Region Code And Changing

Question

I put a DVD in my drive. It said it could not play it, and that I had to change my region code. It says I can only do this 5 times, which makes me nervous. I play the DVD in my player fine all of the time (the player on my TV that is). The DVD is from the US. When I put it in my PC, it says that the setting is currently region 1, but the disk is region 5.

I don't want to change regions as again, you are limited to only five changes. What should I do? Please help.

Predator · Answer

Hi Ringfinger,I do not mean to come across with a short answer but your choices are limited simply due to the Region Coding. Play only discs with Region Code 1 or find discs that are Region Free. There are ways, 'hack' firmware updates that can make your drive Region Free, howevr Dell does allow posting of this information in their forum. You will have to search the net, Google will find a few.As a side note; the use of these hacks / firmware will void the warranty on the Dell drive.Best Regards God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell thedifference.

Ringfinger · Answer

This is all very confusing for me. I bought the disk in the US. You mean different disks in the US can be coded for different regions? That makes no sense. You limit your possibilities quite quick. Is there a standard US region such as 5? That is what the software is saying to set my region to. It seems my drive is set at region 1 currently.

There has to be an easier way. Has anyone else had this problem? Can Dell help?

fireberd · Answer

The information Jeff (Predator) gave you is how it is.

Where you bought the DVD usually is an indication of what it's set for. However, some DVD's designed for other countries can be purchased here (usually they are unauthorized versions or sold in a store that caters to non US customers that are taking them back to their country).

As the Dell rules for use of the forum, as Jeff noted, prohibits discussing illegal (unauthorized) copying, software, etc you will have to look elsewhere for some non-sanctioned procedure.

Predator · Answer

Hi Ringfinger

Here is how the codes are set-up:

Code Region
1 Canada, U.S. and U.S. territories
2 Japan, Europe, South Africa, Middle East (including Egypt)
3 Southeast Asia, East Asia (including Hong Kong)
4 Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, South America, Caribbean
5 Former Soviet Union, Indian Subcontinent, Africa (also North Korea, Mongolia)
6 China

Generally discs purchased in the US should be coded as such but as you yourself found out, not always, make a habit of checking them out before hand. Again due to Dell`s policy on this I cannot post for you how or where but do a Google Search on making a drive Region Free, this is your only option if you want to view all discs.
This is a Industry Standard setting Region Codes, so Dell must abide by this and not allowed to make changes.

Best Regards,
Jeff

Predator · Answer

Thanks Jack,
I was digging up the region codes and combining with slow typing, should have refreshed first, you covered this better than I my friend.

Getting ready for my niece`s News Years Party and I thought Deb & I was going to have a peaceful New Year, now a dozen or so 13 years old at the house...
I am way too much of a push over whem it comes to that girl...lol

Take care,
Jeff

Ringfinger · Answer

Thanks to all of you, I may have figured it out. My PC came with no region set. Does that make sense? So, I naturally set it to region 1. The disks work fine now. However, on one of the disks, disk two from the set works, but disk one is not recognized by Media Experience. Any tips to check it out otherwise? It works in my home DVD player fine.

Secondly, why can one only set it 5 times? It does not make sense. Are the DVD companies or whatever limiting you to disks only made in one or two countries? It seems strange to me. Any comments?

Storage, Drives & Media

Region Code And Changing

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