WinDVD from Corel (InterVideo) supports playback of Blu-Ray (BD) disc and is normally categorized as commercial software based high definition optical disc video player and music player. As with DVD region code concept, Blu-ray Discs also can be encoded with a region code which restrict the area of the world in which they can be played, and WinDVD software player supports and imposes such as geographical restriction too.

WinDVD will ask users to enter their region to set the appropriate region code on first use, and subsequently users will only have a maximum of 5 more time to change the preset region code. For users who own many Blu Ray movie disc from many regions, the limitation is annoying.

Thanks to A Friend, here’s how to reset the counter of allowed number of times to reset region code on Blu Ray disc playback in WinDVD Platinum for Sony VAIO version 8.0.08.100, which effectively allows WinDVD to be region free, i.e. can play BD from any regions.

  1. Download Autoruns program from www.sysinternals.com.
  2. Run autoruns.exe, then go to Drivers tab and untick the check box next to regi (regi.sys) to disable the driver.

    Note: Make sure that you do not delete it.

  3. Restart Windows PC.
  4. Delete file ivireg.ivr in “C:\Windows\System32\” folder.
  5. Run autoruns.exe again, then re-enable regi driver using by ticking the checkbox next to it.
  6. Restart computer again. After restarted, the “ivireg.ivr” file will be recreated with default settings and you can change BD region from WinDVD interface 5 more times before you have to repeat this procedure.

Alternatively, if you are using a dual boot system (e.g. Windows XP and Vista), it’s possible to simply boot to another operating system and delete “ivireg.ivr”, and then boot back to the system with WinDVD.