Sometimes things are not what they seem to be. I have also posted this message to DVD/CD Driver problems, but the core is not a driver problem.
I got a video clip as the attachment of an e-mail. I got also an interesting dvd movie some days later. I was not able to play either one on my Vaio. And I have had problems with burning cds ever since I bought my Vaio. For safety copies I have used an external hard disk and another computer with Nero. (I have done all the updates except sonics - it does not install.)
My Media Player version played only sounds of the video and no avi at all. So I updated it to Media Player 10. It did not help - I lost the sounds, too. According to the Windows XP Video Decorder Chckup Utility my Vaio decorders were not compatible with the synchronizations feature of Media Player 10. DVD 5 played only the music of the movie.
I decided to test DVD Media Center (Corel free trial). A miracle happened. I was able to see my dvd movie and there were no problems with burning cds on previously rejected ones. However, even though the decorder problem was solved, Media Player 10 could not play more than the sounds of avi or wmv.
I spent many long hours reading newsgroups of Vaio Forum and Microsoft. So many have had same kind of problems but if there was an answer or two (sometimes more), they did not feel right. I especially disliked the idea of clean install with all my other programs. I did learn a lot about Vaio thinking. While reading a Microsoft article about Media Players and changed screens I got the insight. I pushed one button to open my other screen.
Media Player worked like an angel, DVD 5 and DVD Media Center as well. I finally noticed that I was able to draw things to the layout scene of Drag and Drop and forgave at least to some extend that I cannot use the burning feature of XP. I like the new Media Center and I'll keep it. It serves as a nice way to go through photo files (Pixela toy is not for me).
I send this story because sometimes things are very simple but it can take a lot of time to find it out. I hope this helps someone. And I do hope that other and later Vaios have already solved the problem of burning alternatives. All the best.
