I ran across this free download while researching Blu-Ray burners. Although it is unsupported, I had no problems installing it and running a scan of my PC. This software answers many complaints I’ve read from people who have bought BD players or burners for their PCs and then couldn’t watch Blu-Ray movies because of a hardware or software problem they encountered after the purchase.
The software is very simple to use. After opening the program, there is an explanation of what the software’s scan of your PC will do in general. You are also presented with a large button to click to start the scan. The scan takes 10 seconds or less and gives you information on basic and advanced playback of Blu-Ray discs (basic establishes whether or not you can play the discs at all). The basic tab gives you your CPU, video card, memory, OS, video card driver, Blu-Ray drive, software player, and video connection type information. A green circle next to the categories means you’re BD ready for that item, a yellow circle means you need to upgrade something (depending on the category) and a red circle means the category is not BD ready. If you receive a yellow or red circle, there is an info button you can click which links to Cyberlink’s website for more information on your problem.
I like this tool because it’s free and it gives you the information you need to determine whether or not your PC’s ready to watch Blu-Ray movies. I knew you had to have an HDCP compliant monitor, HDCP compliant video card, a Blu-Ray player/burner, and playback software, but this tool gives even more information and puts it in an easy to understand format so there’s no guesswork involved. If you are considering watching Blu-Ray movies on your PC, check out this tool and see what you need to do to make it happen.