http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/8449.page

I have the same issue (immediate crash starting with the first play attempt) on my Windows XP Pro SP3 x86 machine with PowerDVD 9 Ultra. I have issues with PowerDVD 7.3 OEM as well. I did not have any issue with PowerDVD 7.3 untill I switched all my drives (HDDs and ODDs) from PATA to SATA AHCI (format drive, Win XP clean install, F6, etc.). After this move/switch I cannot get the 7.3 working with Blue-Ray titles regardless of the patch installed. Instaling the (latest) patch recommended by the PowerDVD 7.3 itself (build 5716) immediately resets the region code changes remaining to zero, does not detect the audio system anymore and disables the hardware aceleration option making impossible to play any title be it DVD or BD. Installing the PowerDVD 7.3 patch posted by Cyberlink on their updates section (build 4617) allows DVD titles to work but only some of the BD titles can be played normally (for example, I noticed that all Columbia Pictures BD titles I own play only about half-speed).

My system:
Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 with F8D bios (latest)
Processor Intel C2D E8500 3.16 GHz
Sapphire Radeon 4870 with 1 GB GDDR5 and latest ATI drivers (October 2009)
Kingston KHX8500D2K2/4G kit of 2x2 GB 1066 MHz CL5 DDR2 memory
Realtek ALC889A HD Audio (latest driver posted on GB site)
HDDs: Seagate SATA2 (160 GB system and 1.5 TB data) AHCI mode
ODDs: ASUS DRW-2014L1T (DVD RAM) and BC-1205PT (BD combo) AHCI mode

I have the exact same behaviour of the PowerDVD 7.3 on another Windows XP Pro SP3 x86 machine built around an ASUS mobo with X38 Chipset (P5E model) with similar components and drives working under SATA AHCI mode as well (and guess what, I had no PowerDVD 7.3 issue before switching drives from PATA to SATA mode)

I described these issues to the Cyberlink Customer Support and believe it or not they sent me to ASUS to ask for the region code unlock!!!

Dear Stefan,

please let us know which AV Software and Firewall you have installed on your System.

BR
Michael

Sorry for the late response I am using Power DVD 9 Ultra. The software was running flawless up unitl about a couple of weeks before my initial post. During this time I went through a run around trying to get my download back from cyberlink. Fpor those that care, do not bother paying the extra bucks for the re-download for a year. Too painful to deal and wait on tech support and as you know its not available just by logging into your account. Anyway I tried re-downloading the software many times with the same results of the software crashing when oit when to play. I tried changing video driver, sound card drivers...and everything else that did not make sense just to try something. I then figured it has to be something that happened during a windows vista 64 update.

I tried doing a windows repair and also tried overlaying the OS. Same results. I was then forced to blow Vista away, re-format my hard drive and do a clean install. This WORKED!!!!!! Was there a different work around? Probably so but I got so fed up I jist had to get it woking.


GIGABYTE GA-MA790FXT-UD5P
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz
SAPPHIRE TOXIC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ700FTY 700W
Western Digital VelociRaptor
8GB Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
Sound Blaster Fatality
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit
ESET Firewall/Virus Software

Hi,

In my case both issues (stuttering playback on PowerDVD 7.3 and crashes on PowerDVD 9 Ultra) were solved by placing both PowerDVD exe files on my (both machines) BitDefender 2010 Antivirus white list (in case of PowerDVD 9 Ultra the file to which the desktop launcher is linked, don't remember the name right now, should be placed on the antivirus white list as well). After modifying the antivirus setup I had to restart the machine for the modifications to become effective.

Regards,

Stefan