I've built a HTPC for Blu-ray and HD DVD playback. It's working great for these with no issues. For some reason though, DVD playback is rubbish. It's like a buffer gets full as play is ok for 5-6 seconds, and then it gets worse and worse.

It also sounds like the (hd) dvd drive stops and then restarts making sounds like it's hunting. Have changed it for a normal DVD drive (IDE rather than SATA on the new drive) and I'm having the same issues.

VLC player is playing DVDs fine, so it looks like software rather than hardware that's the issue.

Any braniac out there with any suggestions? I've installed ffdshow and had a play around, but to no avail :-(

What software are you using and have you enabled hardware acceleration in the software settings for normal DVD playback.

Also check for updates to said software, and also your graphics and sound drivers as these all play a part. If you are using an nvidia card, look at the nvidia site for new drivers rather than the card vendors site.

Oops - that would help

Windows Vista Ultimate 32. Got PowerDVD 7 OEM free with the GGC-H20L LG HDDVD/DB drive. Problem occurs in PowerDVD, WMP, WMC but not VLC

Have tried with & without hardware accel & ATI drivers + all software updates installed.

VLC uses its own codecs, the other players will all be using the same one. From power DVD with a normal DVD inserted, but not playing click on configuration and then the Video tab and make sure a tick is in the use hardware acceleration box.

I am using 7.3 Ultra and it can play HD-DVDs and normal DVD's fine.

Got it sorted - downloaded Microsoft's codec selector, chose powerdvd and it's all fine. Thanks for your help

Also might be worth making sure your motherboard has the right drivers and that your cd/dvd drive hasnt flipped from DMA mode to PIO mode (which will hammer the CPU any time the optical drive is used)