When you try to play a DVD you burned with Windows Media Center in your DVD player, there may not be an option to play the DVD. This occurs when you have written the DVD using the Media Center application to write video to DVD. This problem occurs because the DVD was written as a Data DVD in Windows Media Center Edition.

To determine if Windows Media Center can record the DVD as a Video DVD, perform the following steps:

1. Press the Media Center button on the Media Center remote control. Windows Media Center appears.
   
   
2. Highlight My Videos, and then press the OK button.
   
   
3. Highlight Create CD/DVD, and then press the OK button.
   
   
4. Enter the name for the DVD, and then press the OK button.
• If you are able to choose Video DVD (Figure 1), do so now, and then press the OK button.
• Otherwise, reinstall the Windows Media Center CD and DVD recording software as directed in the step below.

Figure 1: The Disc Format menu

To reinstall the Windows Media Center burning software:

1. Click Start and click Control Panel to display the Control Panel window.
   
   
2. Double-click Add\Remove Programs to display the Add\Remove Programs window.
   
   
3. Click Add\Remove Windows Components.
   
   
4. Remove the checkmark next to Sonic DVD and CD Burning.
   
   
5. Click Next to allow the Sonic DVD and CD Burning software to uninstall.
   
   
6. When the process completes, click Finish to return to the Add/Remove Programs window.
   
   
7. Click Start, click Shutdown, and click Restart to reboot your computer.
   
   
8. Click Start and click Control Panel to display the Control Panel window.
   
   
9. Double-click Add\Remove Programs to display the Add\Remove Programs window.
   
   
10. Click Add\Remove Windows Components.
    
    
11. Click to check the Sonic DVD and CD Burning checkbox, and click Next.
    
    
12. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the installation of Sonic DVD and CD Burning.
    
    
13. Click Start and click My Computer to display the My Computer window.
    
    
14. Ensure that the DVD drive is detected in My Computer.
    
    

    If the DVD drive is not detected in My Computer remove the upper and lower filters from the registry as detailed in Dell Knowledge Base Article: "Why am I unable to access my CD or DVD drive or receive Code 31 error messages after removing DirectCD Version 3.01 or 3.01c or Roxio (Adaptec) Easy CD Creator Versions 5.01 and earlier" Article ID: 164450.