I think the best free dvd decoder for Windows Media Player is Divx. You can download the Divx codec packs at www.divx.com. The Windows Media Player will tell you when a file cannot be played because of a codec problem. When you get the error message, you can click on the box that asks you to find the proper codec. This will take you to the www.microsoft.com site to fix the problem. If you don't
. want to find the codecs on your own, wait for WMP to tell you a codec is needed.