I have bought a dvd

After getting clarification from Fixya I can pass the links below to you to check yourself

Some players are harder than others to do this but you may want to try here or here
Comments:
Toshiba's and JVC's are the harder ones to do

I use a Phillips myself as it is not only cheaper but has much more going for it than many of the higher end units. i throw anything at it and it just plays

The older the unit that harder it is to do the region free thing with.
I let my EX have the panasonic (big grin)

If you cant find a fix then look at the codes available for cheaper brands and how easy it is to do it before you purchase one.

Just a thought.

Your dvd is probably region 1 which is US and Canada this is known as NTSC format. Your player, because you are elsewhere, only plays PAL formats (usually Europe and such). Unfortunately the only way to play the DVD is to buy a NTSC compatible player.

Hi Maria -

There are 9 DVD regions (0 through 8) available, though some are "specialty", "reserved for future use" and an "ALL" region. DVDs offered for sale in the US & Canada are region 1 DVDs. A "Region 1" DVD will play only in a "Region 1" player. The same goes for the other regions. The only exception is an "All Region" DVD which can be played on any player.

Some DVD players have utilities that allow changing the Region Code that is embedded in the electronics of the player. Furthermore, most of these players limit the number of times the region code can be changed to just a few or slightly more, but certainly not "unlimited". Most DVD players however, do not permit changing of the region code.

Additionally, some DVD drives (those used in computers) allow changing of Region Codes as well. Regardless of whether a DVD player or DVD drive, the utility used to change the region code must be obtained from the player or drive manufacturer. You'll have to search for your player or drive manufacturer and model to get the correct version.

Ultimately, the player's (or drive's) region code must match the DVD in order to play as expected. If they do not match, it will be nearly impossible to view.

You can read more about Region Codes below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code

Western DVD players can not play US DVDs. Use a program like DVD Shrink to backup the DVD. When it asks you for the region code, type 01. Then take the VOB files and burn them back to a disk with your region code instead, most software will do this automatically.