I got this DVD drive from a friend Hitachi DVD ROM GD-2500, got the drivers but I was told I need the codecs (codex?) for DVD when I tried to play a DVD My region is Sweden (Europe) Is there a universal DVD codec or do I have to buy a specific one??

This sofware for DVD is never supplied by the Microsoft operating system and you have to buy those precious dll's from a supplier like http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/software/players/softdvdmax.html This is one example sold on the web or at retail stores like Future Shop to name one.There are many others like Power DVD.The codecs are universal,your DVD-ROM has a region probably for marketing reasons but may be you can find a firmware update to make you DVD-ROM player region free. http://www.yabasoft.co.uk/gs/html/vgs/f2/en/products.jsp?sfid=30548&pubid=1849&cc=222,USD,0,United%20States Good luck.

Thanks for the info The second link you provided does not work (or does not seem to work)