GERMAN MOVIES ON DVD: SWITCHING REGION CODES

 
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DVD Guide for German Films:
DVD Guide | DVD Region Codes | Blu-ray Codes | Films

DVD Region Codes on a Computer
We've already explained the basics of changing DVD region codes on a previous page. This is a detailed step-by-step guide to: (1) checking your DVD drive's coding, (2) finding, (3) downloading and (4) using a DVD code-switching utility (not to be confused with the more complicated process of making your drive code-free).

NOTE: Newer computers (2003 or later) with DVD drives usually detect the region code automatically and ask if you want to switch the region code setting. For most people, the instructions below are only a sort of history lesson about how it used to be.

In the U.S. and Canada, computers with DVD drives capable of playing DVD movies are factory set to Region Code 1. (Prior to Jan. 2000 many DVD drives were code-free.) In the following guide, we assume you want to change a DVD drive from Region Code 1 (U.S./Canada) to the German/European Region Code 2. But the instructions will also apply to switching between any two of the six DVD region codes.

Before trying to change your DVD drive's code setting, make sure you have a German Region Code 2 DVD (or whichever code you want) on hand, because most code changers ask you to insert the coded DVD disk into your drive in order to make the change.

Step 1: Checking for Drive Type
A. Before going through this procedure, it would be wise to determine if you actually need to do so! The easiest way to determine if your drive is code-free or is set to a specific region code is to simply insert a Code 2 (or other non-Region 1) DVD into your computer's DVD drive. If you get the message, "Can't play disk because of area setting," or something to that effect, then you need to continue to the next step. If you don't have a Code 2 DVD, there are several good PC utilities you can use to check your drive: CDVDInfo 1.31 or DriveInfo v1.1. The DVD Toolkit v2.2 by XVI does the same for Macs. They are downloadable from several sites. (Most code-changing utilities will also provide this info.)

B. You also need to know your DVD drive's make, model and firmware version. Although the DVD utilities above will do that, you can easily get that information by clicking on "Properties" in your computer's hardware profile. After doing that, I knew that my Sony VAIO laptop had a Toshiba SD-C2402 drive with 1515 firmware. Since there are many other makes, models and firmware versions, this is vital information.

Step 2: Find and Download the Code Utility
A. Once you have completed step one, you can do a search for a DVD code-change utility that will work with your particular DVD-ROM drive. In my case, using Google, I found a link to the Toshiba Region Change Utility at the "Firmware" site. It was one of several such download links on the "Utilities" page. I simply clicked on the link and downloaded the Toshiba DVD RPC2Util.zip file, which also works for other RPC-2 drives.

B. After the download is complete, you then need to decompress (unzip or unstuff) the file and install it onto your computer. (I discovered I didn't have an unzip utility on my laptop, so I went to the old reliable ZDNet site and did a search for "unzip" utilities. From the many results I chose the free CamZip program, downloaded it and installed it—all within less than 15 minutes.)

Step 3: Use the Code-Change Utility
Once the correct code-change utility has been installed on your computer, it is very simple to use it. I clicked on the alias that the self-installer had created on my desktop and got the message, "Please insert a DVD disk in the drive." I inserted a German DVD and clicked on "retry." The program automatically told me it was a Region 2 DVD and asked me if I wanted to change the DVD drive code – with the warning that this would subtract one change from the possible five! I clicked the button for Code 2 and "OK" and I was done.

Step 4: Play a Region Code 2 DVD
This is the fun part! After closing the code-changing utility program, I could play the German DVD that was already in the drive. I could also select various language combinations for audio and subtitles. I had a great sense of accomplishment! I had actually managed to change my computer's DVD region code to play German Region 2 DVDs!

Important! Wichtig! Read This!
The first time you switch the region code you have used up one of your five changes! You now only have four left (on most DVD drives). Once you have switched five times, the code is set to whatever code you last selected. After that, the code-changing utility will no longer function.

Using utilities found online, you can make some DVD drives permanently code-free. However, this is a risky procedure and it should only be done by someone who knows what he/she is doing. The guidelines above are only aimed at switching your computer's DVD region code, not making it code-free.

Comments
After going through this laborious process, a few observations...

1. My computer's manufacturer (Sony) was of absolutely no help. At the Sony support Web site all I could find out was that there were six DVD region codes and Sony's were all set to Code 1. That was that. Not even a hint that it might be possible (and quite legal) to switch the codes. Other Web sites/manufacturers may be more helpful.

2. The Toshiba Web site (manufacturer of the DVD drive) was only slightly more helpful than Sony's. I was only able to find the Toshiba code-switching utility from a third-party site. It was difficult to find it via the Toshiba site, and then only at Toshiba's European site.

3. It really should be much simpler to do this. (It is now with newer computers, but it took a while.) If I buy a computer for $2,000 to $3,000, I don't think it's too much to ask for a simple way for international travelers to switch the codes on a DVD drive. (I won't even bring up the issue of the Hollywood greed that led to the whole region-code debacle in the first place.)

4. On the plus side, all of the utilities I used above were free.

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