How do I check my DVD drive's region settings in Windows 7?

I have installed Windows 7 on my laptop. When I put a movie in the DVD drive, the video player starts up and tells me 'THIS DISC IS NOT FORMATTED TO PLAY IN THIS REGION'. I have changed the DVD region a few times in the past but while I was in Windows XP I changed the region to Region 1.

I cannot find how to check the DVD region setting in Windows 7 (it's not located on the properties page of the DVD anymore. Does anybody know how to check the DVD region in Windows 7?

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Update: If I connect an external USB DVD drive I can see the DVD region tab on the hardware properties dialog. I guess there is some compatibility problem with my internal DVD drive and Windows 7 (as I said I was able to inspect/change the DVD region in Windows XP).

Solution: I think I had used LtnRPC in the past to remove the region from my DVD drive. It looks like Windows 7 does not like region free DVD drives (at least mine anyway). I was able to use LtnRPC to reset the region back to 1. I can now see the region tab on the DVD drive's hardware properties.

user13141

Posted 2010-01-30T23:37:05.030

Reputation: 311

I have uploaded a screen snapshot showing the lack of region settings for my DVD drive http://screencast.com/t/YjhlYzJmYm

– user13141 – 2010-01-30T23:46:04.700

in case you wonder about the 2 Base System Devices in the device manager, that'd be the SD card reader. – None – 2010-01-31T02:20:42.730

Answers

Check to see whether or not the DVD drive is locked by a region code.

Drive Region Info is a simple freeware and portable tool that lets you know if your DVD drive is locked to any particular 'region'.

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If your drive is locked after five changes you can use LtnRPC, a Region Free Utility for Lite-ON manufactured drives (your Sony DW-Q58A drive was manufactured by LiteOn) to reset the count or make the drive 'region free' altogether.

Molly7244

Posted 2010-01-30T23:37:05.030

Reputation:

I will check it out once I have my AV software installed. – user13141 – 2010-01-30T23:59:10.150

Funnily enough, I think I had used LtnRPC before because when I checked the region setting in XP the drive said 'no region'. Despite this Windows 7 would not play my region 1 'Office Space' DVD. – user13141 – 2010-01-31T05:40:29.703

Here is my region info http://screencast.com/t/MmE2OTRhO. Maybe Windows 7 is not happy with region free DVD players.

– user13141 – 2010-01-31T05:43:18.497

1With LtnRPC I was able to fix the problem. It looks like Windows 7 is not happy with region free DVD drives. I ran LtnRPC and was able to set the region back to 1. From then on Windows 7 allowed me to play my DVDs. – user13141 – 2010-01-31T05:54:03.807

Cannot recommend downloading Drive Region Info. My Chrome warned after downloading that a virus has been detected in the file. Save yourself possible problems and use John T's answer which requires no additional software. – Ville Salonen – 2015-11-15T09:27:27.320

Right-click the DVD drive and select properties
Under the Hardware tab, click properties
Highlight the DVD drive and click on it
Navigate to the DVD Region tab and modify it accordingly

John T

Posted 2010-01-30T23:37:05.030

Reputation: 149 037

I have no DVD Region tab http://screencast.com/t/MDg5MmU2Z

– user13141 – 2010-01-30T23:48:45.710

2it is locked from too many changes you can use the tool in molly answer to see – at. – 2010-01-30T23:59:35.047

yep, 5 changes, that's it. – None – 2010-01-31T00:18:44.370

The strange thing is that because I could not see the region tab in Windows 7, I booted into Windows XP and it let me change the region to region 1 but when I booted back into Windows 7 I still get the region error when I try to play the region 1 DVD. – user13141 – 2010-01-31T05:37:24.547

it's not located on the hard properties page of the DVD anymore

I opened up Device Manager, went to Properties for my DVD drive and there was a change DVD region option, same as there's always been?

ta.speot.is

Posted 2010-01-30T23:37:05.030

Reputation: 13 727

Perhaps it shows up for you, but it sounds like it didn't for the OP. – echristopherson – 2015-07-06T19:24:17.617