I'm sure you knew what I was really going to say, but I'll go ahead and say it again: holy fuck. If you suffered from the dreaded error C00D11B3 where neither Windows Media Player nor MCE can play DVDs with protected content, you are in luck if you read this page. By trial and error, I discovered what the problem was. The first clue was in the error  message in which I was told that "Windows Media Player cannot play this DVD because there is a problem with digital copy protection between your DVD drive, decoder, and video card. Try installing an updated driver for your video card." The first time I got this message, my heart dropped. I updated my Nvidia Geforce 8600M GS graphics drivers and when that didn't work, I took the drastic step of reformatting my computer. Thankfully, I was able to play DVDs in Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center .... for awhile. However, after installing my slew of programs, the problem of DVD playback surfaced again. This time, I had a very good idea of the culprit: Logmein's driver. You see, I'm running the Logmein Pro version on my laptop and there is an option to "blank the monitor" whenever the laptop is being remote controlled. blankmonitor Well, when this checkbox is ticked, Logmein installed a "DPMS" driver which somehow integrates into the generic PnP (plug and play) monitor on the laptop. So, if you go into the device management console and rightclick the entry under "Monitor", you'll find that the provider of drivers for the Microsoft device is now Logmein!! I'm surmising that the decoder (msmpeg2vdec.dll) will not play nice with this DPMS driver and so I uninstalled the entry under "Monitor" which was the generic PnP monitor with the DPMS installed. I was a little scared of taking this step because I thought the screen would go dead or something. However, I discovered a neat command that makes Windows find drivers: scan for hardwarwmpdvde changes. Simply rightclick on "Monitor" or on your computer's name and click "Scan for hardware changes". Windows will then install the original drivers for your monitor and ta da!!  I'm able to play back DVDs on Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center. I can't tell you how many hours I put into Google into trying to find what was causing my PC to go crazy and I feel like I hit the daily double. lol. I definitely am glad that I stayed away from free codec packs because by and large, I think Windows is a system that makes sense although it would help if she weren't so reticent in letting you know what you did wrong i.e. "hey Jane, you recently installed some mirror drivers that aren't from us?, et cetera"

Enough of my blather. I need to go to bed. :)