Change region settings for DVD drives

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To change region settings for DVD drives

Open Device Manager.
Double-click DVD/CD-ROM drives, right-click the DVD drive for which you want to change region settings, and then click Properties.
On the DVD Region tab, make the appropriate changes.

Important

Because many software decoders require Direct Memory Access (DMA) in order to function, you should check the settings of your Integrated Device Electronics (IDE) ATA/ATAPI controllers to ensure that DMA if available is selected in Transfer Mode. If applicable, you should also check this setting for the Secondary IDE Channel.

Notes

To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.
To open Device Manager, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, double-click Computer Management, and then click Device Manager.
The DVD Region tab might not be available for all DVD drives.
To configure your DVD drive to play discs from other regions, select a geographic area from the list of regions. Typically, you would select the region in which you reside. It is not usually necessary to change the setting again.
The region settings can be changed only a limited number of times. When Changes remaining equals 1, and you select a new region, an alert will be displayed warning you that after this, you will only be able to play DVDs from that region. Be aware that you might not be able to change the region setting for some DVD hardware and software decoders.

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