn't have a physical cd drive in the laptop. An increasingly common problem ... basically cd's and dvd's have been made obsolete.

Google "usb cd drive player". There are some. I haven't tried them and don't want to. We still have one computer in the house with a cd drive. If I need files from a cd I will go to it and copy them onto one of the computers here, then access over the home network. Or copy them to a usb thumb drive.

I have a stack of cd's with music on them I will never use again. I have a fancy cd/dvd player in my home entertainment system I never use. With streaming and the increased capacity of thumb drives and SSD drives they are just obsolete.

[tbike4]

Wow, your IT guys are just super helpful. I understand that they might get in trouble for doing something with work issued hardware that might be against policy but...

Not sure what you mean by" Is there an easy workaround?" To access the physical media you need a physical drive. You can buy one for 20-30 bux. Sure there is plenty of software to play DVD clips if the clipped file is on your computer.

[zzy]

Simply buy an external USB DVD drive (https://www.amazon.com/Rioddas-External-Portable-Rewriter-Superdrive/dp/B07H183PZQ/ref=zg_bs_1292113011_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BTWHM4KTNYY0CZ1CG9PA) for $20 - windows should recognize it natively without an issue. VLC is a opensource media player with DVD controls.

e - if you want a cloud storage solution - upload to dropbox and play it off there? The issue is uncompressed DVD VOB files (or CD WAV files) are quite large. I don't see why you wouldn't get a physical drive.

[cmbicycles]

Yes, IT is super helpful. Windows 10 did not have standard built in DVD software, something to do with MS didnt want to pay license fees so dropped dvd format from media player. I know there are free players, as well as paid software, but computer is set up so I cant install any software to the computer. I know I can get a usb optical drive, however I cant install software to recognize and play the DVDs.

[tbike4]

Makes sense now. The work PC is set up so mere mortals can't eff it up. Looks like you might be in the market for a PC that you can eff with however you please. Find a used machine with an optical drive and have at it. My 2¢.

[tylercheung]

What I would do is to "rip" the DVD and/or audio files to digital files then download to your work computer.

Licensing issues aside (personally, I consider that if I own the DVD then ripping it to a file that I can use on my own hardware is considered "fair use"), it is also more convenient to have all your stuff in one place.

Ripping video from DVD - find a computer you own/control, and the simplest way to do this is to install handbrake (https://handbrake.fr). It should have presets to open the DVD and generate a compressed video file from the contents.

Playback: VLC as mentioned before (https://videolan.org).

Music: countless software, but iTunes for windows, foobar, etc.

Once you have the files, you can email, put them on google drive, dropbox, etc.

Alternatively, if the DVD or CD is not too rare, there's a good betting chance you'd find a version on Youtube or something.

[cmbicycles]

Playback is a no go with VLC as I cant download and install the software to the laptop, hence my question regarding an online based playback option.

Might just have to resort to getting a cheap used laptop.

[kramnnim]

Wow, I had no idea Win10 didn't play DVDs.

MPC-HC can be run without being installed...just unzip and run the exe

https://mpc-hc.org/downloads/

[kramnnim]

There's a portable version of VLC as well https://www.afterdawn.com/software/audio_video/media_players/vlc_64-bit_portable.cfm

[tylercheung]

Of note - handbrake will output formats playable by windows media player.

If the files are on Dropbox or google drive, I believe there may be a form of web-based playback, I am not certain

[unterhausen]

thanks for posting this question, now I don't feel so bad about how ridiculous our IT folks are.

[tbike4]

I am not sure if us IT folks are ridiculous, OK some guys I work with are pretty far out there, just doing our job. If that job is keeping the network/internet running so the company can keep credit cards churning and cash flowing then some inconvenience for a few employees is the way it is. Not the same scenario for a music teacher perhaps but s¢£• happens when PC’s are plugged into the corporate network and software is installed from an unknown/untrusted source.
Ransomware? We have employees who were stung, fortunately on their personal PC.

[rkhatibi]

There's a portable version of VLC as well https://www.afterdawn.com/software/audio_video/media_players/vlc_64-bit_portable.cfm

This. See also https://www.vlchelp.com/get-portable-version-vlc-media-player-windows/

You install software on a usb stick and run it from there rather than installing it on the computer.

[ultraman6970]

This.....

The other thing, an external dvd or even a blu ray disc will do the trick, those arent too expensive now a days.

IMO the easy part is to get the dvd or blu ray external unit, the tricky part is the software. All needs a software, you have windvd and power dvd which I lost trace many years ago but they cost money and they need to be installed. The only thing free I know that plays dvd is what Kramm is saying.

Maybe other options, sometimes is just look for them.

Forgot this.... VLC does the same... videolan but no idea if it comes in zip format, back in the day it did.

Wow, I had no idea Win10 didn't play DVDs.

MPC-HC can be run without being installed...just unzip and run the exe

https://mpc-hc.org/downloads/

[ultraman6970]

Here is the link for the portable version of vlc....

https://get.videolan.org/vlc/3.0.8/win32/vlc-3.0.8-win32.zip

just unzip that in a folder and good to go, it should work right away.

You can search for Portable free dvd player software.... what you want is a portable version.

Hope this helps.