A
A Friend
Guest
Hello,
SuperGoof has found out how to reset the Blu-Ray-Region counter of PowerDVD Ultra:
In XP, one must change 2 registry values, in Vista, delete a data-storing file.
XP:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{631400EE-60DF-4014-8A01-67106E57BDA8}]@=dword:00000002
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{9CB23675-4229-4630-AFF6-3668BA6AF33E}]@=dword:00000004
Under the first location it stores the region (1 - Region A, 2 - Region B, 4 - Region C).The number of remaining changes is stored under the second location. Every time you change region in PowerDVD, this number is decremented by 1. You can just put there something like FFFF (65535 changes) or better 1869F (99999 changes) and forget about it. By default, there are no values in both locations. PowerDVD interprets this as Region A and 5 remaining changes. When you change region for the first time, it puts values there.
In Vista, region information is stored in Alternate Data Stream (ADS) attached to the file "CLDShowX.ini" located in "C:\ProgramData\CyberLink\PowerDVD\". You can view the content of that stream using, for example, "ADSLocator.exe" utility. If you run out of the number of remaining changes, just delete that file. Next time you start PowerDVD, it will be recreated with default settings.
"WinDVD Platinum" seems to store its Region information in a file, too:
"To begin, you can download a program called 'Process Monitor' from www.sysinternals.com (the link will actually lead you to Microsoft's web site as Microsoft bought Sysinternals recently), then run the program and monitor what the process 'WinDVD.exe' does when you change Blu-ray region setting. It took me about half an hour to figure out what PowerDVD does. Some time ago I started looking at WinDVD too (the VAIO version you provided), and even found what file it accesses, but that file (some small file in system32 folder, do not remember its exact name no) turned out to be locked by System process, so I could not see what is inside, could not copy it, delete etc. I could only see its content when I logged in to another OS (Vista), but I did not continue experiments partly because I did not have time and partly because I do not really see much sense in using WinDVD due to its restrictions."
With this information (and when "WinDVD"'s counter is cracked), one could write a FREE BD-Region-Killer program. SuperGoof doesn't want to, because he thinks instructions for resetting are enough and "AnyDVD-HD" eliminates BD-Region problems. But I think there are some good reasons for a "BD-Region Killer":
1. It is very inconvenient to have to change registry values / delete files maually every time.
2. "AnyDVD-HD" costs nearly $80. If you just want to WATCH--not to copy--BDs, this is very much money when you can have a free program (remember "DVD Region Killer").
3. "WinDVD" is said to to be able to detect "AnyDVD" and to refuse to play when it is active, so it seems better to manipulate its counter directly.
Therefore, I would like to suggest you all to develop and upload a free "BD Region Killer."
Thank you and many greetings,
A Friend
SuperGoof has found out how to reset the Blu-Ray-Region counter of PowerDVD Ultra:
In XP, one must change 2 registry values, in Vista, delete a data-storing file.
XP:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{631400EE-60DF-4014-8A01-67106E57BDA8}]@=dword:00000002
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{9CB23675-4229-4630-AFF6-3668BA6AF33E}]@=dword:00000004
Under the first location it stores the region (1 - Region A, 2 - Region B, 4 - Region C).The number of remaining changes is stored under the second location. Every time you change region in PowerDVD, this number is decremented by 1. You can just put there something like FFFF (65535 changes) or better 1869F (99999 changes) and forget about it. By default, there are no values in both locations. PowerDVD interprets this as Region A and 5 remaining changes. When you change region for the first time, it puts values there.
In Vista, region information is stored in Alternate Data Stream (ADS) attached to the file "CLDShowX.ini" located in "C:\ProgramData\CyberLink\PowerDVD\". You can view the content of that stream using, for example, "ADSLocator.exe" utility. If you run out of the number of remaining changes, just delete that file. Next time you start PowerDVD, it will be recreated with default settings.
"WinDVD Platinum" seems to store its Region information in a file, too:
"To begin, you can download a program called 'Process Monitor' from www.sysinternals.com (the link will actually lead you to Microsoft's web site as Microsoft bought Sysinternals recently), then run the program and monitor what the process 'WinDVD.exe' does when you change Blu-ray region setting. It took me about half an hour to figure out what PowerDVD does. Some time ago I started looking at WinDVD too (the VAIO version you provided), and even found what file it accesses, but that file (some small file in system32 folder, do not remember its exact name no) turned out to be locked by System process, so I could not see what is inside, could not copy it, delete etc. I could only see its content when I logged in to another OS (Vista), but I did not continue experiments partly because I did not have time and partly because I do not really see much sense in using WinDVD due to its restrictions."
With this information (and when "WinDVD"'s counter is cracked), one could write a FREE BD-Region-Killer program. SuperGoof doesn't want to, because he thinks instructions for resetting are enough and "AnyDVD-HD" eliminates BD-Region problems. But I think there are some good reasons for a "BD-Region Killer":
1. It is very inconvenient to have to change registry values / delete files maually every time.
2. "AnyDVD-HD" costs nearly $80. If you just want to WATCH--not to copy--BDs, this is very much money when you can have a free program (remember "DVD Region Killer").
3. "WinDVD" is said to to be able to detect "AnyDVD" and to refuse to play when it is active, so it seems better to manipulate its counter directly.
Therefore, I would like to suggest you all to develop and upload a free "BD Region Killer."
Thank you and many greetings,
A Friend