Play a DVD or CD automatically (simple, handy tip)

[Zeppy]

I love VLC Media Player---but it got a bit tiresome having to manually select my local drive each time I wanted to play a DVD or audio CD.

Here's how to add shortcuts to your desktop that run VLC and automatically play the DVD or audio CD you've inserted:

1. Make a copy of the VLC shortcut on your desktop (or copy it from your Start Menu).

2. Right-click the new shortcut, then click Properties. The VLC Properties window appears.

3. Click the Shortcut tab, then click the Target text box.

4. Go to step a. or b. depending on whether you want to make a shortcut that will play a DVD or an audio CD:

a. To make a shortcut that plays a DVD, add this (including the quote marks!) to the text in the Target text box:

"dvd://D:"

NOTE: If "D" isn't your DVD drive's letter, use the correct letter.

b. To make a shortcut that plays an audio CD, add this (including the quote marks!) to the text in the Target text box:

"cdda://D:"

NOTE: If "D" isn't your CD drive's letter, use the correct letter.

6. Click OK to close the window.

7. Rename your new shortcut to remind you what it does (e.g. Play DVD with VLC).

[DJ]

It was not necessary to lock this file or make it a sticky.

This is not a problem for VLC. If VLC is installed on a Windows XP system a pop up allows the selection of the player.

If you are not using XP There is an option in Preferences that allows you to select the drive making it easier to deal with various files from differing sources. This means never having to remember to type the drive letter in a menu.

Perhaps it would be better next time to ask questions BEFORE making a post a sticky.

I can not change the state of this post so it will remain here for a few days until it's removed (deleted).

Moderator VLC for Windows Forum
DJ

[Zeppy]

DJ: This is not a problem for VLC. If VLC is installed on a Windows XP system a pop up allows the selection of the player.

Yes---but to actually run the disc, you must then click the Play button (or File > Open Disc), then click OK to close the "Open..." window. That's three (or four) mental steps, compared to double-clicking an icon (a single step for most people).

I'm sure that some users don't mind dropping menus and opening and closing windows each time they want to play their discs. But personally (and my wife and friends who use VLC feel the same way), it's much faster and easier just to double-click an icon, and you're done.

That kind of functionality is why it's possible to add parameters to shortcut command lines. But you have to know which parameters---and since VLC uses its own format for device paths, I felt it might help if I explained the details.

BTW, the "Open Disc" command does show "Ctrl+D" as its keyboard shortcut. I've tried that, but it doesn't work. Is it just my system? (I use the Dvorak keyboard layout, so that may have something to do with it---though I haven't had that problem with other apps.)

DJ: If you are not using XP There is an option in Preferences that allows you to select the drive making it easier to deal with various files from differing sources. This means never having to remember to type the drive letter in a menu.

"...various files from differing sources"? Aren't we talking here about setting one drive for one kind of source [CD or DVD]? Anyway, I think I know what you mean... But though I've looked through VLC's many options, I couldn't find the one you referred to. (I assumed it would be under "Interface"---no?)

I'm a pretty computer-literate guy. If I have trouble finding that setting (which seems pretty basic), other users may, too. Could this be another reason why many people may find the icon method easier? (Is it my imagination, or do you seem philosophically opposed to icon shortcuts for some reason? I'm just trying to understand...)

As long as we're on the topic of VLC's UI, one more suggestion:

As I've mentioned, when you run VLC, clicking the Play button opens the "Play..." window. Wouldn't it make sense to have the Play button's shortcut (Spacebar) do the same thing? (It currently does nothing.) That would be another way to slightly speed up the disc-playing process.

DJ: Perhaps it would be better next time to ask questions BEFORE making a post a sticky... I can not change the state of this post so it will remain here for a few days until it's removed (deleted).

I didn't make it sticky. I just posted it---then I posted another message in your feedback section to suggest that one of you make it sticky if you thought it was useful enough. Is it possible that one of your other admins thought it was good enough and made it sticky without telling you? (I'd never assume one of my messages was good enough to be sticky---that'd be pretty vain!)

Cheers, Zeppy
(another grateful, and hopefully not too annoying, VLC user)

[DJ]

No! I'm not against shortcuts. As a post it is a good post and I'm sure will help some. As a sticky, it just isn't that big an issue to warrant being a sticky.

The options can be found in Preferences, Input / Codecs about half way down the page under Default devices.

[gzwillia6]

After making several attempts to get VLC to automatically play a CDAudio or a DVD from a winxp desktop shortcut I found I had to slightly modify the instructions above. The modifications are as follows:

Follow the instructions above for creating the shortcut. Then modify the TARGET in the shortcut to the following:

DVD
"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" "dvd:///d:" --fullscreen


CDAudio
"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" "cdda:///d:"

[ProHiScoreStudios]

After making several attempts to get VLC to automatically play a CDAudio or a DVD from a winxp desktop shortcut I found I had to slightly modify the instructions above. The modifications are as follows:

Follow the instructions above for creating the shortcut. Then modify the TARGET in the shortcut to the following:

DVD
"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" "dvd:///d:" --fullscreen


CDAudio
"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" "cdda:///d:"

Thanks for your work. This is exactly the remedy I needed. Works perfectly. Helped me a great deal.