Windows 7 "Upgrade" Killed Blu-ray Playback on Acer 7720 Notebook

[liberalartsnerd]

Hello,

The $184 "upgrade from Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate killed Blu-ray playback on my Acer Aspire notebook.

When I was running Vista Ultimate x32 on my Acer Aspire 7720-6395 notebook with its 1440 x 900 display, the Blu-ray playback ran smoothly and looked good. However, as soon as I "upgraded" to Windows 7 Ultimate, the Acer Blu-ray playback software running under Acer Arcade Deluxe was disabled.

I ran the Windows 7 upgrade advisor before I paid the $184 to Amazon.com for the "upgrade" to Windows 7 Ultimate, and nothing in the upgrade report indicated that Windows 7 would do anything adverse to my Acer 7720 notebook, much less kill Blu-ray playback.

The Acer OEM Optiarc BC5500A Blu-ray optical drive checks out as fully functional, with up to date driver, and will play DVDs and music CDs fine under Windows Media Center. Unfortunately, Windows Media Center emulates Apple in not playing Blu-ray disks.

I perform Windows updates regularly, as well as run Norton Internet Security, so I don't think that the killing of Blu-ray playback is an update or security problem.

When I inquired of Microsoft and Acer, Microsoft suggested that I address my problems with the Microsoft 7 "upgrade" killing Blu-ray playback to Acer, the manufacturer of my notebook, and Acer responded that my Acer 7720 notebook is out of warranty, so it's not their problem either.

So, I did a trial of a commercial Blu-ray add-on software, Cyberlink PowerDVD 11, but that did not work because PowerDVD 11 is apparently not as efficient as the Acer Blu-ray playback software under Acer Arcade Deluxe is, or was, before the "upgrade" to Windows 7 killed it. Cyberlink PowerDVD 11 apparently requires a more powerful CPU than the T5250 Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and/or a more powerful GPU than the NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS GPU that came with the Acer 7720-6395 notebook.

Hence, it seems like the only options that the Windows 7 Ultimate "upgrade" gives me, after having invested $184 in it, are:

1. Throw away the $1,100 investment in my Acer notebook and Windows 7 Ultimate "upgrade", and buy a new notebook;

2. Ask Microsoft for a refund on my Windows 7 Ultimate "upgrade" and try and reinstall and run Vista again;

3. Wait for Acer and Microsoft to resolve the incompatibility problems with the Acer Blu-ray playback software operating under Windows 7 (it seems that neither Microsoft nor Acer is interested in doing that, however);

4. Wait for Microsoft to include Blu-ray playback in the Windows Media Center (I can't imagine why they haven't done this already); or

5. Hardware upgrade: Upgrade the CPU and/or GPU hardware on my Acer 7720-6395 notebook to components that would enable the upgraded Acer Aspire 7720 to run PowerDVD 11.

Addressing option 5, given that neither Microsoft nor Acer have evinced any interest in resolving the incompatibility between Acer Blu-ray playback software and Windows 7, I would very much appreciate notebook hardware upgrade advice on upgrading the Acer Aspire 7720-6395's Intel T5250 Core 2 Duo CPU and/or the NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS GPU, so that I could at least use third party Blu-ray playback software like Cyberlink PowerDVD 11.

However, if anyone has any other solution oriented suggestions relevant to restoring Blu-ray playback on my Acer Aspire 7720-6395 notebook after the "upgrade" to Windows 7 Ultimate killed the Blu-ray playback, I'd appreciate them as well.

Thank you.

 

[jaguarskx]

I would say that the license for "Acer Arcade Deluxe" is tied to the original Vista OS that has shipped with your Acer. It is one of those custom software that brand name computer bundles with their laptops. During the installation of Vista, the Acer Arcade Deluxe would automatically register itself with Acer's OEM version of Vista.

At this point, if you want to continue to use Windows 7, then you will need to purchase software capable of playing back Blu-Ray.

 

[liberalartsnerd]

I would say that the license for "Acer Arcade Deluxe" is tied to the original Vista OS that has shipped with your Acer. It is one of those custom software that brand name computer bundles with their laptops. During the installation of Vista, the Acer Arcade Deluxe would automatically register itself with Acer's OEM version of Vista.

At this point, if you want to continue to use Windows 7, then you will need to purchase software capable of playing back Blu-Ray.

Thanks for your quick reply, but unfortunately, it does not seem to apply to the situation I outlined in the post: Although Acer Arcade Deluxe is, no doubt custom software designed to efficiently play Blu-ray disks, Acer's responses to my questions, although not very informative, have not suggested that it is a license issue. It seems to be a compatibility issue between Acer Arcade Deluxe and Windows 7 that neither the Windows Upgrade Advisor nor Acer warned of, and that neither Acer nor Microsoft has been inclined to address.

I did try a trial version of PowerDVD 11, a commercial Blu-ray software player, but PowerDVD 11 is, apparently not as efficient as Acer Arcade Deluxe, and so would not play Blu-ray disks on the Acer hardware (Intel T5250 Core 2 Duo processor and NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS), hence the request for advice that I posed, asking for advice on upgrading the Acer hardware, i.e. the Intel 5250 CPU, or the NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS, the combination of which is apparently too weak to run hardware-intensive commercial Bu-ray software such as PowerDVD 11.

However, if you or anyone has any suggestions as far as the hardware upgrade question I posed, or other specific solutions applicable to my situation, I'd very much appreciate them, as no assistance appears to be forthcoming from either Acer or Microsoft.

 

[jaguarskx]

It is not possible to upgrade the nVidia GeForce 8400M GS since it is likely to be soldered into the motherboard.

It is possible to upgrade the CPU. However, you need to find out which CPU is compatible with the motherboard and also make sure that the new CPU does not exceed the thermal limitations of the laptop's heat since.

I can find the P series mobile Core 2 Duo CPUs (Penryn) since they are available for sale. But your laptop uses the older T series (Meron) and may only be available on eBay. Then again I only did a cursory search.

You will need to contact Acer tech support to find out what is the most powerful socket P CPU you can install in your laptop.

 

[liberalartsnerd]

Thanks for the advice about the T socket CPU. I doubt that Acer will be any more forthcoming in their support for their product than they have thus far by providing me with information about T series CPU will not exceed Acer's power and thermal capabilities, but you have genuinely tried to be helpful.

It seems that Microsoft's business plan is to rely upon their monopolistic market position, and Acer's is to rely upon first time Acer purchasers, not repeat patronage.

Perhaps Microsoft and Acer also collude to sell software upgrades unsupported by hardware manufacturers that will accelerate the hardware obsolescence cycle, and force consumers to purchase more new hardware more often.

The lessons I take away from this are:

1. Do not purchase Microsoft OS upgrades;

2. Do not purchase hardware from Acer.

In any case, thank you for your research advice. Perhaps a T series (Menron) upgrade from eBay might yet help.

It seems no help is coming from either Acer or Microsoft in the form of resolving the conflict between Acer Arcade Deluxe and Windows 7, or making Windows Media Center Blu-ray capable.

 

[jtlagrand]

Hello,

The $184 "upgrade from Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate killed Blu-ray playback on my Acer Aspire notebook.

When I was running Vista Ultimate x32 on my Acer Aspire 7720-6395 notebook with its 1440 x 900 display, the Blu-ray playback ran smoothly and looked good. However, as soon as I "upgraded" to Windows 7 Ultimate, the Acer Blu-ray playback software running under Acer Arcade Deluxe was disabled.

I ran the Windows 7 upgrade advisor before I paid the $184 to Amazon.com for the "upgrade" to Windows 7 Ultimate, and nothing in the upgrade report indicated that Windows 7 would do anything adverse to my Acer 7720 notebook, much less kill Blu-ray playback.

The Acer OEM Optiarc BC5500A Blu-ray optical drive checks out as fully functional, with up to date driver, and will play DVDs and music CDs fine under Windows Media Center. Unfortunately, Windows Media Center emulates Apple in not playing Blu-ray disks.

I perform Windows updates regularly, as well as run Norton Internet Security, so I don't think that the killing of Blu-ray playback is an update or security problem.

When I inquired of Microsoft and Acer, Microsoft suggested that I address my problems with the Microsoft 7 "upgrade" killing Blu-ray playback to Acer, the manufacturer of my notebook, and Acer responded that my Acer 7720 notebook is out of warranty, so it's not their problem either.

So, I did a trial of a commercial Blu-ray add-on software, Cyberlink PowerDVD 11, but that did not work because PowerDVD 11 is apparently not as efficient as the Acer Blu-ray playback software under Acer Arcade Deluxe is, or was, before the "upgrade" to Windows 7 killed it. Cyberlink PowerDVD 11 apparently requires a more powerful CPU than the T5250 Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and/or a more powerful GPU than the NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS GPU that came with the Acer 7720-6395 notebook.

Hence, it seems like the only options that the Windows 7 Ultimate "upgrade" gives me, after having invested $184 in it, are:

1. Throw away the $1,100 investment in my Acer notebook and Windows 7 Ultimate "upgrade", and buy a new notebook;

2. Ask Microsoft for a refund on my Windows 7 Ultimate "upgrade" and try and reinstall and run Vista again;

3. Wait for Acer and Microsoft to resolve the incompatibility problems with the Acer Blu-ray playback software operating under Windows 7 (it seems that neither Microsoft nor Acer is interested in doing that, however);

4. Wait for Microsoft to include Blu-ray playback in the Windows Media Center (I can't imagine why they haven't done this already); or

5. Hardware upgrade: Upgrade the CPU and/or GPU hardware on my Acer 7720-6395 notebook to components that would enable the upgraded Acer Aspire 7720 to run PowerDVD 11.

Addressing option 5, given that neither Microsoft nor Acer have evinced any interest in resolving the incompatibility between Acer Blu-ray playback software and Windows 7, I would very much appreciate notebook hardware upgrade advice on upgrading the Acer Aspire 7720-6395's Intel T5250 Core 2 Duo CPU and/or the NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS GPU, so that I could at least use third party Blu-ray playback software like Cyberlink PowerDVD 11.

However, if anyone has any other solution oriented suggestions relevant to restoring Blu-ray playback on my Acer Aspire 7720-6395 notebook after the "upgrade" to Windows 7 Ultimate killed the Blu-ray playback, I'd appreciate them as well.

Thank you.

I tend to side with the poster suggesting that the blu ray license mechanism is tied somehow to the original OS or something else in the original configuration. I purchased an Acer 7720-6827 (not a quality product for my use) on which blu ray playback was working fine until I upgraded to Vista Ultimate (to get terminal services) from the Home Prem that came installed. I also "upgraded" Acer Arcade Deluxe which was ineffective in resolving the issue.