Buy AnyDVDHD. (There are free programs to do what AnyDVD does but it's easier to just use AnyDVD and they update it.....alot).
Install it.
It will run on system start and decrypt all DVD and Blu-ray's automagically. (No you don't have to copy to your hard drive if you don't want to)
Play your blu-ray disc with Videolan. (It does not support menus so you will have to browse for the media file).
You will also need either a very fast CPU or a videocard with a decent GPU.

I use PowerDVD since I need menu support since I watch alot of blu-ray's.


P.S. If you don't go the AnyDVD or other decryption route and want to do it the legit way then you'll need to make sure that your TV/Monitor, Video card, driver and OS all support HDCP otherwise you won't be able to see anything. So it's easier on the PC to just use AnyDVD or other program to decrypt otherwise you'll run into issues with any of the above,

May not be a popular or even legal suggestion but you have a short term licence to use the content, you could just download AVIs of the episodes and delete them when you're done


Wait, wait, HP upgraded their software to help users? HP??

They sure did ........... eventually.That was a great day knowing I could finally start buying blu-rays again.

Damn, must be a different department than the one that does their laptop stuff, they've got the worst customer support I've ever read about that doesn't directly answer support questions with the phrase "Fuck off, we've got your money thats all we care about" then hanging up with a diabolical laugh

Oh it's the same one I've pointlessly used via email. They may answer a question within in an hour no matter when you email them but their reponses are so moronic like they don't even read your question. Most times they just repeat what you said and then give pointless info. Other times you fill out the troubleshooting steps you took before emailing box and they just repeat that you should do what you said you already did. The biggest facepalm moments are when you email back explaining how you fixed the problem yourself since their help was useless and they repsond by saying how glad they were that they solved your problem.

As for that HP software, I emailed them once every few months asking about the updated software and all I got was soon. I just happened to go to my dekstop's software page one day to find a recent updated player software download entry. It said upgrade so I thought for sure the installer would fail and say no previous software was found as it always did with the old dvd player software download. Boy was I shocked when it said installation complete.

Well, I got the trial version of PowerDVD 10 Mark II.

It works, but it's one of the worst programs I've had the misfortune to use.

Requires you to register to access the trial (accepted my made up name/email though), wants you to register with "movielive" which is some sort of crap bloatware, and the whole thing is clunky and unrefined.

Oh, and it forces you to pick a region, and only allows five changes. I frakkin hate regional restrictions like that.

At least it plays the disc despite the scratches or whatever that stop my Blu-ray player from playing it, so I get to see the bizarre unfoldings of BSG (Not as good as the recommendations would have me believe, not as good as B5 in my eyes, but good enough for me to keep going).

AnyDVD HD is amazing.

This restriction is actually built into the hardware itself, the software is simply providing a more easily accessible interface for it. The same goes for DVD drives.

That's not true for most blu-ray drives. Blu-ray drive region switching allocations for playing blu-rays is purely software based.

Oh, I'm getting it confused with DVDs then. My mistake.

In which case I'll go back to Andy_Panthro's stance of it really sucking. :P

Well the good news is that someone will eventually release a tool to make your blu-rays seem region-free to your player software. Much safer than flashing your firmware.